MORRISVILLE, N.C. – Iowa has become the eighth state in which 100 percent of its recording jurisdictions are eRecording enabled.
Colorado was the first multi-jurisdictional state to earn the 100 percent designation in 2011, with Arizona reaching that landmark in 2012. Massachusetts reached the 100 percent mark in February of this year, while Hawaii, Alaska, Delaware and District of Columbia also claim 100 percent of jurisdictions eRecording.
With the number of counties that are eRecording across the nation surpassing the 1,260 mark, an increase of more than 150 jurisdictions in the past 12 months, significant progress is being made toward nationwide acceptance of electronically recorded documents.
Electronic recording (eRecording) is the process of submitting electronic documents to a land records office which receives and examines those documents, calculates fees and receives electronic payment for those documents, as well as the subsequent electronic return of the recorded documents to the submitter. When compared to a paper-based process, eRecording improves the quality of data, reduces turn-around times and provides significant cost savings for both the end-user submitter and the recording jurisdiction.
“eRecording hit another milestone in 2015 with Iowa moving into the 100 percent column,” declared Mark Ladd, PRIA president, and vice president of regulatory and industry affairs with Simplifile, LC. “We hope to increase the pace of full-participation states by developing seamless implementation strategies through the efforts of the PRIA eRecording eXcellence Work Group and its recent ‘eRecording Best Practices for Recorders’ work product that is currently undergoing final review following a 30-day comment period.”
“It’s exciting to see so many counties embracing this technology and, along with the technology, the PRIA standards,” said Larry Burtness, recorder, Washoe County, Nev., PRIA vice president and government sector co-chair of the Technology Committee.
“eRecording has been an important industry goal for many years and the progress we are seeing today is the direct result of the hard work of PRIA, its volunteers and forward-thinking county recorders across the country,” said Kate Teal, general counsel for Ernst Publishing Co., and business sector co-chair of the Technology Committee. “With the addition of Iowa, we are now closer than ever to a critical mass of recorders who have the capability to accept electronic documents. This is an important milestone and we believe it will result in even more adoption, bringing with it all of the benefits we have known for years that eRecording can deliver.”
PRIA, the national standard-setting body for the property records industry, maintains a list of counties that have implemented eRecording technology and posts the list on the association’s Website (www.pria.us). The list includes counties whose implementations have been confirmed by PRIA and is available to the public.
ABOUT PRIA:
The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) develops and promotes national standards and best practices for the property records industry. PRIA is a coalition of government and business partners collaborating to formulate positions on issues of common interest. PRIA strives to identify areas of consensus within the industry, leading to recommendations for national standards pertaining to recordable documents. For more information on PRIA, visit www.pria.us.