A Virginia clerk of circuit court was recently named in a complaint filed by a real estate lien release tracking company. The company, reQuire, is asking that it receive $700,000 in damages that have been brought on by Faye Watford Mitchell, the clerk of circuit court for Chesapeake, Virginia, and her office. According to the suit, the company has incurred these losses as a result of Mitchell’s multiple violations of Virginia law for delays in recording certificates of satisfaction.

The company’s complaint states that Mitchell and those in her office have failed to meet the guidelines as outlined in the Code of Virginia that note, “Whenever a release of a deed of trust or other obligation shall be admitted to record in the office of the clerk of any circuit court, such clerk shall record a certificate of satisfaction or certificate of partial satisfaction, stating that such deed or other obligation is released.” Additionally, the statute notes that this must be done within ten days of receiving said document. If the clerk fails to do so, the statute notes they are liable.

According to an interview Source of Title conducted with Daniel Morris, an attorney and the president of reQuire, Morris believes the Chesapeake Clerk’s office was approximately eight months behind in recording releases as of March 2006. Based upon Virginia’s state mandates, the clerk is required to record and index documents within ten days of receipt or face damages between $25 – 100 per infraction. Morris said that his company has documented at least 7,179 separate occurrences where Mitchell’s office had failed to record and index documents within the ten-day period as outlined by state law. Thus, his company is suing the city’s clerk for approximately $700,000.

“We filed this suit as a last resort after working closely with Ms. Mitchell for more than 60 days,” Morris said. “We determined that, without the proper funding, Ms. Mitchell is severely hindered in performing her statutory duties. Of the approximately 800 courthouses in the 12 states for which reQuire tracks releases, this is by far the worst (delay). The gross delay in recording records in Chesapeake has, and will expose anyone conducting real estate transactions in that city to unnecessary risk and the potential for significant monetary damages.”

When contacted by Source of Title about the lawsuit, both the city's public communications coordinator, Lizz Gunnefsen, and Mitchell refused to comment, saying that it was against the policy of either to comment on current litigation. However, both expressed concern that the problem had led to the filing of the suit.
 

“A lot of our clients, settlement companies, had contacted us and asked why the releases for the city weren’t in place,” added Morris. “When we contacted the city, they would say that they were five months behind on processing them. Lo and behold, they were actually further behind than that; sometimes, the office was eleven months behind in processing.”

Morris recently issued a letter to the community of Chesapeake that explained his company’s reasons for filing the suit. He noted that his company and many others in the area have experienced significant expense and damage to goodwill as a direct result of the delays in the city clerk’s office. He added that he and members of his firm had met with Mitchell and discussed the issue over the past several months, but that delays in her office were attributed by officials to be the direct result of staff cuts made to all clerk’s offices in the state.

Morris noted that the Virginia Land Title Association has been working closely with Mitchell’s office to alleviate the delays, but cannot provide a permanent remedy for the delays the office faces. While reQuire recognized the actions that were being taken to correct the issue, the suit was filed because Morris feels the actions are “too little too late.” Morris noted that any monies his company is awarded will be placed within a fund designated for the clerk’s land records departments.

Get the Newsletter - It's FREE