Warranty-deeds scheme spreads to Ozarks

Washington, D.C.-based National Deed Service Inc. has mailed a letter to Missouri property holders, offering to send them a certified copy of a warranty deed for $59.50.

Warranty deeds are part of public record; the costs to obtain them are much less when purchased directly from recorders’ offices.

In Greene County, the charge is $1 per page and $1 for certification. Deeds typically are two or three pages, which would put the cost below $5.

“What this company’s going to be doing is, they’re going to contact us and ask for a certified copy (of a deed),” said Scott County Recorder Tom Dirnberger, president of the Recorders’ Association of Missouri. “They’re going to pay us about $5, and then turn right around and sell it to the poor individual for $59.50.”

Greene County Recorder Linda Montgomery said her office received numerous calls in April inquiring about National Deed Service. Since releasing a statement to the media April 27 warning the public about the offer, the calls have stopped, Montgomery said.

“I think we got on top of that pretty quick, and now people know they can get the copies at our office,” she said.

Other members of the recorders’ association took similar action, and the association filed a complaint with Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office. Dirnberger said he hasn’t heard what will come of that filing.

Phone calls made to National Deed Service went unanswered, but an answering machine message states the company is not affiliated with a government or state agency and tells callers that deeds are public record.

Deeds 101

Meanwhile, Montgomery is reminding the public of what warranty deeds are and how they can be obtained.

A deed is a document given to a home buyer that guarantees that the buyer owns the title to the home. The deed is filed with a recorder’s office and made public record.

When a homeowner is selling property, the deed is passed on and certifies that the title on the property has no defects, liens or encumbrances. It covers the entire history of a piece of property.

Reasons for obtaining a copy of a deed include moving, selling a property or misplacing the deed, Montgomery said.

Most deeds are filed by banks and other lending institutions at the close of a sale.

Technological advances

The Greene County Recorder’s office on Feb. 27 began offering digital filing for its deeds. The new system allows filers to submit a deed and, if it is accepted, have the original deed returned to them in as little as an hour, Montgomery said.

The Greene County Recorder’s office still does manual filing, which Montgomery said takes longer because a deed isn’t indexed automatically, and it takes several days to receive and send a deed through mail.

The electronic filing system has been slow to catch on – about five deeds have been submitted, all from Kansas City – but Montgomery said that’s because the office has done little to promote electronic filing so far. This summer, however, Montgomery plans to hold a public meeting, in conjunction with the Webster County Recorder’s office, to educate people on the new system. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for June.

On the decline

Between January and April, 21,531 deeds were filed in Greene County. That’s a 2 percent decrease from the 21,948 deeds filed during the same period in 2006.

The decline is not terribly significant, said Montgomery, who attributes it to higher interest rates. However, rates are steering downward again, according to the association’s Dirnberger, and he said many Missouri counties are starting to see deed numbers begin to climb.