Johnson County, TN Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

Johnson County is the easternmost county in Tennessee, and borders the neighboring states of North Carolina and Virginia, and also observes the Eastern Time Zone. Activities are held in Mountain City, one of the highest county seats in Tennessee, at 222 West Main Street in Mountain City. Deeds, deeds of trust, and plats are kept in this county in the Register of Deeds. All parcels are valued by the Assessor, and taxes are collected by the County Trustee. The county was organized in 1836 and has an area of 303 square miles.

Elevation is the signature of the area. Mountain City's coves continue to draw second-home owners and retirees on cool summer evenings, and Christmas tree farms are active on the loftier grounds around the arm of Watauga Lake in Butler. Between Townhouses and Mountain Parcels, existing home sales happen in a typical Tennessee time frame, which is 30-60 days.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of $154,700 and median rent of $548, alongside a median household income of $48,302 and a median real estate tax rate of 0.42 as a percentage of the property’s assessed value.

How to Look Up Johnson County Property Records

There are three stops that will deal with nearly all cases. The state assessment site will provide the owner of a parcel, the appraised value, and a Map-Group-Parcel number, free of charge. Balances are run in the state Trustee system by the Trustee. The Register of Deeds provides service at the courthouse with a subscription system for remote name, address, map/parcel, and instrument type inquiry.

Who Keeps Johnson County Property Records

Tennessee records property information at the county level, and the Public Records Act makes it available to citizens of Tennessee. There is a separate Administrative Directory for Johnson County which sets forth in statutory terms the duties of each office:

• The Register of Deeds shall keep and record all instruments required or permitted by law, including deeds, deeds of trust and liens, wills, court orders and military discharges. The county has a rule requiring the office to be located in the county seat and that the records of the office remain.

• The Assessor of Property has two basic functions, in the county’s own words: appraisal and assessment of taxable real and personal property not appraised by the state.

• The County Trustee has three major functions, starting with collecting the county’s property taxes. In Tennessee, the Trustee is the tax collector, and that settles the title.

Delinquent-tax suits transpire at the Clerk & Master in Chancery Court. The City of Mountain City bills its own taxes.

How to Search Johnson County Property Records Online

Make sure you have the clock on Eastern to do this and work in this order.

• To locate the parcel in the state assessment site, type an address or owner's name for the parcel and copy the parcel Map-Group-Parcel number, value, and class.

• In cove/ridge country, it will be beneficial to look for a boundary map in TNMap, and this will pay off as parcels will be rising.

• To search the Register's index, go to the courthouse counter, weekdays, 8 to 4:30 Eastern, or via the subscription system. It can be searched by a grantor/grantee name, by property address, map & parcel number, and by an instrument.

• Reconstruct the chain – see if there are any matching grantors to all of the previous grantees, and look up deeds of trust, liens, and releases for the same. All deeds have a sworn value, which documents pricing.

• Check with the Trustee at the courthouse to make sure taxes are up-to-date.

Register of Deeds: Deeds, Deeds of Trust, and Plats

The Register of Deeds is an elected official who records for Mountain City, Butler, Trade, Shady Valley, and all high valleys in between. On most residential purchases that are financed, Tennessee secures the home loans with deeds of trust, not mortgages. The Register also receives the recording tax from the State at recording.

Document types recorded, from the county’s statutory list, include:

• Warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, and other conveyances

• Deeds of trust, releases, assignments, and modifications

• Liens, contracts, leases, and judgments

• Powers of attorney, wills, and court orders

• Plats, military discharges, and UCC fixture filings

Records are not to be removed from the county seat under any circumstances; therefore, it is best to plan research around the county seat. This subscription index makes it easy to see the images from afar, but typically you access the complete images via the paid layer or the visit.

Assessor of Property: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

All of Tennessee's classes of properties are taxed on a fraction of the Assessor's value. The office assigns the Map-Group-Parcel number, keeps the record cards, characteristics data, and feeds the state's assessment database with the true-to-market values at their state-scheduled reappraisal.

Use the state assessment site or the courthouse to find:

• The current owner of record for any parcel

• The Map-Group-Parcel number and legal description

• The appraised value and the assessed value after the class ratio

• The property class, such as residential, farm, or commercial

• Characteristics like square footage, year built, and acreage

County Trustee: Tax Bills and Payments

The Trustee collects county taxes, bills them, and keeps the county's records in the courthouse. Taxes are due the first Monday in October, and the last day of February is the deadline before monthly interest payments.

The Trustee administers the state Tax Relief program for qualifying seniors, disabled homeowners, and disabled veterans. A home inside Mountain City receives the town’s separate bill.

Property Tax in Johnson County: Classification, Exemptions, and Appeals

Tennessee has no state property tax. A Johnson County bill is county money plus town money in Mountain City, and it begins with a fraction.

How the bill is figured

Assessment of Residential and farm property is at 25 percent of their assessed value, while commercial and industrial is 40 percent. The bill will cost approximately $736 for a home that is appraised at $155,000 and has an assessed value at a combined rate of $1.90 per $100,000. The taxation rate never touches the whole appraisal.

Exemptions and relief

Appealing your value

Start the process at the Assessor's Office at the courthouse, as corrected information will play a significant role in many cases. The formal appeal is made to the County Board of Equalization in June, and then to the State Board of Equalization, using similar sales evidence.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

The TNMap assessment viewer displays all of Johnson County boundaries overlaid on top of aerial imagery (with the Comptroller’s assessment data), and includes the State lines for Virginia and North Carolina. The boundaries of Mountain City are without countywide zoning, meaning that if there is a land use dispute that goes up to the town's planning commission.

Details available include:

• Parcel boundaries with ownership and acreage

• Appraised and assessed values by parcel

• The high valleys, Watauga’s arm, and the state lines in aerial view

• Property classes and record-card data

• Statewide layers through TNMap

Foreclosure and Tax Sales

Two sales, two trustees, and they share nothing but the word.

Deed-of-trust foreclosure

When a default of a loan is noticed, the substitute trustee, as stated in the deed of trust, announces and sells at a public auction under Title 35 of the Tennessee Code, which does not require a court order. This is a private trustee and NOT the person who collects county taxes.

Chancery Court tax sale

Delinquent taxes move through the courthouse - the county files a suit in Chancery Court, the Clerk & Master conducts the court-ordered sale of the property, and a one-year right of redemption follows most sales. Properties are sold in Tennessee through the court, and not from tax-lien certificates.

Costs to Access Property Records

The state portals are free. Fees attach to copies, the subscription index, and recording.

How to Record a Document

Recording follows Title 66, Chapter 24 of the Tennessee Code. Four steps:

• Prepare the document to Tennessee standards: notarized signatures, a full property description, and preparer and return addresses.

• Add the deed requirements: the tax parcel number and the signed Oath of Consideration.

• Bring the recording fee plus the recordation taxes: $0.37 per $100 on the transfer, $0.115 per $100 on secured debt over $2,000.

• Record at 222 West Main Street, on Eastern Time, or mail with fees. The original returns after indexing.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Johnson County Property Records Checklist

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