Texas Attorney General Opinion on Court Records
The Attorney General issued an opinion applying the Social Security Redaction Act to public court records. Basically, the county clerks will be required to review each file/document you request and redact the SS#.
How does this work? In Dallas County, you can no longer view Deed images on-line. You must go to the clerk's office and pull the microfiche tapes to view the documents or make a list of the docs and have the clerk print them out for you (at the cost of (at least) $1 per page vs. FREE from your office computer). The microfiche files only go to 2005, so recent documents are not available for viewing without first paying for them at the courthouse. I hear Tarrant is following suit soon.
If you think you can just use a Title Company, think again. They have the documents through last week...but they have to buy them from the county and can't get the new ones either. Collin County will not let you see any Deeds, on-line or off-line, without the clerk printing them off for you first for $0.50 per page.
I also have also been told that Kaufman county & Rockwall county have shut down their Deeds office. Also,Rockwall county will not let you look at a criminal file without the clerk first reviewing it and redacting info as necessary. All the counties offered by Texas Land Records on their website no longer offer the images on-line.
Right now, it seems the biggest impact is on the Deed Records, however, I suspect they will soon apply it to all court records (criminal, civil, divorce,probate, etc.). Get ready for long waits, more copy cost expenses, multiple trips to the courthouse on the same case, more parking, more mileage, more headaches.
The opinion is not binding, and some counties may ignore it.
How does this work? In Dallas County, you can no longer view Deed images on-line. You must go to the clerk's office and pull the microfiche tapes to view the documents or make a list of the docs and have the clerk print them out for you (at the cost of (at least) $1 per page vs. FREE from your office computer). The microfiche files only go to 2005, so recent documents are not available for viewing without first paying for them at the courthouse. I hear Tarrant is following suit soon.
If you think you can just use a Title Company, think again. They have the documents through last week...but they have to buy them from the county and can't get the new ones either. Collin County will not let you see any Deeds, on-line or off-line, without the clerk printing them off for you first for $0.50 per page.
I also have also been told that Kaufman county & Rockwall county have shut down their Deeds office. Also,Rockwall county will not let you look at a criminal file without the clerk first reviewing it and redacting info as necessary. All the counties offered by Texas Land Records on their website no longer offer the images on-line.
Right now, it seems the biggest impact is on the Deed Records, however, I suspect they will soon apply it to all court records (criminal, civil, divorce,probate, etc.). Get ready for long waits, more copy cost expenses, multiple trips to the courthouse on the same case, more parking, more mileage, more headaches.
The opinion is not binding, and some counties may ignore it.
1 Comments:
This just in: Many of you have heard about a recent opinion by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott regarding the confidentiality of Social Security numbers.
As a result of this action intended to curb identity theft, many county clerks across the state either stopped or severely curtailed the distribution of public records. Without access to these public records, many title companies could not issue title insurance, which jeopardized real estate closings.
The Texas Association of REALTORS and other affected industries contacted the attorney general and stressed the impact this ruling would have on the real estate industry and the Texas economy.
Fortunately, this morning the attorney general issued a 60-day abatement on the original order, which should enable Texas county clerks to resume business as usual.
Furthermore, the 60-day delay in implementation of the original opinion allows all affected parties time to work together to find a permanent legislative solution to this problem.
Rest assured that the Texas Association of REALTORS® will place this item at the top of our legislative agenda to ensure real estate transactions are not placed in jeopardy.
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