Efficient name searching in Landonline

Search for a title by owner

When searching for a title by a proprietor's name, you should refine the search criteria as much as possible.

For example, if you just enter details in the Owners Family Name field, you will be searching the whole of New Zealand for every owner who shares that surname. This search will take some time to complete.

Refine your searches by entering details in at least two of the three fields below:

• Land District
• Owners Family Name
• Given Names

If you only have details of surname/family name and first given name, and you aren't sure if the person has a middle name, then enter an asterisk (*) after the given name. Landonline will check the database for everyone with that name and any other name following. This is called a wildcard search. See below for other ways to use wildcards.

To search for a title by owner's name, in the Search screen:

1. Select the Land District from the Land District field, if known.

   

2. Enter the owner's name details in both of the Owners Family Name and Given Name(s) fields, or in the Corporate Name field.
3. Leave checked to restrict the search to current owners.

   

   Uncheck this to search for both current and previous owners.
4. Leave checked to search for live titles only.

   

   Uncheck to search for all titles including cancelled titles.
5. Click

   

   to display the results of your search in the Search Results area.
6. If required, use the Search Results Options to resize, print, copy or save a list of selected titles for this owner from the Search Results area. There is no charge when using these options.
7. Select one or more titles from the Search Results area to print or add to the Searches tree.

Wildcards

A wildcard is a symbol used as part of the search criteria, and can be used in the Owners Family Name, Given Names and Corporate Name fields. Wildcards are used when you don't know the exact details to search on, e.g. you are uncertain whether an owner's family name is Johnson or Johnston. In this instance, you might type Johns*.

Two wildcard symbols can be used in Landonline:

1. * (asterisk) – this completes a search entry
2. ? (question mark) – this is used as a placeholder in a search entry.

These symbols can be used together or separately.

Examples of how wildcards may be used in the Owners Family Name field:

Type this...	Sample search results
John*	John, Johns, Johnson, Johnston, Johnstone…
Sm?th	Smith, Smyth
Br?a*	Breaden, Brian, Bryan, Broad, Broadmore…

Tips for using wildcards effectively in name fields:

• Prefix the first wildcard symbol used in a field with at least two letters.
• Refine your search as much as possible as broad use of wildcards can take some time to return results.
• In the Search screen, you can also use a wildcard in the first or second position in the Given Names, Owners Family Name and Corporate Name fields.
• A wildcard used in the first or second position of a field must be followed by at least four characters, except when used in the Given Name(s) field. In the Given Name(s) field, a wildcard can be used on its own or with one other character.
• Use at least one other search criteria wherever possible when using wildcards. This will refine your search and reduce any impact on performance.

Examples of how wildcards may be used in the name fields: