The town that lost… all of its records 😳

I want to tell you one of my all-time favorite “you can’t make this up” stories from the early days of Elite.

We were doing a lien search on a property in a tiny town in Michigan. And when I say tiny, I mean blink-and-you-miss-it tiny.

We did what we always do: followed their instructions and faxed over the request.

And then… nothing.

A week went by. No response.

So we started calling. And calling. And calling.

Eventually, someone finally answered — and that’s when things took a turn.

They told us they weren’t sure how to help because they… didn’t have their property records anymore.

Not “they were behind."

Not “they were disorganized.”

Not “they were switching systems.”

THEY. WERE. GONE. 

As it turns out, the previous person in that position had kept everything in physical, paper form (no digital backups), and after being arrested for fraud or embezzlement or something equally dramatic… they had taken all the records with them and buried them somewhere.

Somewhere.

No one knew where.

They weren’t cooperating. And the town had effectively lost the entire history of their property records.

They could tell us what was happening currently… but anything in the past? Total mystery.

It was equal parts unbelievable, frustrating, and honestly a little impressive in a “how is this real life?” kind of way.

That’s the kind of adventure that happens behind the scenes in this industry.

And it’s also why Elite exists.

Because title agents shouldn’t have to:

• Deal with municipalities that have… misplaced their entire history

• Chase down answers that may or may not even exist anymore

• Try to explain absurd delays that sound made up

• Or spend their day unraveling someone else’s chaos

That’s our job.

At Elite, we live in this world. We navigate the weird. We hunt down answers. And when something truly insane happens, we help you get to the best possible resolution without it becoming your problem.

So if you ever think, “There is no way this is a real issue”… just know: we’ve probably seen something even worse. 😅