BLOG ARCHIVE
Why Iowa Land Records Matters
Today, Iowa Land Records includes over 24 million real estate records and provides the capacity to process thousands of recording transactions, facilitating more than $31 million annually for Iowa counties. In recent months, a steady increase in electronic submissions...
Celebrating Two Decades of Digital Access
Imagine a time, not long ago, when accessing essential land records—deeds, mortgages, and other critical documents— meant carving out hours of your time to visit your county courthouse. These paper-based processes were time-consuming and required significant space for...
Fraudulent Activity From “County Deeds” Reappear
(Photo courtesy of Winnebago County Recorder's office. Redacted for privacy.) Spring is around the corner, and with that, the prospect of more property sales. This also means increased chances for fraudulent activity from entities claiming to be legitimate real estate...
Joan McCalmant – ISAC Golden Eagle Award
At the ISAC Annual Conference in Des Moines on August 23 of 2023, former Linn County Recorder, Joan McCalmant was awarded the Golden Eagle Award for her dedication and extraordinary acts of service to her community, county, and the state of Iowa. With an exceptional...
SCAM ALERT – Home Warranty Letter
Scams seem to get more and more clever each day, but do you know what to do if a suspicious letter threatening financial consequences arrives in your mailbox? In May of 2023, a Webster County resident opened their mail to find a concerning message about a home...
Changes Ahead for E-Submission Users in 2023
The way E-Submission administrators and accounting users will log in to the E-Submission service will soon be changing. The primary reasons for these changes are to increase security and to set the stage for a single sign on function so that authorized users will have...
Third-Parties Charging for Military Records
The Iowa County Recorders Association wants to make all veterans aware that recording or requesting military records is always free of charge for a veteran. In recent weeks, it has been reported that a third-party company has been charging veterans to record these...
Blockchain and the Public Land Registry
We were recently asked to provide some clarification on what exactly one should say to a legislator (or anyone else) when speaking about how blockchain (distributed ledger technology) relates to the recording process and why we should care. So, forget for a moment...
Redaction Request – Back the Blue Update
At the close of the 2021 legislative session, the Iowa General Assembly approved a bill intended to provide various benefits and protections for Iowa law enforcement officials. The bill, also known as the “Back the Blue” bill, includes provisions relating to the...
Customer Perceptions – 2021 Customer Satisfaction Survey Results
Iowa Land Records, the Electronic Services System and Iowa county recorders have a strong orientation toward customer service. Training and support are ongoing activities. Numerous training videos are posted online, and there are monthly webinars for E-Submission...
Groundwater Hazard Statement Process Improvement
Many properties do not have a reportable hazard such as a well, private burial site, underground storage tank, or other hazardous waste or disposal site. The preparation and submission of a groundwater hazard statement in these cases creates unnecessary work for...
Proposed Legislation to Amend 28E Agreement
In 2005, nearly two years after the creation of the county land records information system by the Iowa County Recorders Association, the Iowa General Assembly adopted a session law (House File 882) requiring that the system be managed through a 28E organization. It...
Legislation for Expanded Use of E-Submission Service Fees
In recent years the E-Submission service has received the most recognition as its adoption has grown year-over-year. However, the search engine tool continues to be a core service for ESS and Iowa Land Records (ILR). In 2019, an average of over 7,750 users per month...
Improvements to Recorders Interface Nearly Complete as Planning for New Customer Interface Kicks Off
The Iowa Land Records development team continues to make progress on the E-Submission 2.0 recorders interface, moving administrative functions from the legacy interface to the new one. As these administrative functions are developed in the new interface, the Iowa Land...
COVID-19 Sparks E-Submission Surge
The pandemic seems to be far from over, and there are still many unknowns we are all facing. However, as the State of Iowa has lifted restrictions, county offices have reopened to the public, each with their own set of screening protocols and procedures in place. It’s...
ILR Basic Training Session 5
Surveys and Plats with Phil Dunshee, Project Manager at Iowa Land Records Iowa Land Records Basic Training is a virtual series covering basic Iowa Land Records skills and concepts. Recordings of each live webinar will be made available for future viewing and...
Iowa Land Records Basic Training Session 4
Portal Basic Training with Phil Dunshee, Project Manager at Iowa Land Records Iowa Land Records Basic Training is a virtual series covering basic Iowa Land Records skills and concepts. Recordings of each live webinar will be made available for future viewing...
ILR Basic Training Session 3
E-Submission Standards and Best Practices + Case Studies with Lisa Long, Customer Service and Account Manager at Iowa Land Records Iowa Land Records Basic Training is a virtual series covering basic Iowa Land Records skills and concepts. Recordings of each live...
ILR Basic Training Session 2
E-Submission 2.0 Recorders Interface - Workflow, Search and Admin Functions with Phil Dunshee, Project Manager and Lisa Long, Customer Service and Account Manager Iowa Land Records Basic Training is a virtual series covering basic Iowa Land Records skills and...
