Extract data from title searches

A title search is the examination a title company runs on a property's recorded history before a sale or refinance closes, and the title commitment is the document that reports what it found. Tracing the chain of ownership, the examiner then promises to insure the buyer's or lender's title subject to a list of exceptions and a list of requirements that have to be satisfied first. It is not the deed. Whereas a deed is the recorded instrument that actually transfers ownership, the title commitment is the pre-closing report on whether that transfer can happen cleanly and what has to be cleared to get there. First American Title issues one for a purchase in Maricopa County, Arizona. ALTA gives the market a shared structure: Schedule A states the proposed insured, the policy amount, and the estate being insured; Schedule B-I lists the requirements, the payoffs and releases and signatures the closer must collect; and Schedule B-II lists the exceptions, the easements, covenants, and standing liens the policy will not cover. Requirements are the work list, an existing 268,500 USD first mortgage to be paid off and a 4,300 USD county tax lien to clear, while exceptions are the encumbrances that survive closing, a recorded utility easement and the subdivision CC&Rs. An effective_date bounds the search, so anything recorded after it falls outside it. Fed the commitment, Talonic returns the title_company, the property description and parcel_number, the proposed owner and buyer, the loan_amount, the insured_amount, and the premium as fields, with the exceptions_and_requirements, the liens_and_encumbrances, and the previous_title_holders as tables. Policy amounts of 465,000 USD and 372,000 USD, along with an 1,890 USD premium, are typed as numbers in USD, and each exception carries its instrument_reference and recorded_date so a closer can chase the book and page. Both the effective_date and the closing_date parse to ISO 8601. Talonic captures what the commitment states and does not render a title opinion or decide whether an exception is insurable.

What gets extracted from title searches

How extraction works for title searches

Title commitments arrive from title plants and closing platforms as ALTA-format PDFs whose Schedule A, B-I, and B-II sections do not sit in the same place from one underwriter to the next. Talonic classifies the commitment and aligns it to the real-estate title schema in the Field Registry, which follows MISMO's Uniform Loan Delivery and Closing datasets, so title_company.name, property.parcel_number, owner.name, buyer.name, loan_amount, insured_amount, and premium each resolve to a field while exceptions_and_requirements, liens_and_encumbrances, and previous_title_holders return per row. Requirements and exceptions keep their instrument_reference, book_page_number, and recorded_date, and each lien keeps its creditor and priority_position, so the 268,500 USD payoff and the 4,300 USD tax lien are legible as separate items to clear. Dollar figures are typed as numbers in USD and recorded dates parse to ISO 8601. Confidence scores and source-region pointers accompany every value under DIN SPEC 91491, so a closer can verify an exception against its recorded instrument. Talonic reports what the commitment states and does not give a title opinion.

Sample extraction

An ALTA title commitment with requirements, exceptions, and standing liens

{
  "document_number": "AZ-2026-114872",
  "document_date": "2026-06-24",
  "effective_date": "2026-06-22",
  "expiration_date": "2026-09-22",
  "title_company.name": "First American Title",
  "title_company.address": "2425 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016",
  "property_address": "4820 W Desert Sky Ln, Glendale, AZ 85308",
  "property.legal_description": "Lot 58, Sunridge Estates Unit 2, Book 512 Page 33, Maricopa County",
  "property.parcel_number": "303-24-118",
  "property.county": "Maricopa",
  "property.state": "AZ",
  "property_type": "single-family detached",
  "appraised_value": 465000,
  "owner.name": "Diane Whitaker",
  "buyer.name": "Marcus and Elena Ruiz",
  "lender_name": "Sonoran Community Bank",
  "loan_amount": 372000,
  "interest_rate": "6.375%",
  "loan_term": "360 months",
  "closing_date": "2026-07-15",
  "title_status": "committed",
  "insured_amount": 465000,
  "premium": 1890,
  "governing_law": "Arizona",
  "exceptions_and_requirements": [
    {
      "item_number": "B-I-1",
      "exception_type": "requirement",
      "description": "Pay off and obtain release of the first deed of trust",
      "instrument_reference": "DOC 2019-0448122",
      "recorded_date": "2019-08-14",
      "book_page_number": "BK 488 PG 210"
    },
    {
      "item_number": "B-II-3",
      "exception_type": "easement",
      "description": "Public utility easement along the rear 10 feet of the lot",
      "instrument_reference": "DOC 2004-1120045",
      "recorded_date": "2004-11-02",
      "book_page_number": "BK 301 PG 77"
    }
  ],
  "liens_and_encumbrances": [
    {
      "lien_number": "L-1",
      "creditor_name": "Wells Fargo Bank N.A.",
      "lien_type": "mortgage",
      "amount": 268500,
      "recorded_date": "2019-08-14",
      "priority_position": "first"
    },
    {
      "lien_number": "L-2",
      "creditor_name": "Maricopa County Treasurer",
      "lien_type": "tax lien",
      "amount": 4300,
      "recorded_date": "2026-03-01",
      "priority_position": "superior"
    }
  ],
  "previous_title_holders": [
    {
      "holder_name": "Sunridge Homebuilders LLC",
      "transfer_date": "2004-06-30",
      "instrument_type": "warranty deed",
      "recorded_reference": "BK 298 PG 12"
    }
  ]
}

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