The bank that has the lien on my property has a secure title. Why would another bank need to do another title search if I was planning to secure a loan from them to pay it off and get a better rate?
Any bank that takes an interest in your property -- whether it's real or personal property -- needs to ensure that its interests aren't superseded by those of someone else. In the case of a junior mortgagee (a lender with a junior lien position), the lender wants to ensure that there are no liens other than the one it knows about, that of the first mortgagee.
Liens can be put on real property after a first mortgage is recorded. For example, if a contractor works on your home, the contractor has a lien on the real property until you pay your bill completely. If you fail to pay the contractor, you could find a recorded lien -- often called a "mechanic's lien" -- on the property. That lien would be junior to the first mortgage or deed of trust, but come ahead of a lender who records a mortgage later in time. To protect its lien position, the new lender would require that any mechanic's lien or other intervening lien on the property be satisfied and released before it advances funds on a new loan secured by your property.
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