Officials sound alarm over deed offer
By MIKE CORN
It sure sounds like a good deal, the idea of someone else going to the difficulty of dealing with a governmental office on your behalf.
But it just might be too much of a good deal, considering the $70 to $80 it would cost to get a certified copy of deed to your property.
Especially when you stop and consider that a deed -- certified and all -- would cost only $1.25 at the Ellis County Register of Deeds office.
Rebecca Herzog, Ellis County's register of deeds, is sounding the alarm about a new spate of letters that are circulating from out of state companies offering to obtain certified copies of deeds.
"It is not an easy process to obtain public records from a governmental agency," the Northbrook, Ill.-based National Deed Service Inc. states on its Web site. "It often requires people to travel to the recorder's office, lose time from work and pay, locate the proper office, deal with the people at the office, and locate their document and wait for the document to be produced."
While the letters haven't yet arrived in Hays, Herzog wanted to caution homeowners about the offers because of the cost difference.
Even the state Register of Deeds Association is sounding the alarm.
"Property owners need not incur such an exorbitant expense for what the registers of deeds across Kansas stand ready to provide at a minimal cost," the association's board said in a statement passed along by Gove County Register of deeds Cristy Tuttle.
The average cost, Tuttle reported, is about $2, including the cost of certification.
"We only charge a quarter a page for a copy," Herzog said of her office, "plus a dollar for certification."
Herzog said it appears the deed-retrieval offers are focusing on metropolitan areas, perhaps because much of that information is online and easy to access.
But it's enough of a problem the Sedgwick County Attorney's office has issued a consumer warning about the offers.
The alert lets people know that if they've received such an offer, they should contact the agency's consumer fraud division.
Similar alerts and warnings have been issued elsewhere around the country.
