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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> When we bought this place we hired a title company. Was that enough? 

Probably not.  Not in lieu of a title search at any rate.  Title companies 
are (can be) great especially for title insurance.  But if you buy land and 
find 
that it is under a covenant that, for example, restricts you from camping on 
it, you'd have no recourse to the title company.

I'm 

> certain that a search for liens against the property is harder than one 
> for deed restrictions, which are all recorded in one easy place, right?
> 
> 

Usually leins and deeds of restricion are recorded in the same place.  One 
place, but easy?  Not necessarily.  In most states you can record 
restrictions 
directly on the deed, as a separate covenant, or on the deed of another piece 
of property.  The restrictions might not appear on your deed nor the deed 
from 
which yours is written, but if you search back to the original issuer, you 
may 
find an original deed with restrictions and those will still be binding.  If 
the issuer created other deeds, as from dividing a larger estate, the 
restrictions might appear on ONE of the deeds but not the others and they are 
still 
binding.   Tricksty, that.

Most states recognize that a deed restriction is valid and enforceable if 
four criteria are met:

1:  Property was from a common issuer (writer of deeds)
2:  The restrictions are for the benefit of the deed holder
3:  There is a common plan of development
4:  The buyer had knowledge of the restrictions

If you have had the misfortune of having to deal with courts you will recall 
that they allow for two types of knowledge:

1:  Actual knowledge
2:  Construct knowledge

The latter means that you might have not actually known, but anyone 
exercising reasonable prudence would have known.  That is, if the 
restrictions (or 
leins) are properly recorded, you are responsible for finding them out.

Alas, I am all too familiar with this whole bit because I had to enforce the 
restrictions on the land around mine in court.