CPTA eBusiness Meeting

September 10, 2004 – 11:00 a.m.

Hosted by the Boulder County Public Trustee

Boulder County Public Trustee Office
1790 38th Street, Suite 100
BOULDER, COLORADO

Meeting Minutes

 Jim Wills, Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all to the Boulder County Public Trustee Office.

 Guests were introduced:

 Jill Voegtle, was present to represent Castle, Meinhold & Stawiarski

 Roll Call was taken and the Committee members present were:

 Those not present were:

Jim asked for approval of the June meeting minutes.  Roxy Huber moved to approve the minutes, Jack Arrowsmith seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.

 New form for “Request for Release of Deed of Trust and Release” Alynn Huffman:

 Jill Voegtle and Larry Castle assisted Alynn with this project.

 Jill and Alynn attempted to combine all four forms into one by cutting and pasting.  There is no way to fit the information for all of the types of Releases on to one page, and if the form were 2 pages there would probably be issues with the recording fee for the 2nd page. We reviewed the rough draft of the forms with and without presenting the evidence of debt.

 Everyone preferred that, if possible, there would be one document for full & partials releases.   Jill said that all of the partial release information would not fit onto the one form.  We all agreed that the legal description is needed only on the partial releases.  There will be check off boxes on these forms and there may be an instruction sheet, which everyone thought was a good idea. They will try to have two forms, one without presentation of the evidence of debt and the other with the note presented combining as much information as is possible. Alynn would like to get these ready to submit to Rich Krohn for his input/approval. Hopefully the forms will be ready to present at the October Seminar in Fort Collins.

 Discussion:  PT seal and signature in lieu of Notary seal and signature. 

 In order to sign documents without a notary, Jack Arrowsmith suggested that deputy signatures and the P T Seal be registered at the Secretary of State. All present were given blank copies of the form along with a sample copy that has already submitted from Douglas County.  The Signature and Public Trustee Seal are registered at the same time.  The seal is registered as a protection to the Public Trustee.  The address where these forms need to be sent will be provided to those who request it from a member of this committee. 

 The election office keeps these registered names forever.  The question was asked “What happens if someone leaves the office and their name is registered with the Secretary of State as a signer?” There shouldn’t be an issue in these situations as the person could only sign for the office that they are registered to sign for.  Jack Arrowsmith will talk to Donetta Davidson, the Secretary of State, to see what their procedure or preference might be in these instances.

 Most of the Public Trustees are waiting until the Rules have been adopted for the Electronic Notarization before they stop notarizing documents. Of those counties represented at this meeting, Douglas County and Park County are the only ones that have stopped notarizing already and have their names and seals registered with the Secretary of State’s office.

 It was decided to suggest to Peggy Foley that she suggest to the Legislative committee to add this procedure to the manual as a best business practices and to update the manual to include this as a policy. 

 If a county does not have a Public Trustee seal at the present time, Jack Arrowsmith will provide help in developing one.

 Discussion:  Policy regarding Releases accompanied by original promissory notes with electronic signatures.

 It was decided that we will ask for certification that the signatures on these promissory notes are original, and record this certification document with each release. 

 There was a question whether the companies such as E-Z image that provide software for these signatures is accepting responsibility for these signatures.  It was stated that the number under the signature may track to some database.  The problem is that anybody can go into the business of electronic signatures and the authenticity is based on the authenticity of the company doing it. 

 There was also a question whether the Title Companies will accept our policy on this issue or will our policy cloud the title in some way?

 There were no other comments or discussion on this topic.

 Discussion:  PT eBusiness presentation at the CCTA and CPTA fall conference in Fort Collins, October 14, 2004.

 Jim asked if there were any suggestions for the presentation. 

 The “Public Trustee Process for Electronic Releases” document was given to everyone present.  The cost is minimal for the Public Trustee’s to do electronic releases.  You don’t have to re-engineer the office or re-train the staff.  It is a simple process.

 It was decided that a Live Demo will be presented and we will stress the simplicity and the minimal cost with statistics to back up this documentation.  The funds are out there available.  The County Clerks have to answer as to whether they have involved the Public Trustee in their county. 

 We need to let the Public Trustees know that they can talk to their Clerk and Recorder and work with them.  The Clerks have more leeway to let the Public Trustee’s have the money because they are keeping the whole $1.00 surcharge now.

 Secretary of State Advisory Panel update -  Jim Wills:

 $2,000,000 is available at the State level.

 We need to let the Public Trustees know that the grant application process is now ready and the Advisory Panel is accepting applications from the Clerks and Recorders. At the Fall Conference we will ask which Public Trustees have approached their Clerk & Recorder about the eRecording funds. This committee will offer assistance to help P Ts and Treasurers understand the Grant Application Process.

 The October meeting will be scheduled for sometime on a Thursday afternoon after the Public Trustee seminar program.  Jim Wills will e-mail all of us the time for that meeting. 

 Michelle motioned to adjourn this meeting, Roxie seconded that motion and we adjourned to the Boulder Public Trustee Open House where a light lunch will be served and a live demonstration of the electronic processing of Releases of Deeds of Trust.

 Respectfully submitted,

 Marilyn Bullard, Secretary