My wife is currently at the recorder's office now searching the DB for her father's name and variations as well as my mother-in-law and the business name. So far nothing indicating "lien" has popped up. Just a bunch of "deeds", "reconveyance", "release", "agreement", "subordination", "termination financing statement", "notice intended sale", and "substitution trustee" are the title terms she has seen thus far. Nothing shows up for either 1998 and 1999 either, so not sure what the deal is.
EDIT: nm - she found a couple liens. What's weird is that one is from the state board of equalization and the other one is IRS/Federal related. Not sure how these even correlate with the liens the county supposedly filed or how to fully account for those.