Pend Oreille County, WA Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

Three Pend Oreille County offices support your property search. The County Auditor keeps deeds, deeds of trust, and plats. The County Assessor values all parcels, and the County Treasurer bills and collects taxes. They span Washington's youngest county, established in 1911 when Stevens County was split, in the forested northeast corner of the state on the Idaho border.

The Pend Oreille River, one of the few rivers in the country that flows north, threads the county from Newport to the Canadian border. Homes cluster in five small towns and along the river, from Newport commuter neighborhoods within reach of Spokane to cabins near Ione, Metaline, and Metaline Falls. The Colville National Forest and the Selkirks frame the private land.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of $250,800 and median rent of $776.5, alongside a median household income of $58,600.5 and a median real estate tax rate of 0.68 as a percentage of the property’s assessed value.

How to Look Up Pend Oreille County Property Records

Three free county resources address most property concerns. Property Search is a joint effort between the Assessor and the Treasurer and displays ownership, assessed value, and tax details, current within 3 business days. The Official Records Search is on the Auditor's Recording page and is accessible without a login. The systems are interrelated in that the parcel number connects them.

Who Keeps Pend Oreille County Property Records

Washington property records sit at the county level, and the Public Records Act makes them open to the public. Pend Oreille County splits the work among three elected offices:

• Under RCW 36.22.010, the Pend Oreille County Auditor keeps all recorded documents, such as real estate records, liens, maps, and surveys. Once recorded, a document becomes a permanent part of the county's record and cannot be unrecorded.

• The Pend Oreille County Assessor maintains the assessment roll, which lists ownership, description, tax code area, location, and valuation for every parcel. It also keeps a detailed map series, GIS, and aerial photos. Every sale, division, and new plat flows into these records.

• The Pend Oreille County Treasurer bills and collects property taxes, manages public funds, and collects the state Real Estate Excise Tax on sales. Payment questions go here.

How to Search Pend Oreille County Property Records Online

• Use the Property Access search. Search for the parcel using the owner name or address; record the parcel number and sales value; then run a sales search for recent sales of the parcel.

• On the Recording page, click the Open Auditor's public search link, and read through the disclaimer. Use "Grantor" or "Grantee", "Book" and "Page", "Document Type" or "Auditor File Number", "Legal Description", "Parcel Number", and/or "Recording Date" to search.

• Mind the coverage. The online system goes back to 1997; the State Digital Archives has the county's recorded land records since 1996, and older records are in the office.

• Check with the current owner to confirm the deed is the most recent, then trace back through previous deeds, ensuring the grantor matches the grantee on each deed. Conduct the same index for deeds of trust, liens, and easements.

• Finish with the Treasurer at(509) 447-3612 to confirm the tax status. Unpaid taxes accrue interest and penalties, and long delinquency leads to county foreclosure.

County Auditor: Deeds, Deeds of Trust, and Plats

Newport, Cusick, Ione, Metaline, and Metaline Falls are the cities, and all unincorporated river and forest land between them is granted a charter to create an elected officer, the Auditor, who serves as the city's recording officer. Washington does not record mortgages; it records them under RCW 65.08 as deeds of trust.

Document types recorded include:

• Warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, and bargain-and-sale deeds

• Deeds of trust, reconveyances, and assignments

• Liens, lis pendens, and easements

• Surveys, plats, and boundary line adjustments

• Transfer on death deeds and military discharges

The office is very clear about its role. It only checks for proper fees, document title, complete indexing information, and proper formatting and legible pages. The instrument must be prepared properly, and the office does not register anything beyond what the state guidelines require. The books date back to the county's creation in 1911, and earlier chains for this area are kept in Colville, Stevens County.

County Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

The Assessor appraises each parcel at the 100% true and fair market value, as required by Title 84 RCW. The office updates these values annually based on sales, and conducts physical inspections every six years. The office also maintains the county's parcel maps, GIS, and aerial photography, in addition to the assessment roll.

Use the Property Access search or contact the office to find:

• The parcel number that connects county records.

• The value of land and improvements and total values assessed.

• Property traits, acres, and sale records.

• Current-use enrollment/exemption status.

Timber and open-space enrollment under Chapter 84.34 RCW shapes many rural parcels here, taxing them on current use rather than market value.

