Simplifile Helps Complete West Virginia’s First E-recording Transaction
October 11, 2018
Simplifile recently helped facilitate the first e-recording transaction in West Virginia. The transaction was completed Aug. 24 in Monongalia County, W.Va., which is the first recording jurisdiction in the state to begin e-recording land documents.
“Until recently, West Virginia had been one of the few remaining holdouts on e-recording adoption. That has now changed,” said Paul Clifford, Simplifile’s president. “Now that other counties within the state can witness the added efficiency and reduced costs e-recording provides, we expect to see adoption ramp up significantly. We stand ready to help additional West Virginia recording jurisdictions make the switch, joining the more than 1,800 counties in Simplifile’s e-recording network.”
The closing attorney for the transaction submitted the documents via Simplifile’s e-recording platform to the Monongalia County recorder’s office on Aug. 23. Due to the nature of West Virginia’s recording process, the verified and recorded documents were returned to the closing attorney the next business day.
“Once Simplifile accepts the document, it’s moved over to our portal,” Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney told The Dominion Post. “We review it, and once we record it, Simplifile deposits the money we need into our records and deals with the submitter. We don’t have to worry about bounced checks. We don’t have to worry about not having the proper amount for the recording. All those issues are solved because it’s handled before it ever gets to us…We’ve been working on this for quite some time. Most other states in the nation have been electronically recording, and have been for years. West Virginia has been a lone holdout, so we’ve really been working to get ourselves into a position to do that.”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.