Publication: Charlotte Sun;

Date: Sep 16, 2009;

Section: Our Town;

Page: OT12

Charlotte County court kicks off e-recording

By DANA SANCHEZ ASSISTANT ENGLEWOOD EDITOR


PUNTA GORDA — Deeds, mortgages and liens can now be filed electronically at the Charlotte County Courthouse, cutting down on sometimes months-long lag times for paper processing and saving both labor and mail costs. 

Charlotte County Clerk of Circuit Court Barbara T. Scott ushered in a new era in e-recording with a public meeting Tuesday at the Charlotte County Justice Center in Punta Gorda.

About 25 people attended, representing local title companies and law firms from Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties.

A 40 to 50 percent reduction in recordings in the last year has resulted in layoffs of 14 staff members and the closing of the Englewood Courthouse Annex, Scott said.

Offices using erecording report a 25 percent reduction in labor, according to Scott’s research.

The savings anticipated from e-recording versus processing paper documents will help stabilize the county staff that remains employed, Scott said.

“This should help us speed up the indexing and filing,” Scott said. “In this time, not having to lay someone else off is a luxury.”

The county has partnered with Simplifile, LC of Provo, Utah. The company is an Internet service provider of electronic recording services.

The service is free for the county. The company makes its money from the filers.

Companies that record documents at the courthouse such as title insurers and attorneys must sign up and become clients of Simplifile before they can use the service.

E-recording is relatively new to Florida and Charlotte County is only the 17th in the state to go online with the service. Lee County started using it in December. Sarasota has yet to sign on, according to Pat Sponem, an account executive for Simplifile.

“Charlotte is really pretty far ahead of the curve,” she said.

For example, although every county in Utah uses e-recording, New York has yet to pass enabling legislation for it.

Users scan original documents in their offices, then send them off with a click to the county clerk, complete with recording marks burned into the image.

The movement towards electronic recording got a boost in April 2007 when the legislature passed a law saying a digital image is the same as an original for recording purposes — the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.

Some businesses that deal with recorded documents say they wish they could mandate erecording, Sponem said. Others see it as a growing trend.

“From the way the industry seems to be going, it’s going to be mandatory so we wanted to get a first look,” said Lorie Gahagan, who attended the meeting Tuesday for Wotitzky, Wotitzky and Ross, P.A. Law Firm in Punta Gorda. The firm may adopt e-recording based on her recommendations, she said.

Patti Oaks with David K. Oaks, P.A., said her office would not adopt erecording unless it becomes mandatory.

“It doesn’t benefit us,” Oaks said. “We’re a single practitioner and I’m here (at the Justice Center) every day.”

Typically, potential clients take the information on e-recording back to their offices and chew on it for a while before adopting it, Sponem said.

“Then they start seeing more e-recorded documents and they have to keep up with the Joneses,” she said.

The Simplifile service costs $195 to $295 for the use of the software, plus $5 per document filed electronically.

E-recording has been particularly appealing to title insurance underwriters such as First American, Fidelity, Stewart and Old Republic, who have all signed on nationally, Sponem said.

There’s often a gap between closing a real estate deal and recording the paperwork that can can last weeks or months. During the real estate boom days, the wait was as long as six months. These days, the delay is more likely a result of staffs that are shorthanded due to budget cuts trying to catch up, Sponem said. During the lag time, title companies may be vulnerable to liens filed after closing that they have to settle.

Other companies that provide e-recording services include Affiliated Computer Services and Ingeo Systems, according to Sponem.

Nacole Klootwyk is vice president of Florida operations for Stewart Title, which pioneered the first e-recorded document filed with the Charlotte County clerk’s office on Sept. 8.

“This is the greatest program,” Klootwyk said. “Staff no longer has to leave the office and there’s no more overpaying. It’s a very easy program to work.”

For more information on Simplifile, call Sponem at 561-376-9471.

E-mail: dsanchez@ sun-herald.com