If i am not going to use Bank of America, would it be better to use a national chain (Wells Fargo, Wachovia, etc.) or would a local credit union be better?

This, I believe, is the "gold standard".

You can search by address and find out a lot of information.As EZLoanz pointed out, to do more research on liens, original note amount, and chain of title, you can do some research at the county courthouse.

I asked her questions and considered the answers to be gold (which they were).

With your name on a P&S, or better still already on the chain of title, NOTHING can happen unti you say so!

It sounds like a gold mine, but then everybody trying to sell anything is going to tell you that they can make you rich.

As soon as I had the support of my wife, it was like the chains were broken.

A general warranty deed usually warrants title through the whole chain of ownership through time.A special warranty deed which is what many banks and REO do is saying " I only warranty title on the property for the time I have owned it ".Quit claim basically says " whatever interest I have in the property I give to you but no warranty on title is implied whatsoever "Hope it helps.

I suppose if the agent has idea what attorney would be assigned a case, there would be no chain linking the two.

I had lunch in Dallas last week with two bankers friends who is at the top of the food chain, and they don't even know how the Dodd-Frank act will work, and they have a team of lawyers the best money can buy.