News & Resources

1st Quarter 2007

Title Industry Watch
eSignings
Increased Implementations of e-Signings Drives Futher Demand
for e-Recordings

With several major lenders and settlement service providers moving full speed ahead with e-mortgage initiatives, industry technology experts predict that 2007 will be the "year of the e-closing." Increased
e-closings will drive further demand for
e-recording, as all parties involved—mortgage lenders, settlement service providers, and consumers—seek faster, easier, and less expensive methods for securing a home mortgage.

Many states are also gearing up for e-recording activities in 2007—January alone saw eight new states introduce measures to adopt the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA). To date, eight states have already adopted URPERA. However, lenders by and large are discouraged by slow e-recording implementation and many have plans on moving forward with e-closing solutions that stop just short of the e-recording.

While many lenders consider the true e-mortgage, including the e-recording, to be out of reach in 2007, many states and counties are moving forward as new technologies rapidly evolve and legislation quickly follows suit. The states that have already adopted URPERA* include Arizona, Delaware, Washington D.C., Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The eight states with current measures in the legislature include Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Utah.

We'll keep an eye on both the lender's e-signing initiatives and the counties' e-recording efforts, and update you in future issues of our newsletter.

* URPERA directly addresses county land record recorders by removing any doubt about the authority of the recorder to receive and record documents and information in electronic form. The law's fundamental principle is that requirements of state laws describing or requiring that documents be original, on paper, or in writing are satisfied by documents in electronic form. For more details, see the NCCUSL web site:

www.nccusl.org/Update/uniformact_why/uniformacts-why-urpera.asp