We keep our doors open through lunch! Please anticipate limited staffing during the midday hours. We are located on the street level of the main courthouse building.
#1 Search Tip – Enter as little information as you can get by with and leave the other search fields at their defaults. You can filter your results later.
When your online search for a particular AFN or book/page does not yield an image: Email toLet us know which document you are looking for. We will find a way to retrieve and email you the images.
When You Type This...
These records will be returned by the search…
Name Search
All documents listing that name among principal parties
Typing information into the Name Search will retrieve documents recorded 1970 and later.
Searches of prior eras require the use of the historical handwritten index. Instructions appear below for Reconstructing the Chain of Ownership.
Legal Description Search
Parcel Number (12 Digits)
Legal Description
Limited Results. This search will return documents recorded 1997 or later only and will not include documents recorded in prior eras that continue to remain in force.
Historically, the index to the Auditor recordings has been required to be based on names (known as a grantor/grantee index). It is only in this current recording era that we have been able to add parcel number and legal description information to the document index.
To identify all documents affecting a property, we recommend pursuing one of the following methods:
Locate your title report. If you are researching your own property, find the title report page containing a list of recorded documents associated with your property. Perform an AFN search on any entry that lists an instrument or document number.
Visit a Title Company. Title companies maintain copies of documents recorded with the County Auditor, and have organized their documents based on property location.
Search our historic records to locate documents recorded by each prior property owner. You will need the following:
Half a day set aside for multiple searches of the historic index
Reference the guide for searching the historical index when seeking documents recorded prior to 1970
Follow instructions for reconstructing the chain of ownership (below)
Property Address
There is no index to recorded documents based on property address. Real estate documents utilize the full legal description when identifying property location.
Reconstructing the chain of ownership: You will need to trace the chain of ownership backward through time if you suspect that your target document was recorded prior to the current ownership. Locating any easement that recorded prior to the last purchase will require this process.
Note the name of the grantor/seller on the deed. This is the prior owner.
Find the deed where that prior owner appears as the purchaser/grantee. Working backward in time through the index, search for that prior owner’s name from step 2. When looking at the old historical index (the Non-indexed search), you would search the Reverse index for the prior owner name.
Make note of the ownership date range. Once you find the prior owner’s purchase deed, note the document’s recording date and bookend the ownership period with the date they sold or otherwise deeded the property to someone else.
Search the ownership date range for documents recorded by this prior owner. When you find a promising document, verify that the legal description matches the property you are researching. It is common for the same individual to own neighboring parcels.
To go further back in time, return to the deed you found in step #3. Cycle back to Step #2 and perform the same steps for that owner/seller/grantor from step #3.
You are performing this deed search to establish the beginning and end dates of an ownership period, then proceeding to search within that range of dates for documents associated with that owner name.
Once you locate the desired parcel in Assessor records, scroll down the page until you reach the section for Deed and Sales History. From there you can view the name of the current and (recent) past property owners along with notations of other select Auditor document recordings. The documents listed in this section are primarily focused on ownership, boundary surveys, and boundary changes, and are not a comprehensive compilation of all recordings affecting the parcel.
Posted: 12/16/2014 12:52 PM
Last Updated: 08/21/2025 01:08 PM
Archive Disclaimer
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.