Title Companies Signing On to O.C.’s Online System

Title companies seem to like Orange County’s 6-month-old experiment in transmitting property documents electronically, according to county Clerk-Recorder Gary Granville.

Granville’s office was the first in the nation to accept electronic images of deeds of trust, mortgage papers and other records as a substitute for documents delivered in person.

Participating title companies must spend $8,000 on document scanning gear, dedicate a phone line and employ someone to input the documents, “but it’s completely voluntary,” Granville said. “Those who have come online are staying online.”

By year-end, 14 title insurers will be taking part, he said in a recent interview. “We’re right now doing about 60% of our title company volume electronically, and we expect that to increase.”

Granville said he hopes government tax liens will be next to go online.