Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Regina O’Brien knows first-hand that her office’s free recorded document notification service works as advertised.
In January of 2023, O’Brien’s email pinged with a notification that someone had registered a document in her name. It turned out it was the certification of her being sworn in for another term in office. The email came the day the document was filed.
So the system works.
The Clerk and Recorder’s Office implemented the free system in 2020, primarily as a way to help combat possible fraud in home sales and leasing.
O’Brien said recording a quit claim deed changing names on property ownership requires filing a document in the name of the owner of record. If that owner is signed up for the notification system, he or she will receive an almost immediate email.
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That’s an advantage since checking official documents isn’t something most people regularly do.
O’Brien noted that the system doesn’t stop a document from being recorded, as commercial services claim to do. But the notification can enable a person to take quick action, which should start with a call to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. That’s better than letting a lot of time go by before being aware someone has done something possibly illegal in a property owner’s name, O’Brien said.
While the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies has a page dedicated to real estate scams and fraud, O’Brien said she isn’t aware of any such activity in Eagle County. Still, she noted, nearly 500 people have signed up for the free registration service.
The impetus for starting the service, she said, was “what services we can offer that are beneficial to homeowners.”
