ST. GEORGE — Washington County residents can now protect their property from fraudsters at no cost with the Washington County Recorder’s office new program, “Property Watch.”
According to a press release from the Washington County offices, after being elected in 2020, Washington County Recorder Gary Christensen made developing this program one of his top priorities. The idea came to Christensen, who has a long history in the title industry, after meeting with and hearing concerns from delegates and constituents during the campaigning process. This new program created for Washington County taxpayers is very similar to the Property Watch program used in Salt Lake County.
“Our ‘Property Watch’ program is designed to combat a burgeoning concern happening nationally where fraudsters, criminals, and other bad actors are finding pieces of property owned free and clear, forging a deed or other paperwork that indicates the property is deeded to them, and filing that forged paperwork with government record offices,” Christensen said in the press release. “This burdens the property and can potentially cause significant legal and financial damage to the true property owner who then must prove their ownership.”
Oftentimes, title fraud goes unnoticed by the true property owner. Private companies have developed and marketed title-watch software to alert property title holders to any actions taken against their property titles, allowing them to act sooner. However, under Christensen’s lead, the Washington County Recorder’s office worked with the Washington County Information Technology and Geographic Information System offices to provide this service to Washington County property owners at no cost.
Washington County’s Property Watch program tracks all the property deeds and paperwork recorded each day in the Washington County recorder’s office. If a property owner/deed holder has registered an existing Washington County Property Tax Account with Property Watch, they will receive an email notification if any paperwork relating to their property parcel is recorded. This notification gives the deed holder/property owner the opportunity to quickly contact the county Recorder’s Office if they did not record the deed or take the action against the title.
“Washington County is a great community and, although title fraud has not been a large problem locally, we are proactive and solution-minded,” Washington County Commissioner Gil Almquist said. “Our county Recorder’s office as well as our IT and GIS departments did a great job developing this program that will serve Washington County property owners well.”
Property Watch is quick and easy to sign-up for and collected email addresses are not used for any other purpose. So far, approximately 135 property owners have taken advantage of this free service. To sign-up and protect your property deeds today, visit the Washington County Recorder’s offices website and click on “Property Watch” on the left-hand side.