Recorder warns of large timeshare-recording workload and third‑party postcard scams

County recorder Karen told the Taxes, Elections, GIS, Assessors and Recorder Committee that her office is grappling with an unusually large recording job involving timeshare properties.

The recorder said one incoming power-of-attorney filing contained roughly 24,000 legal descriptions and that recording fees would amount to about $48,000 for that single document; two additional documents of similar size were also pending. “If we indexed all those legals, it’s gonna take us months to do,” Karen said, explaining the office is negotiating with the timeshare company and working with the software vendor to avoid overwhelming staff and storage systems.

County counsel and staff said the local recording ordinance requires legal descriptions on recorded documents and urged consistent enforcement. A representative of county counsel recommended following the ordinance and warned that offering a one‑off exception would invite further requests and could expose the county to legal challenges.

Karen also alerted the public to recurring postcard mailings from private firms that offer to sell copies of public records at high prices. She said the county’s records are public and watermarked, and that residents can obtain certified copies from the recorder’s office at much lower cost. “They charge an exorbitant fee,” Karen said of the private vendors.

Next steps: recorder staff are coordinating with the county’s software vendor to identify a technical approach that allows documents to be recorded while deferring or batching detailed indexing if the timeshare company will not pay the additional indexing fee; counsel will advise on risks if the county departs from the ordinance.