HELP FOR ONLINE SEARCH APPLICATION
Help Topics
 System Requirements for using the Online Search Application
 Consolidated Index
 Search Results
 Searching Multiple Names
 Advanced Search
 View Images
 Old Index Books
 What’s Available
 Email Courthouse Computer Systems with a Help Question

System Requirements for using the Online Search Application

In order to use the Craven County Online Search functionality there are several requirements that your remote computer must meet. These requirements are listed below:

1. Your computer must support a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768

2. Your Internet browser must enable our site to set a cookie upon your connection to the search application. In addition to the browser settings on your computer you will need to ensure that any second party security software or spyware software that you are running does not block the cookie.

3. Your computer must allow pop-ups from the Craven County Register of Deeds site, since the application opens in a new window.

4. You will need to install the Alternatiff image viewer in order to view images. The instructions for installing Alternatiff are below.


Consolidated Index

The Land Record Search functionality is found under the Consolidated Land Index tab. By default, a search will return a Mixed set of both Permanent and Temporary index records. Permanent records are always displayed in Blue and Temporary records are always displayed in Red. If you wish to only search Temporary records change the Index Type radio button to Temporary. A BASIC search is conducted by entering as little or as much data in the search fields on the left- hand side of the screen. Entering more data will narrow your search results. Clicking on the magnifying glass will initiate your search.


·         Choose Index Type

o   Mixed

§  By default, a search will return a Mixed set of both Permanent and Temporary index records.

 

o   Temporary

§  Temporary index records are the most recent documents that have been recorded, but not fully indexed and quality assured. BE CAREFUL with Temporary records as not all parties to a document have necessarily been indexed.

 

·         Choose Search Era

o   With the default setting all index data since 1990 will be returned. Be advised that indexing standards were implemented in 1995 that were not previously used. This means that a name indexed since 01/01/1995 might not have been indexed the same way prior to 1995. BE CAREFUL to make sure that the name was not indexed differently prior to 1995. If you wish to search Pre-1995 separately from 1995 Forward, be sure to change the default selection on the appropriate radio button.

o   Prior to 1995

o   1995 Forward                   

o   All Date Ranges                

 

·         Enter Search Criteria                      

o   Last/Firm Name               

o   First Name                         

o   From Date                          

o   To Date

               

·         Choose Party Type                          

o   Grantor               

o   Grantee                              

o   Either                   

o   Click Search

 

·         Toggle Display Type                       

o   Images as PDF (checkbox)

o   (Alternatif) (unchecked)

 

·         Refresh                                               

o   Reloads the page, clearing the search criteria and results


Search Results

All search results can be sorted in ascending or descending order by Date (Book and Page), Grantor, Grantee, Kind, or Description. To reorder your search results click on the column header of the column that you would like to resort by. Clicking on the column header (i.e. the word Date at the top of the search results) will place a caret or arrow point in the column header. Each time you double click on a column header the sort order is changed between ascending or descending.


·         Orange Arrows                                                 

o   Use the orange arrow buttons immediately above the search results to navigate between pages of results.

 

·         Page x of y                                                          

o   15 search results are displayed on a page by default.

 

·         Print Page                                                          

o   Prints the current page of results

 

·         Advanced Print                                                

o   Provides further print options

 

·         Number of Records Retrieved                                                   

·         Number of Documents                                                 

·         Column Headers                              

o   Sortable                              

§  Date

§  Grantor

§  Grantee

§  Kind

§  Description

§  Doc #

 

o   Not sortable

§  Book

§  Page

 

·         Image Available Icon                                                      

o   An icon to the left of each index record denotes whether there is a document image available for that record.

 

·         Document Details

o   If you select an index record by clicking on it (single-click, not double-click), the details of that record will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner. The details section includes all parties to that document along with any reference information to previous documents that has been indexed. If reference information is available, you can click the link in the details section to go directly to that document.

 

·         Print                     

o   Prints the information in the record details box

 

·         Show All                              

o   Grows the details box to show all details without the need for scrolling

 

·         X (close)                              

o   To close the details section, click the close button in the upper left-hand corner.

 

·         Record Checkboxes                                                       

o   If you wish to print only certain records in a result set and eliminate irrelevant records, you can use the checkboxes to select only those records. 

 

o   Select All

§  Checks all the checkboxes in the result set.

 

o   Clear All

§  Unchecks all the checkboxes in the result set. 

 

o   Show Selected

§  Removes unchecked records and displays checked records.  If you Print Page, only the displayed records will print.

 

o   Show Distinct                                                    

§  There may be several index records for a document with more than two parties. Show Distinct displays only one record per document

 

o   (Orange Arrows like above)                                                        

§  (same as above)

 

o   Results per Page                                                              

§  A drop-down box in the bottom of the search results grid allows you to modify how many search results are displayed on a page. 


