Simplifile, Title Guaranty Complete First E-recording of Hawaii Land Court Document
August 10, 2017
Simplifile announced that Title Guaranty has completed the first electronic recording of a Land Court document in Hawaii using Simplifile's e-recording service. The mortgage document was submitted into the public record on July 26 in a process that took only minutes, the companies reported.
Unlike most U.S. states, Hawaii does not have a county recording system. Instead, mortgages, deeds and other real property documents are recorded through the State of Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, which manages two systems of recordation: the Regular System and the Land Court System. While Hawaii has allowed e-recording of Regular System documents since 2010, this achievement marks the first time a Land Court document has been recorded electronically in the state's history.
"As the first title and escrow company in Hawaii, Title Guaranty is excited to now be the first to e-record in the state's Land Court System," said Mike B. Pietsch, chief operating officer of Title Guaranty. "In addition to the many efficiencies it will create, e-recording will also allow clients much earlier access to their original recorded documents. We are proud to lead the way in utilizing technology to enhance a process that is so critical to real estate transactions in Hawaii."
Paper-based recording can be especially cumbersome in Hawaii, where documents have to be air-mailed from neighboring islands to the Bureau of Conveyances on Oahu at great time and expense. The move to an electronic process represents a major step up in recording security, speed and savings for Hawaii's document submitters and recorders, according to Simplifile and Title Guaranty
"Bilateral e-recording in Hawaii is a milestone we have been working toward for more than a decade," said Simplifile President Paul Clifford. "After seeing first-hand the challenges document submitters must face to manually record in Hawaii's island geography, we are extremely gratified to bring the convenience, security and cost savings of e-recording to the Land Court."
As the pilot submitter for the first Hawaii Land Court recording, Title Guaranty worked closely with Simplifile to prepare for the momentous transaction. "Our experience with Simplifile was excellent," Pietsch said. "Their collaborative approach during our initial training on the platform, preparation for the pilot, and first batch of submissions to the Bureau of Conveyances made the whole process seem easy and clear to understand."
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