If you are lucky, your company might make some of this public.

Basically a cloud of title is a publicly recorded piece of paper saying that you have a contractual right to buy the property and you are putting a lien for $X against the property because of their default on that contract.When a title agent or attorney pulls the title, they will find the cloud and for title insurance to be issued they will have to get you to sign off on it.

It takes guts to make a public open ended obligation and makes him an easy target.

This type of loan is generally available to individuals who own a property that has been rented out to blue chip companies, multinational companies and public sector companies.

As Joe mentioned you could go to the public, one big issue in most states (actually all, but some try to work loopholes) is facilitating sales without a license.

I wonder wether it would attract more out of state investors to Jacksonville, as good publicity is more important then anything else.

If you live in a city that has public transportation, start using that.

Is there a public database for this kind of information that I can look up online or any other source?

Do good locally and maybe it will 'pay forward'.Require politicians to be bonded, like a locksmith or other tradesman entrusted with the public good and safety.Make crimes committed while serving in office a more serious offense requiring longer sentences or larger fines.Bring back public flogging.

Very often this information is just taken from public records and those are very often wrong.