One-third of U.S. Counties Now Offer E-recording
November 13, 2014
A new milestone has been reached in the number of recording jurisdictions that are electronically recording documents. As of Nov. 1, e-recording is available in more than 1,200 recording jurisdictions, which represents one-third of the nation’s 3,600 recording jurisdictions. This means more than 68 percent of the U.S. population resides in recording jurisdictions that offer electronic recording of documents.
“In the past two years, we have witnessed a significant boost in the number of recording jurisdictions enabling e-ecording in an effort to streamline their office workflows and increase both efficiencies and turnaround times for their submitters,” said Mark Ladd, vice president of regulatory and industry affairs at Simplifile.
Ladd also is the president of the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), which promotes and monitors the adoption of e-recording through the United States.
“Between August 2013 and November 2014, the number of counties committing to the e-recording process increased by more than 20 percent,” said Larry Burtness, Washoe County (Nevada) recorder and PRIA Technology Committee co-chair. “As the PRIA e-recording standards continue to mature, the number of counties leveraging this technology continues to expand.”
According to PRIA’s tracking system, it took from the late 1990s until August 2006 to reach the 200 eRecording counties mark. Since 2006, an additional 1,000 counties have implemented processes to accept the electronic recordation of documents.
“Recording offices aren’t the only ones who benefit from e-recording,” said Diane Evans of Denver-based Land Title Guarantee Co. and president of the American Land Title Association. “An important part of improving the consumer experience at the closing table is to ensure documents are recorded efficiently and without delay. Electronic recording helps local title companies address ALTA’s Best Practice guidelines which call for timely recording of documents and tracking document rejections and resubmissions.”
PRIA maintains a list of counties that have implemented e-recording technology and posts the list on the association’s website.
“Working internally through its Technology Committee and e-recording eXcellence Work Group, PRIA has steadily and meticulously developed XML standards while promoting industry adoption of this essential technology,” said Kate Teal of Ernst Publishing and co-chair of PRIA’s Technology Committee. “E-recording is experiencing unprecedented success with recorders who have installed the technology, most of whom report significant savings in their office operations.”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].