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

The first dam in the United States was built here in the county in 1936 by TVA at Norris. Union County’s choicest bottomland was flooded, and its deed books rearranged. Today, the county’s choicest trade is located almost a century later: it is the most valuable shoreline in Norris Lake. The records are kept in the county seat of Maynardville at 901 Main St. The Register of Deeds is in Suite 105; the Assessor of Property and County Trustee are open Monday-Friday from 8-4, as is the courthouse. The county was organized in 1850

Union County is famous for its musical heritage, as the home of country music legends Roy Acuff (Maynardville) and Chet Atkins (Luttrell). The market is located in modern Norris Lake, Big Ridge State Park country, and within twenty minutes of Knoxville. It usually takes place in the county seat of Maynardville, as well as Plainview and Luttrell, Tennessee, with thirty to sixty-day inventory turns.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of $164,000 and median rent of $749, alongside a median household income of $56,981 and a median real estate tax rate of 0.4 as a percentage of the property’s assessed value.

How to Look Up Union County Property Records

For almost everything, there are three stops. Each of the following stops is available for free at the state assessment site: Owner, Appraised Value, and Map-Group-Parcel number. The Trustee’s portal features the tax bill available online. The Register of Deeds records are kept in Suite 105, and out-of-state records are available via subscription to TitleSearcher.

Who Keeps Union County Property Records

Tennessee keeps property records at the county level, and the Public Records Act opens them to Tennessee citizens. Union County splits the work three ways:

• The Register of Deeds is what? A “recording office,” according to the Register of Deeds himself/herself. It has its own list of documents to record, including deeds, deeds of trust, releases, liens, plats, Greenbelt applications, and substitute trustee appointments. Collects the state recording tax at the time of recording.

• The Assessor of Property assesses all property at the market value from 901 Main Street and provides the Map-Group-Parcel number; keeps record cards. For value questions, contact (865) 992-3211.

• The County Trustee is responsible for collecting the county’s property taxes, also from the courthouse. The Trustee is the tax collector in Tennessee, so, in short, that’s their job.

Delinquent tax suits are brought to the Clerk & Master in Chancery Court. In Maynardville, Plainview, and Luttrell, the various city taxes are collected separately.

How to Search Union County Property Records Online

Work it in this order and nothing slips.

• Locate the parcel in the state assessment area. Enter the address or owner in the Union County field to get the Map-Group-Parcel, the value, and the class.

• On TNMap, draw the boundary to show along Norris Lake, where the old TVA taking lines delineate parcel boundaries.

• Search the Register’s index; Suite 105, or email, or a TitleSearcher subscription for remote search.

• Index for deeds of trust, liens, and releases, and the chain of title backward from the grantee to the grantor. This price is noted on the sworn value on every deed. Check up on the history of the recorded appointments of substitute trustees; the paper trail a foreclosure leaves.

• Go to the Trustee’s portal or (865) 992-5943 to confirm taxes are current.

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

The Register of Deeds records Maynardville, Plainview, Luttrell, and the ridge and lake country in between. Deeds of trust, rather than mortgages, are most commonly used as the instrument of security in most financed purchases in Tennessee. The Register, on the other hand, receives the tax for the registration of state papers and makes it clear that it is a “recording office” and “does not provide legal advice or opinions of title.

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

• Warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, and other conveyances

• Deeds of trust, releases, assignments, and modifications

• Liens, judgments, and Greenbelt applications

• Appointments of substitute trustees and powers of attorney

• Plats, military discharges, and UCC fixture filings

The office answers email directly, and its TitleSearcher subscription opens the index to remote researchers.

Assessor of Property: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

Each parcel is assessed by the Assessor, who sets the market value, and the state taxes a fraction thereof, depending on the parcel class. The office allocates the Map-Group-Parcel number, maintains the record cards, and contributes to the state’s assessment database, which values the property as of the state-scheduled reappraisal.

Use the state assessment site or call 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 taxes through the courthouse and ensures they are processed, and the online portal allows for taxes to be paid 24/7. Taxes are payable on the first Monday in October, and the final day of February is the cutoff before the accrual of monthly interest. The Trustee manages the state’s Tax Relief program for seniors, the disabled, and disabled veterans.

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

Tennessee has no state property tax. A Union County bill is county money plus any city levy, and it begins with a fraction.

How the bill is figured

The 25 percent assessment applies to residential and farm property, and a 40 percent assessment applies to commercial and industrial property. A lake house appraised at $280,000 carries a $70,000 assessed value; at a combined $1.90 rate, the bill is $1,330. The rate never reaches the total amount for the appraisal

Exemptions and relief

Appealing your value

Always engage the Assessor at (865) 992-3211, as corrected information resolves many cases. The formal appeal is presented to the County Board of Equalization in June, then the State Board of Equalization, with comparable sales as evidence.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

The county’s parcel mapping is executed by the state. The TNMap assessment viewer shows all Union County boundaries on aerial imagery (the Comptroller’s assessment data is associated with these boundaries), and Norris Lake’s fingers extend across the top of the map.

Details available include:

• Parcel boundaries with ownership and acreage

• Appraised and assessed values by parcel

• Norris shoreline, Big Ridge, and the valley farms in aerial view

• Property classes and record-card data

• Statewide layers through TNMap

Tax maps are utilized for assessment, not surveying, and the shoreline features mapped to TVA ground lengthen attention. Recorded plat and licensed survey: Confirm any boundary, if one exists, that is of importance.

Foreclosure and Tax Sales

Two sales, two trustees, and Union County’s Register records the paperwork that keeps them straight.

Deed-of-trust foreclosure

If a loan payment is past due, the lender appoints a substitute trustee, and it records with the Register. The substitute trustee then advertises and sells at public auction in accordance with the provisions of Title 35 of the Tennessee Code. There is no need for a court order. It is not the county’s tax collector who is this private trustee.

Chancery Court tax sale

Taxes that are not paid go to the courthouse. The county files suit in Chancery Court; the Clerk & Master facilitates the court-ordered sale; a one-year right of redemption is provided after most sales. Tennessee does not sell the property through a tax lien, but instead certificates of right to sell.

Costs to Access Property Records

The state portals 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

Recording is done under Tennessee Code Title 66, Chapter 24 via the following four steps:

• Facilitate the document in accordance with Tennessee standards, including notarized signatures, property description, preparer, and return address. ·

• Also, include the deed requirements (tax parcel number, etc) and a signed, notary public Oath of Consideration.

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

• File in Suite 105 or by mail with fees; keep in mind this is a recording office only—the main/original returns, adjusted to the index.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Union County Property Records Checklist

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