Recently, I have had numerous problems searching titles because relevant information has been removed from probate files pursuant to Ohio law which makes it "confidential."  While I can certainly understand the need to protect individuals privacy, this creates a real problem for title professionals, and potentially homeowners.  If omitted confidential information could result in a lien on someone's home, there is a real hazard waiting for a title searcher.

This month in Ohio, House Bill 525 went into effect requiring very strict formatting on documents to be recorded in the recorders' offices across the state.    Any document that does not conform will be be accepted ONLY if an additional $20 recording fee is paid.  It seems, like many well-intentioned laws, this one too will come with some unexpected consequences.  There are several common practices that may end up costing title companies lots of extra money if they aren't very careful. 

Thank you to Robert Breakell and George Booth for posting the link to the story in the forums.  It really should be no surprise, but it is probably the biggest hoax in the city since George C. Parker sold the Brooklyn Bridge in the 19th century.  Parker allegedly sold the bridge twice a week for years. 

Apparently, in an effort to demonstrate how easy it is to file a fraudulent deed, the Daily News forged the documents necessary to "swipe the Empire State Building."  It only took them about 90 minutes to steal the New York landmark.  Unfortunately, they have just educated many crooks that will likely encourage more deed fraud.  And, the "loophole" they cite as the flaw that made it possible, shows a real lack of understanding of the way our industry works.

We have all known for a long time that our public real estate records contain Social Security numbers.  Many advocates have worked long and hard to let our government know about the hazards of placing those records in the public domain of the Internet; yet, counties across the country continue to do so.  Some states have even mandated that those records be available online.  So, the big question is... Can the government do that and then pass a law prohibiting anyone else from doing the same thing?  The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has provided an answer.

There is a very interesting article in the Detroit Free Press about a man who found his Social Security number in the county's online records and how Wayne County handles these situations.  It is estimated that the number of documents in Wayne County that contain Social Security numbers is in the hundreds of thousands.  With the Federal Trade Commission estimating that identity theft costs approximately nine million Americans $50 billion per year, surely Wayne County has a comprehensive plan to redact vulnerable information from their records.... ummm... nope.

Source of Title recently ran a feature on documents that were discovered missing from the online records in two counties (see Title Examiner Discovers Documents Missing from Online Database). These incidents appear to have been limited to the online databases, but it should give us all pause for concern.  If this can happen with the online records, how can we be sure that the records we access in the courthouse, maintained by the same companies, are not subject to the same inconsistencies?  Truth be told... documents have disappeared from the computers at the courthouse too.