Morrisville, N.C. – A new milestone in the number of recording jurisdictions that are electronically recording documents has been reached. With its initial eRecorded document, Alamance County, N.C., became the 1,000th recording jurisdiction to enable the eRecording process in the United States.
David Ewan, underwriting counsel for Westcor Land Title Insurance Co., and president of the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), was elated with this announced milestone which took place during the association’s 2013 Annual Conference being held in Minneapolis. Ewan proclaimed, “PRIA is a standard setting body that promotes and monitors the adoption of eRecording throughout the United States. In the past year, we have witnessed a significant boost in the number of recording jurisdictions enabling eRecording in an effort to streamline their office workflows and increase both efficiencies and turnaround times for their submitters. PRIA congratulates Alamance County, N.C., on its commitment to excellence in the recording industry.”
Electronic recording (eRecording) is the automated process in a land records office of receipt, examination, fee calculation and payment, endorsing of recording information and return of recorded electronic documents to the submitter. eRecording improves the quality of data, reduces turn-around times and provides significant cost savings for those who utilize it, when compared to a manual process.
“Between June 2012 and August 2013, the number of counties committing to the eRecording process increased by more than 25 percent,” said Washoe County (Nev.) Recorder and PRIA Technology Committee Co-chair, Larry Burtness. “As the PRIA eRecording standards continue to mature, the number of counties leveraging this technology continues to expand.”
According to PRIA’s tracking system, it took from the late 1990s until August 2006 to reach the 200 eRecording counties mark. Close to 1,200 counties are expected to be electronically recording documents by the end of 2013 which equates to one-third of all recording jurisdictions in the country.
PRIA, the national standard-setting body for the land 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.
“We are confident the actual number of eRecording counties is higher than what we publish, but the list is limited to those counties that have been accurately verified,” said eRecording eXcellence Work Group Co-Chair, Chris Walker, clerk in Jackson County, Ore.
The names of the eRecording counties are available to the public, while PRIA members have access to a more detailed list which includes contact information for the counties, as well as the individual county’s technology vendor(s). The list is continually updated by the PRIA administrative staff that works with key volunteer resources to find and report new eRecording-enabled counties.
“Working internally through its Technology Committee and eRecording eXcellence Work Group, PRIA has steadily and conscientiously developed XML standards while promoting industry adoption of this essential technology,” said Technology Committee Co-Chair Kate Teal, Ernst Publishing. “eRecording is experiencing unprecedented success with recorders who have installed the technology most of whom report significant savings in their office operations.”
The eRecording process also provide a competitive edge to the firms that submit documents to the recorders electronically, by decreasing turnaround time and speeding up the transaction process.
Specific questions on eRecording can be directed to the PRIA offices at info@pria.us.
About PRIA
PRIA develops and promotes national standards and best practices for the property recording industry by identifying appropriate opportunities for collaboration among industry stakeholders; developing recommendations for standards and best practices; encouraging and supporting the adoption of such standards and practices; providing a clearinghouse for property-records-related information; and educating members, stakeholders and the public about the property records industry. For more information on PRIA, visit www.pria.us.