Big Title

For most small title companies, researching liens on properties can be daunting because of the sheer number of municipalities in Florida.

Each county, city, town and other taxing authority in the state has its own way of responding to lien-search requests. Some use e-mail, others use courier services and still more use antiquated fax machines. A growing number of cash-starved municipalities are starting to charge for verifying property liens.

And it's not enough to have friends at the county level. There are 20 municipalities within Broward County alone, for example.