E-recording Counties Hits 400 Mark

August 10, 2009

The number of counties that have implemented electronic recording systems topped the 400 mark during the month of June, according to Carol Foglesong, president of the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA).

“It is exciting to see so many counties embracing this technology,” said Linn County (Iowa) Recorder and PRIA Technology Committee Co-chair Joan McCalmant. “As the PRIA eRecording standards continue to mature, the number of counties leveraging this technology is rapidly expanding.”

According to PRIA’s tracking system, it took from the late 1990s until August 2006 to reach the 200 eRecording counties mark. That number has now doubled in less than three years.

PRIA, the national standard setting body for the land records industry, maintains a list of counties that have deployed electronic recording technology and posts the list on the association’s Web site (www.pria.us).

The list includes counties whose implementations have been verified by PRIA. “We are certain the actual number of eRecording counties is higher than the number we publish, but the list is limited to those counties we have been able to adequately verify,” said PRIA Technology Coordinator Mark Ladd.

The names of the eRecording Counties are available to the public, while PRIA members have access to a detailed list which includes contact information for the counties, as well as the technology vendors. The list is continually updated by the PRIA Technology Coordinator who tracks down reports of new eRecording-enabled counties from a variety of sources.

“PRIA has worked diligently, in alliance with the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), to develop XML standards and promote industry adoption of this important technology,” Foglesong said. “Electronic recording is experiencing unprecedented success with county recorders who have deployed the technology.”

The automation that XML facilitates will improve the quality of data, reduce turn-around times and provide significant cost savings for those who utilize it, according to PRIA.

In a coming edition of TitleNews, ALTA will show how e-recording can save your title agency money and how it can be a differentiator from other companies.


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