San Diego County Adopts E-recording with Simplifile

June 23, 2015

San Diego County, Calif., the fifth most populated U.S. county, is now accepting electronic land documents submitted through Simplifile.

With the addition of San Diego, Simplifile now provides e-recording in 20 of the nation’s largest counties by population.

Using Simplifile’s secure, web-based service, customers including title companies, banks, and attorneys will be able to electronically submit documents to San Diego County and have them recorded in minutes.

“In the first three weeks of going live, 30 percent of documents eligible for e-recording were submitted electronically,” said the San Diego County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk Ernie Dronenburg. “Based on the current law, we estimate that 74 percent of the documents are qualified to use this process.”

Under current California laws regarding e-recording of real property records, a county’s e-recording delivery system must meet specified security standards, and all persons with a secure access role, including submitter’s staff, are required to undergo fingerprint criminal history checks. In addition, there are specific technical requirements that all submitters must adhere to when e-recording documents.

“The volume of documents we are recording is not decreasing,” Dronenburg said. “But with the implementation of e-recording, we can manage the workload more efficiently.”

With Simplifile’s service, customers are also able to track and view the status of their documents that have been submitted to San Diego County, giving them the ability to quickly correct and resubmit any rejected documents.

Recording fees and payments can also be processed securely through Simplifile, eliminating check-writing expenses and reducing payment errors.

“Many of our customers have been anxious for this announcement and to have the convenience of a secure, online recording option in San Diego County,” said Paul Clifford, president of Simplifile. “E-recording is so much more cost-effective and helps both the county and their customers work toward a more paperless work environment. We’re proud to be providing a service that makes the sometimes complicated process of land document recording a simple one.”


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.