Searching Multiple Names

In the Consolidated Index, you can search for multiple names by using "OR" in the Last/Firm Name or First Name fields. Example: Searching "Smith OR Jones" will return search results containing both.





Advanced Search

Use the “Adv” button to expose additional fields for narrowing a search based upon multiple Document Types, the contents of the Description field, or the Transfer Stamp amount.


·         Click Adv

·         Choose Party Type

o   Firm                      

o   Individual                           

o   Either

 

·         Choose Book Type

o   All

o   Deed

o   (etc.)                    

 

·         Choose Document Type               

o   (Loaded per Chosen Book Type)               

o   Enter Description                                                            

o   Enter Doc #                                                        

o   Enter Book & Page          

                                               

·         Choose Result Style - If you prefer, you may change you search “Results Style” to “Directory” as an Advanced Search criteria.  This option groups all search results by unique Party name and shows the number of records for each name.  To drill down to view the individual records for a name double-click the name or select a name and press enter.  To return to the Directory from the individual records, use the “Show Dir” button.                               

 

·         Choose Match Options – The default search is a ”Begins With” search and will return all results that begin with the letters Entered.  A Match Contains search can be conducted to return results where the search term is contained anywhere within the string of text.  A Match Contains search on “School” will return results for “Burgaw Middle School”

o   Begins With                       

o   Exact Match                      

o   Match Contains

 

·         If you are unsure of the spelling of a name, you may check the “Similar Name Search” box under the Advanced Search criteria. This expands your search to include other names that sound similar or are spelled similar to the name that you are searching for.  For example, with this option checked a search on “Loyd” will also include results for the name “Lloyd”.

o   Toggle Adv Similar Name

§  Checkbox

o   Toggle Soundex Similar Name                   

§  Checkbox                           

o   Toggle Symbols Only                      

§  Checkbox                           

o   Toggle Autosuggest                       

§  Checkbox

 

·         ADDITIONAL NOTES

o   In order to access either Register of Deeds site online you will need to make sure that any pop-up blocker that you might be running is configured to allow pop-ups from the Register of Deeds office.  All images for the Pender County Register of Deeds website are displayed as PDF images.  To view images you will need to have a PDF viewer installed in your browser, which is quite standard.


View Images

If you know a book and page for a document that you wish to view you can go directly to the image. To do this click on the “View Images” tab. Select your book type, enter a book number and a page number, and then click the Go button. Your image will be displayed. If it is an image that has computerized index data available, the index data will be displayed above the image.


  • Select Book Type from the drop menu
  • Enter Book Number
  • Enter Page Number
  • Click Go
  • Use the orange arrows to scroll through the adjacent pages
  • Index data is displayed at the top right


Old Index Books

To find documents which have not been digitally indexed, you can use the Old Index Books tab, (where avaialble). Select the document type, party type, date range, and enter a full or partial name, then press "Search". The resulting image shows a list of names according to your search. If the exact name is not displayed, you can use the navigation arrows to locate the image with your target name. This "initial index page" image details the page of the index where the specific document's book & page is detailed. Now enter the listed page and press "Go". Scroll to your search name to find the book & page, then move to the "View Images" tab and enter the book type, book number and page, and press "Go" to display your document.


·         Choose Index Type

o   Deed

o   (etc.)                    

 

·         Choose Party Type

o   Grantee                              

o   Grantee Firm                    

o   Grantor               

o   Grantor Firm     

               

·         Click Search

·         Choose Page                     

o   Page shown on resulting index image                     

 

·         Choose Book Type                                                          

·         Enter Book & Page                                                          

·         Click Go                                               


Vital Index

The Vital Record Search functionality is found under the “Vital Records” tab. Only permanent records are displayed. If a record is temporary (i.e. a very recent record that is still in the indexing workflow) it will not be displayed. To search the vital records index you need to choose between searching Birth, Death, or Marriage, records. Otherwise, the search functionality is just like searching the Land Records. Images are available for Death certificates and Marriage Licenses.


·         Choose Vital Record Type and Party Type             


    • Births
      • Child
      • Mother
      • Father
      • Any
    • Deaths
      • Decedent
      • Mother
      • Father
      • Any
    • Marriages
      • Applicant 1
      • Applicant 2

·         Choose Result Style

o   Traditional                          

o   Directory                            


What's Available

This box details the date ranges of all listed verified index records, and the total number of images for each listed document type.


  • Verified Date Range

  • Deed Images

  • Plat Images

  • Corporation Images

  • Condominium Images

  • Notary Images

  • Highway RoW Images

  • UCC Images


Email Courthouse Computer Systems with a Help Question

If you are having other difficulties using this site and the topic is not covered on this help page, feel free to email support@courthousecomputersystems.com with your question.