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TRUMBULL COUNTY Recorder to residents: Don’t pay $86 for a copy of deed
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County Recorder Diana Marchese is warning county residents who received a notice from a company offering them a copy of their deed for $86 that the same thing is available at her office for $5.
Marchese received a copy of a “Deed Processing Notice” sent by Secured Document Services of Washington, D.C., to a Girard resident recently offering to provide a copy of the deed and a “property profile” for $86.
Marchese said the Girard man who received the notice had recently purchased the property listed by Secured Document Services.
The notice says the company obtained the property owner’s name and address through a public record generated as a result of the property transfer.
“Secured Document Services recommends that all [Ohio] homeowners obtain a copy of their current Grant Deed,” the notice says.
“This document provides evidence that the property at [address] was in fact transferred to” the new owner, the notice says.
Furthermore, a property profile provides the “property address, owner’s name, comparable values and legal description or parcel identification number,” the notice says.
Marchese said she objects to the manner in which the notice is presented, making it look like an official government document and adding a “Compliance Response Date” and indicating there will be a $35 fee added if the property owner doesn’t respond by the deadline.
Marchese said anyone receiving the notice should be aware that there is no reason anyone needs to have Secured Document Services provide a copy of their deed.
Anyone who wants one can get a copy at her office on the first floor of the Trumbull County Administration Building, 160 High Street NW, across from the courthouse.
A certified copy costs $5.
Marchese said no one needs to have a copy of the deed, because the deed will always be on file at her office, and a copy will always be available there.
John Stockton, a super-visor at Secured Document Services, said one reason to get a copy of the deed is to make sure all of the information on it is correct.
Secured Document Services is not trying to mislead anyone, but if anyone did order a deed from Secured Document Services and now feels they don’t need it, they can get their money back, Stockton said.
“It takes advantage of people who don’t know [deeds] are a public document available at low cost,” Marchese said of the notices.
Stockton said getting a copy of the deed from Secured Document Services is a convenience for someone not knowing how to get one from the county or wanting to take several hours doing it.
The notices went only to people recently purchasing a home, Stockton said.
It generally takes five to 10 minutes to obtain a copy of a deed at the Trumbull County Recorder’s Office, a recorder’s office employee said.
A different company appears to be operating the same deal in Columbiana County.
Recorder Craig Brown said National Deed Service Inc. has been contacting local residents offering to provide copies of deeds for $87.
Brown’s office provides a deed copy for $2 a page, much less than is being charged by National Deed Service.