Corporation Service Co. named four 2014 eRecording All-Stars for their advancements in electronic recording. A committee of CSC management and operations staff selected the winners, who will receive commemorative trophies to honor their accomplishments.
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The Pioneer Award, for a document submitter who has championed legislation or technology to help implement eRecording, went to Associated Bank. It was an early adopter of the technology and works closely with Washington and Racine Counties in Wisconsin to get the process up and running. The bank advocated for eRecording ever since, serving as a guide and resource to for other submitters and recorders. eRecording also is part of Associated Bank’s green initiative, saving the company not only money and time but precious natural resources.
The Advocate Award, for a document submitters who not only has embraced electronic recoding but encouraged others submitters to adopt the processes as well, went to South & Associates P.C., a law firm doing business in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. It created an automated, six-step workflow process to maximize efficiencies in its document recording process: Create, Review, Submit, Record, Pay, and Receive. Utilizing a sophisticated workflow engine housed within its case management system, South & Associates was able to power up efficiency by reducing labor costs and freeing up existing resources to handle other tasks – savings that go directly to its clients’ bottom lines. This firm continues to advocate for eRecording by showing the value and efficiencies it adds at their presentations.
The Green Award goes to a document submitter who has implemented eRecording technology as part of a larger “green” initiative to reduce paper consumption. This year the award went to eTitle Agency. Its Troy, Mich., headquarters is an officially designated “green” building by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The company is dedicated to improving processes to minimize the use of paper and other resources. Implementing CSC’s eRecording system in 2013 was one more step in the “green” direction for eTitle Agency, reducing the company’s paper usage for one client by 32 percent.
The Efficiency Award recognizes a document submitter who has decreased turnaround times, reduced errors, or cut down on rejections through eRecording. Since embracing eRecording in April, the Addison, Texas-based law firm of Barrett Daffin Frappier Turner & Engel, LLP, has electronically recorded more than 5,000 documents. They’ve also worked rigorously to complete a custom integration with the CSC eRecording Solution, which provides the highest efficiency currently available.
“We continue to be impressed by the hard work and dedication shown by document submitters nationwide in championing the speed and security of electronic document recording in more and more U.S. jurisdictions,” CSC Vice President Mark Rosser said. “It’s our great pleasure to recognize these proponents of the eRecording process.”
In addition to these companies, four recorders also were recognized.
The Rookie of the Year Award, recognizing a recording office that has made tremendous advancements in implementing eRecording technology within a short timeframe, went to Annette Hill and the City Register office of the NYC Department of Finance. It implemented eRecording on July 8, 2013 and a year later was electronically recording all documents, whereas many other New York counties are still only eRecording select documents. Already, approximately 40 percent of document submitted to the City Register are submitted electronically. The team reaches out to companies that are not eRecording and gives them presentations on how the process works, giving them a chance to ask questions and addressing their concerns.
The Trailblazer Award recognizes a recording office that has led its state in implementing or further developing eRecording technology. In 2007, Allen County became the first Indiana county to eRecord. Allen eRecords more than 40 percent of its documents and accepts all document types for eRecording, including transfer documents that circulate between the recorder, auditor and assessor. It receives in excess of 25,000 documents for eRecording each year.
The Model County Award recognizes a recording office that has a long and established history of eRecording documents and serving as a model for other offices. The Montgomery County, Pa., Recorder of Deeds, Nancy Becker, began eRecording documents in 2006 — one of the first counties to do so. By early 2007, the county had recorded almost 6,500 documents. By 2008, it was recording more than a quarter of its documents electronically. In 2013, it recorded nearly 70 percent of its documents. The technology has proven efficient and cost-effective for the county, enabling it to reduce its staff by nearly half since adopting the process.
The Leader of the Pack Award recognizes a recording office that is recording the majority of its real estate documents electronically and is encouraging submitters to adopt eRecording processes. Ten years ago, the Tarrant County Clerk’s Office, led by Mary Louise Garcia, didn’t record a single document electronically. In 2013, it recorded 69 percent of 335,477 documents electronically, one of the highest percentages in the nation. Not only was Tarrant County an eRecording pioneer, it has become a model of how to grow and promote the technology. It successfully authored and carried legislation in the 83rd Texas legislative session that provided for eRecording growth across the state and has become something of an eRecording “evangelist” by presenting to civic groups, business partners, clerk meetings and conferences on the value of eRecording as it relates to disaster recovery, business continuity and fraud prevention. Tarrant County was an early adopter of PRIA’s best business practices for growing the eRecording business, including stamping all recording office visitor’s receipts with “THIS DOCUMENT COULD HAVE BEEN eRECORDED.”