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

Sequatchie County is a Valley with a Government! The entire valley of the Sequatchie is basically a straight, long trench, and only a small percentage of land on the books is between these two types of terrain. Records are kept in Dunlap: the Register of Deeds at 68 Spring Street, and the Assessor of Property and County Trustee are nearby. In County, the clock is kept Monday-Thursday from 7:30 until 4:30, and Friday mornings only, closing at 11:30. In 1857, the county was organized, and Dunlap was platted in 1858.

Chattanooga’s reach keeps the floor busy. Valley homesteads are approached by a climb up the mountain, and the old Dunlap Coke Ovens Park is reminiscent of the days of coal. The Colonial Revival courthouse from 1911 stands as a testament to the small budget, at $12,000, and is still the heart of the seat. Whether in Dunlap town lots or on farms in the valley or on the rim acreage, homes sell in 30 to 60 days or sooner in Tennessee.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of $162,450 and median rent of $796, alongside a median household income of $57,391.5 and a median real estate tax rate of 0.49 as a percentage of the property’s assessed value.

How to Look Up Sequatchie County Property Records

Almost all of the things are dealt with in three steps. All of this information is available at the state assessment site, including each parcel's owner name, appraised value, and Map-Group-Parcel number, for free. The balances of the Trustees are handled through the state Trustee system at (423) 949-2526. All documents are registered at 68 Spring Street and can be served and searched by subscribing to the Register of Deeds at the TitleSearcher. The Assessor maintains a site and has one of the most useful FAQ. pages of any state.

Who Keeps Sequatchie County Property Records

Tennessee maintains county records of property, and the Public Records Act makes them public records to Tennessee citizens. Sequatchie County divides up the task into three parts:

• Warranty deeds, deeds of trust, releases, powers of attorney, liens, plats, and amendments are filed at 68 Spring Street in the Register of Deeds, which is a constitutional office by its own description. It is the agent of the state in respect of the recordation tax at recording.

• The Assessor of Property appraises each parcel at market value and responds to the questions that property owners ask. For example, its FAQ says that doing a post office address change doesn't update the Assessor's, Trustee's, or city's records. Deletion of the surname of a deceased person from the Register takes place using a death certificate.

• The County Trustee is responsible for the collection of the county's property taxes (423) 949-2526. The Trustee in Tennessee is the tax collector. That's all it's given as the title.

Delinquent Tax suits are filed in the Clerk & Master in Chancery Court. The City of Dunlap collects its own taxes.

How to Search Sequatchie County Property Records Online

This is the order in which to work. Friday ends at 11:30.

• Be able to locate the parcel at the state testing area. Type in the address or owner name for Sequatchie County and copy the Map-Group-Parcel number, value, and class.

• Using TNMap, draw the boundary of the valley; the straight walls of the valley make the floor and rim easy to differentiate.

• Search the index of the Register for grantees and grantors at 68 Spring Street or on a TitleSearcher subscription service, on both sides of each transaction.

• Back-trace the grantee-grantor relationship and conduct an index of deeds of trust, liens, and releases. The price is listed on each deed under the "sworn" column.

• Call the Trustee at (423) 949-2526 to ensure that taxes are up to date.

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

The Register of Deeds, an elected constitutional officer, records for Dunlap and the valley and rim communities around it. Tennessee secures home loans with deeds of trust rather than mortgages, so that is the instrument for most financed purchases. The Register also collects the state recordation tax at recording.

Document types recorded, from the office’s own list, include:

• Warranty deeds and other conveyances

• Deeds of trust, releases, and amendments

• Liens and judgments

• Powers of attorney

• Plats, military discharges, and UCC fixture filings

Plan visits around the county’s compressed week: Monday through Thursday runs 7:30 to 4:30, and Friday ends at 11:30 in the morning.

Assessor of Property: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

The Assessor provides an estimate of the market value of each parcel, and Tennessee taxes a fraction of the market value based on class. The office publishes its own website in addition to that of the state, assigns the Map-Group-Parcel numbers, maintains the record cards, and values are true to market at each reappraisal conducted by the state. Use the state assessment site, seqassessor.com, or the office 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

• Plain-English answers on address changes, name changes, and ownership updates

County Trustee: Tax Bills and Payments

The Trustee collects the county taxes on the same condensed weekly schedule as the Trustee. Taxes are due the first Monday in October, and the last day of February is the closing day before monthly interest accrues.

The state Tax Relief program for seniors, disabled homeowners, and disabled veterans is administered by the Trustee. A house on a street within the city gets its own bill, and the Assessor's FAQ is clear that a post office move doesn't update any of the offices; tell each one of them.

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

Tennessee has no state property tax. A Sequatchie County bill is county money plus city money in Dunlap, and it begins with a fraction.

How the bill is figured

The value of residential and farm property is appraised at 25%, and that of commercial and industrial property at 40%. A home appraised at $200,000 carries a $50,000 assessed value; at a combined $1.90 rate, the bill is $950. The rate does not ever come close to the total appraisal.

Exemptions and relief

Appealing your value

Call the Assessor (423) 949-3534, as corrected information resolves most cases. The appeal is formalized and submitted to the County Board of Equalization in June, and then to the State Board of Equalization, backed by comparable sales.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

The state maintains the county's parcel mapping. The TNMap assessment viewer overlays all the Sequatchie County boundaries over the aerial imagery (shown in the background), and the remarkable straight lines of the valley are evident from the sky. Take note: the split is important when it comes to permits. The county does not need permits for projects; the City of Dunlap does, so be sure to find out which side of the line a project is located on.

Details available include:

• Parcel boundaries with ownership and acreage

• Appraised and assessed values by parcel

• Valley floor, rim, and coke-oven country in aerial view

• Property classes and record-card data

• Statewide layers through TNMap

Tax maps aren't for surveying, and rim-edge lines should be taken care of. Record plat and licensed survey to prove any boundary that is of significance.

Foreclosure and Tax Sales

Two sales, two trustees, no overlap.

Deed-of-trust foreclosure

If a loan defaults, the deed of trust's substitute trustee advertises and sells under the title of Tennessee Code, Title 35. There is no court order necessary. That private trustee is NOT the county's tax collector.

Chancery Court tax sale

Delinquent taxes pass through the courthouse. The county sues in Chancery Court, the Clerk & Master of Chancery sells the property, and a right of redemption is provided for during most types of sales, for a period of one year. The property is never sold by the court in Tennessee because of tax liens.

Costs to Access Property Records

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

The Register collects both recordation taxes at recording, and the sworn value on the deed becomes the public record of the price.

How to Record a Document

The rules are from Title 66, Chapter 24 of the Tennessee Code. Four steps:

• Make the document to Tennessee standards: include a full description of the property, preparer's address, the return address, and notarized signatures.

• Include the deed requirements: Tax parcel number and the Oath of Consideration signed.

• Pay the recording fee and recordation taxes ($0.37 for every $100 on the transfer and $0.115 for each $100 on secured debt over $2,000).

• Please record at 68 Spring Street (exempt from Friday afternoon delivery) or post with fees. The first return is the original return, excluding indexing.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Sequatchie County Property Records Checklist

Find your task on the left and take the path on the right.

Key Contacts and Official Portals