Major recording issues in King County

July 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

If you are closing on a refinance or home purchase in King County, you need to be aware of an issue going on with the recorders office. It’s my understanding that on Tuesday, title companies received this message:

“Hello Everyone,

I wanted to update you and keep you aware of a technical issue we are experiencing in the King County Recorder’s Office. We are having substantial problems with our recording system which is causing slow downs and interruptions to service in all aspects of the recording process. Our software vendor and our IT department are working together to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. While the problem persists we may not be able to meet our commitment to providing same day service even for those packages received before cutoff. We will work hard to ensure that all items are recorded either after hours or first thing the next day.

My apologies for the inconvenience on this. I know that this is a busy time for everyone and we are doing all we can to resolve it quickly.

Today, I’m told that King County’s recorders office closed at 5pm stranding hundreds of transactions from recording.”

If your transaction, refinance or purchase, does not “record” then it’s not of public record. Hopefully people can be flexible and nobody is seriously financially damaged by what’s going on with King County.

Hat tip to Lorie Cantu Wiest of Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.

 

Filed Under: Escrow and closing, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Hold Everything! What is Your Title Company’s Recording Protocol?

March 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Satchmortgageporter If you’re a long time reader of The Mortgage Porter, you know that my pre-mortgage career was in the title and escrow industry.  One of my early jobs was preparing documents to be recorded at King County.  Later in my career, as a sales rep, I would sometimes have the opportunity to “be a hero” by driving “rush recordings” directly to the court house in Seattle and either meeting the title company’s recorder or actually having to “walk on” the documents myself. Recordings are the deeds and deeds of trust that will be recorded at the county to become public record to give the world notice that you now own the land or have debt attached to the property.  (It also gives scammers notice to hound you with loan and other offers).

On a recent transaction, I learned that all title companies are not the same when it comes to how the manage their recordings.  When a title company receives documents from the escrow company, they are typically “on hold” meaning–do not record yet; or they’re a “walk on” which means, record as soon as possible.  It’s my understanding that most title companies keep holds at King County UNLESS they have verified with the escrow company that the documents are not scheduled to close for some time.  

This transaction involved a title company who apparently keeps recordings for King County at their Lynnwood office until they know they are released for recording and then they are sent with their recording courier.   Problems can arise when recordings are released later by escrow or if the courier faces high volumes of traffic with her commute to Seattle (what are the odds of that?).  I have been informed by their Senior Title Officer that they are changing their policy on keeping holds at their office.

It could be worth asking your preferred King County title provider:

Where do they keep recordings that are on hold? 

Will they do a special courier to the court house if needed? (a title rep can do this) 

Hopefully the recordings are kept at King County (or the appropriate county) so that in the event of a later release, the documents are prepared and ready to go to avoid delays with closings. 

Related Post: 

What Takes Place Between Signing and Closing

Is Your Agent in Bed with a Title Company?

Who’s Who with Local Title Companies

Filed Under: Escrow and closing, Title Insurance Tagged With: , , ,