ILR Basic Training Session 1
2021 Legislative Priorities – Helping Share Knowledge with Stakeholders with Phil Dunshee, Project Manager at Iowa Land Records Iowa Land Records Basic Training is a virtual series covering basic Iowa Land Records skills and concepts. Recordings of each live...
Derecho Disaster Proclamation
Recorder’s Office Vital Records and Certain Registrations/Titles The governor extended a disaster proclamation for counties impacted by the August 10 derecho until December 10, 2020. The original proclamation and extension (See page 26) allow for the replacement of...
Help Your Networks With Housing and Utility Challenges
If you have an economic interest in the real estate industry, then you know the value of stability in the marketplace. Significant events with adverse economic impacts, such as COVID-19 and a derecho, can have a cascading effect on jobs, families, and the economy...
Adapting to Balance Service & Safety
Iowa county recorders continue to provide services, even when the courthouse doors are closed. Mail is received and processed regularly. In fact, many counties set up drop boxes to more easily receive paper documents for recording or other processing. Electronically...
A Message to Citizens and Stakeholders: COVID-19 and Iowa County Recorders
Just over three weeks ago, on March 17, 2020, Governor Kim Reynolds declared a State of Public Health Disaster Emergency in Iowa. It was the first of several declarations that would be issued in the following weeks that closed businesses, limited public gatherings and...
New Declaration of Value Process Proposed
The adoption of electronic filing has significantly improved the efficiency of recording official documents and the processes associated with completing a real estate transaction. This was made possible through the Iowa Land Records system, which has integrated the...
Answering the Question: How Far Back to Documents Go?
A common question we receive is, “How far back do the records posted online go?” The serious answer is “It depends on whether records are in the form of electronic documents.” Electronic Services System policy provides that “A county shall transfer to the county land...
Best Practices for Document Preparation and Review
As a part of our mission to improve quality in the processing and recording of documents, Iowa Land Records provides training and information to both document filers and county recorders. The intent is to reduce errors in the preparation and review of documents...
Iowa Land Records Reaches 20/20 Goal
Making public records accessible online to the public and the real estate industry is a core legislative mandate for the Iowa Land Records system. Section 331.604 of the Iowa code includes the following charge: “developing county and statewide internet sites to...
Redesigned Recorder Page for E-Submission
A newly redesigned e-submission interface for county recorders is now in production. Iowa Land Records has now implemented this in more than 30 Iowa counties, and the remaining 60+ counties will be transitioning to the new system over the next several weeks. This is...
Proportion of E-Submissions Reaches 45% in 2019
The first electronic document was recorded through the Iowa Land Records e-submission service on December 22, 2005 in Allamakee County. That year there were 762,534 documents recorded in the State of Iowa. It was a humble start. Unlike the Iowa Judicial Branch, which...
3 Steps to Get New Hires E-Submitting
For most companies, there are a number of technological applications and processes in place to help employees work more efficiently. When on-boarding a new employee, it is important that each application and process is allotted time in the training process to ensure...
Iowa Land Records CY 2020 Budget Adopted
The ESS Coordinating Committee approved the 2020 annual budget. The annual budget projects total revenue, total expenditures, and net income.
Recording Fees in Iowa – How Do They Compare?
Recording fees are charged by Iowa counties, and the resources from those fees are used to pay for the cost of the recording service and related services.
Recorder’s E-Submission Interface Roll Out Begins
Several counties are already using the new interface to review e-submission documents, and all counties are expected to be using the new interface in early 2020.
5 Reasons You Should Give Webinars a Try
Have you ever considered giving a webinar a try but questioned whether it was worth your time? Truthfully, a lot of users can feel that way. But the truth is, there are numerous reasons why people in varying industries choose to attend Iowa Land Records webinars, and...
New Recorder Interface, Upcoming Improvements to Customer Interface
Developers are working hard to improve the e-submission application and will continue updates to the recorder’s interface through the end of calendar year 2019.
Public Records – Achieve “20 in 2020”
More than 19.5 million records are accessible online. Based on the current rate, it is projected that more than 20 million records will be online in 2020.
Redaction Reserve Fund Depleted
In 2010 and 2011 the Iowa General Assembly approved a supplemental $1.00 recording fee for the purpose of redacting personally identifiable information (PII) from public documents posted online. The supplemental fee sunset on June 30, 2011. At the time, approximately...
Calendar Year 2018 Audit Report
The annual audit for the Electronic Services System and Iowa Land Records was presented to the ESS Coordinating Committee at their quarterly meeting.
E-Submission 101: What Happens After a Group is Submitted?
Confused about who processes document groups once submitted and what that process looks like? Here’s everything to know about getting started with e-submission.
Top 10 E-Submission Issues and Steps to Resolve Them
There’s always a learning curve when implementing a new technology into your workflow, and the Iowa Land Records e-submission application is no different.
Portal vs. E-Submission
Did you know that Iowa Land Records is made up of two different applications, the portal and e-submission, each providing a different service to users.