County Treasurer: Taxes, Bills, and Payments

The Treasurer's job is to collect and issue receipts for the county and each district therein; he is charged with keeping the public money in safe custody and serving the public with honesty and courtesy. Washington has two due dates for each tax: the first is April 30, and the second is October 31. RCW 84.56 sets forth the interest and penalties on delinquent amounts.

Property Tax in Pend Oreille County: Levies, Exemptions, and Appeals

The 1 Percent Levy Limit and How Bills Are Set

Washington's Constitution limits the regular levy to 1 percent of assessed value ($10 per $1,000), with an additional voter-approved excess levy for school and other districts. A separate rule, known as the 101 percent limit, limits each district's revenue increase to 1 percent of the previous year's revenue plus the value of new construction.

A revenue cap, not an assessment cap. A value that tracks up with the market is still causing your assessed value to increase, and a value that is increasing at a faster rate than the district average will increase that parcel's share of the levy.

Senior, Disabled, and Veteran Relief

Washington has one of the more generous relief programs, administered through the Assessor. If a homeowner is age 61 or more, or disabled, and meets the county income limit, they will not have to pay excess taxes, and their taxable value can be frozen.

Owners with a 100 percent service-connected disability are eligible under the same program, and a separate deferral program provides deferral as a lien at interest. For current thresholds, please see the Department of Revenue and the Assessor.

Appealing Your Value

Start at the Assessor's office, where they will explain how they determined the value. By July 1 (or as indicated on the valuation notice), a formal appeal is filed with the county Board of Equalization. The next step is to appeal to the State Board of Tax Appeals, where the owner must provide comparable sales.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

The county's mapping program, which utilizes a detailed parcel map series with GIS and aerial survey photos, is maintained by the Assessor and is found on the Assessor's page. The Washington State Digital Archives has the county's recorded land records from 1996 onward; the Department of Revenue's directory connects each county's portals to historical recorded documents.

Details available include:

• Parcel boundaries with ownership and acreage

• Assessment data tied to Property Access records

• Aerial photography across the river valley and Selkirk foothills

• Reference layers for the national forest boundary and tax code areas

• Digitized historical county records through the State Archives

Foreclosure and Tax Sales

Trustee Foreclosure on Deeds of Trust

Most home foreclosures are nonjudicial, as Washington uses deeds of trust instead of judicial foreclosures. The trustee named in the deed of trust holds a foreclosure sale under the Deed of Trust Act (RCW 61.24) without a court order. The trustee records notices with the Auditor, and the sale is held at a public auction.

Judicial Tax Foreclosure by the Treasurer

Liens on account of taxes delinquent for 3 or more years and unpaid, subject to an action by the County Treasurer in the Superior Court to foreclose the tax lien according to RCW 84.64, with resulting sale of the property itself at a public auction.

The State of Washington is not a tax-lien-certificate state; that is, counties sell the property itself to satisfy delinquent taxes, rather than selling certificates or deeds to purchasers of tax liens. The delinquent taxpayer then pays accruing interest and penalties up to the sale.

Costs to Access Property Records

There's no charge to search online. Recording in Washington carries significant statutory surcharges. Copies are priced similarly.

RCW 82.45 sets the excise tax, and the affidavit that accompanies each sale is the best indicator of the sale price. The first-page fee is much higher because state housing surcharges are added to all documents. Make checks payable to the Pend Oreille County Auditor.

How to Record a Document

Recordings run under RCW 65.08, and the deed is under RCW 64.04.020. The document needs to be in writing, signed by the grantor, notarized, and include a full legal description. The four-step process:

• Formatted to Washington standards: 3” top margin on the first page, 1” margin on all other pages, and the document title and indexing information are complete.

• Fill in the REET affidavit. The Auditor shall not accept a conveyance until the Treasurer endorses it to confirm that the excise tax has been paid or, if no excise tax is due, records that on the instrument.

• Submit the recording fee and record in person or by mail. If your research is in the works, you will be using e-recording, but not yet. For now, plan on paper.

• Once recorded, the document joins the permanent record, which cannot be unrecorded, and the original returns to the address on the instrument.

FAQs

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