Some Information and perhaps a bit of an alert on a records management issue dealing with access to property records in the State of Texas.  The Texas Attorney General recently released an opinion, based on state and federal law that is creating some panic among County Clerks.  If applied in the extreme, this opinion could mean that the real estate section of the Texas economy could be essentially "shut down" in 30 days.
 
Here's a clip of the first couple sentences from the opinion:
 

		The social security number ("SSN") of a living person is confidential and subject to mandatory exception from the required disclosure under section 552.147(a) of the Public Information Act ("PIA").   Distributing confidential information uner the PIA is a criminal offense. 

I suspect that almost all of us would applaud the restriction of access to our own social security numbers, and I think most of us have seen articles that deal with the dangers posed by the existence of those numbers on public documents.  The opinion specifically prohibits posting of a record on the Internet, without the redaction of Social Security Numbers.... That should help eliminate the efforts of identity thieves to go "shopping" in public record areas for social security numbers.  
 
Ok, given the above, the panic is created by the very broad statement in those first two sentences.  Based on the way these records are retained, social security numbers COULD conceivably be found anywhere.... In any given document present in an electronic system, on microfilm (where that is used), or in paper form, if the old "books" are retained in the public access area.  Copies of the records are routinely provided to the title insurance industry in Texas to ensure that each of us can sell existing homes, or can purchase new homes.  Those copy sales are often referred to as 'bulk sales".  Other organizations like credit institutions, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and others can make arrangements to either create their own copies of the records or to purchase copies from County Clerk's offices.  Finally, we as citizens have the ability to search whatever information is available online, OR to go to the County Clerk's office to the public records area to look through those property records.
 
Based on the reading of that very recent Attorney General's Opinion..... access by anyone beyond the clerk's staff is no longer permitted if social security numbers of living persons may not be disclosed.  Bulk sales of copies of the records may no longer be sold, unless the social security numbers are first redacted.  Internet access to the records is effectively shut down now..... until those numbers have been redacted.  Ok, our social security numbers that MAY appear on property record documents may be safe, BUT....
 

		(1) There is no timeline given for county clerks to come into compliance.  Any clerk wishing to comply and to avoid potential criminal charges must comply as of 2/21/07 - the date of issuance of the opinion.
		(2) County Clerk's offices are not staffed to retrieve any and all records from their files...then to redact the SSNs before selling copies to those who need them, nor to provide copies to the public.
		(3) The software that could allow county clerks to comply, and FIND and to remove SSNs from electronic documents is not inexpensive, and requires specialized training and typically vendor intervention to carry out.  There are not enough trained personnel nor vendor personnel to accomplish the task.  Such projects also require significant time investment..... in Orange County, Florida.... a redaction project took about 18 months to complete AFTER the painstaking acquisition process.
		(4) The title insurance industry has an affirmative REQUIREMENT to maintain access to such records..... to within 30-days of being current, or they CANNOT ISSUE title insurance policies.
		(5) If title insurance firms cannot issue those policies, lenders will not fund home purchases, commercial property and building purchases, etc.
		(6) If lenders cannot lend, then the real estate industry essentially shuts down until the issue is resolved.
		(7) There's no pot of money available to correct this problem, and it is a VERY expensive problem to fix!
		(8) Other states have dealt with this by requiring redaction of SSN's, but also by providing a time frame within which that redaction must take place.

Now, much of this may NOT happen...... but it could.  I'm certain that the County Clerks Association and the Texas Title Association and the Mortgage lenders will be in action on this opinion pretty quickly...... Hopefully the potential for a disaster to the real estate industry can be averted.
 
 
I post this just to highlight how a privacy issue and a records management issue can have significant impact on all of us.  We certainly should be assured that our social security numbers are safe, but given the practices of those who prepare documents over the past hundred or so years,  our county clerks cannot be assured that their records don't contain SSNs.  
 
Now, next question.... We (the public) have a right to have access to court records as well.... judgments, child support decrees, divorce decrees, criminal case files, etc.  Those are often used in the conduct of security clearances for individuals who seek to work in sensitive areas.  What happens, when the next leap takes place, and we see an opinion that bans Court Clerks (District Clerks and County Clerks for County Courts-at-Law) from providing copies of those documents?  By statute, some of those documents MUST include social security numbers.
 
Sorry for the length of the post, but I wanted to get it out..... and I'm sure that Paul Scott in Harris County reads the Listserv over the weekend.

		 

 
 
 

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