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Recorder flags Senate Bill 1523 requirement for county property-fraud review; staff warn of workload and liability implications
Summary
LaSalle County Recorder reported on Senate Bill 1523, which would require counties to establish property fraud review systems; the recorder said the bill would expand duties beyond recording and raised concerns about time, liability and staff capacity.
LaSalle County Recorder Karen (first name used in transcript) briefed the committee on Senate Bill 1523 and warned that the measure, as written, would require recorders to establish and maintain property-fraud review processes that go beyond the office's current responsibilities.
Karen read the bill text as she summarized it: "Provides that any person who files or causes to be filed a deed or instrument that is recorded in the granter's index or the grantees index that is fraudulent, unlawfully altered, or intended to unlawfully cloud or transfer the title of any real property may be held liable to the rightful property owner affected in an action," she said. Karen said the bill also would require counties to "establish and maintain a property fraud alert system" and to implement a fraud referral and review process, which would demand document-by-document reviews and more staff time.
Karen told the committee the recorder's office currently sends property-fraud alerts to enrolled subscribers notifying them when a document is recorded, and the office can show a recorded document to a caller, but the new bill appears to require substantive review and investigation of deeds. "To establish a fraud referral and review process to review deeds and instruments could be very time consuming and would step over the bounds of what the recorder's office does at this time," she said, noting the risk of new liabilities and the added workload.
She said the Illinois Recorder's Association is monitoring the bill and that local offices have asked the association to lobby for language that would allow counties to opt in rather than require counties to perform a full fraud review by statute. Karen said follow-up work is pending and that the recorder's association would provide more guidance as the bill moves through the legislature.
The recorder's office report and the committee's discussion did not result in a formal motion; the recorder asked the committee to note the issue and to expect updates as the legislation proceeds.
