Lehigh County charges users $300 per year to search its completely scanned civil system, and it's great. All records are there and you can download them. Northampton County, which has yet to start scanning its civil records, has the advantage of being free. .
Before this system went live, it was in testing mode for several months. This is where the Brown Administration and Director of Administration Luis Campos blew it.
Brown Administration Testing Inadequate
If you want to determine whether something is really useful or needed, it's best to consult with those who use or might need it. But instead of asking for input from Civil Division employees and title searchers, Luis Campos had it tested by the local bar association. Since less than ten lawyers actually know how to use the courthouse computers, Campos would have been better off asking for monkeys.
This brings us to monkeys. Holly Ruggiero wanted title searchers to check out the new system. She knows from past experience that we may be monkeys,.but tend to find problems. So she forwarded a list containing the contact information for every title searcher willing to look at the new system, including yours truly.
Only two or three were selected. Some of this was certainly a snub of me, which is rather childish. A lot of it is arrogance, a "We know best" attitude prevalent in the Brown administration. This refusal to be more inclusive betrays a distrust of everyone. The net result is that the testing Campos did guaranteed no meaningful review.
Upon learning that the system has gone live, I did take a cursory look yesterday. Since I am a searcher, I will be looking at this much more closely and will more than likely find a few problems. But right now, the system has a pretty basic flaw that could cost the County a lot of money down the road unless it is fixed immediately.
The System Misrepresents What's In It
At the top of the search screen, you are warned, "Data updated as of 6:00 PM Eastern Time Wednesday, June 24, 2015 [or whatever the previous date might be]." Based on that assurance, anyone would be free to conclude that it is updated as of June 23, 2015.
That would be wrong.
Let me tell you why. Civil records contained in that computer system, as of this moment, are only complete up to June 2, 2014. As I have mentioned several times, the Civil Division is short-staffed, and is unable to index documents as fast as they come in. They will enter judgments and other important matters on something known as the "Daily Sheet," which is required by law. We searchers know that we have to check that Daily Sheet to get a complete picture, but most members of the public, banks and even attorneys are unaware of it.
Right now the cover date is June 2, not June 23. Anything filed after that date may or may not be in the computer system. So the County is actually inadvertently misrepresenting its own records.
Why does this matter?
Let's say you own a property and have judgments for $1 million, all filed after June 2 but not yet in the system. Let's say that you decide to borrow some money from a bank for a trip to Vegas and "forget" to mention them. Based on the assurances on the Civil Division webpage that it is current through June 23, a bank could mistakenly and reasonably conclude that there are no liens against you and give you $2 million, secured by a mortgage or judgment that is not worth the paper it's written on because $1 million in judgments are in front of it.
In the meantime, you blow your wad playing black jack, and leave the bank is high and dry.
Do you honestly think the bank is just going to chuckle and write it off? No, it's going to sue, and one of the Defendants will almost certainly be the County.
How to Fix
This web page disclosure needs to be clarified. In fact, the disclosure at the top should warn the reader NOT to rely on information. For example, an online assessment guide in Northampton County warns, "Please note that this site is considered a demonstration and, as such, the accuracy or currency of data cannot be guaranteed." That's what should appear with the online civil records.
It would be there now except that Campos was too arrogant to ask the people who actually use these records to weigh in with suggestions that might actually keep the County from being sued.
if we want Brown to listen to us, we are going to have to become consultants and charge big bucks.
Updated 6:45 pm: See my update.
10 comments:
Campos would not know how to ask a whore for a hand job. He's an empty suit.
Let's say you have a judgment against you for $67,100 and you're running for office and you commit a crime... lol
You are bum. No one cares about your pissing an moaning. Wahhh!
You still have no car and no house. Word on the street is that is a dead issue.
Wow, how incompetent. Wonder if whoever put this program in place was one of Brown's cronies. You are too nice telling them how to fix it or make them aware of the problem. I would have left it, did my own search the complete way and then laugh when county gets sued. Here they know a person with years of experience who can give feedback to have the best program in place and purposely did not use you. Talk about cutting off your nose to despite your face. To Brown Administration; Stupid is as stupid does.
We wanted a unified system that would bring all the Civil Process together from Protho to Sheriff. This was NOT the brown admin. Do not give any credit to them. We wanted it during Stoffa. We had our eye on one in particular. The admin wanted to know how the system worked so they could use the in house IT staff that have more than a few problems designing databases. The admin wanted all the glory but will once again screw everything up.
The Brown admin completed the process and deserves credit for doing so. Unfortunately, the testing procedure was flawed, leading to a pretty basic error.
"You are too nice telling them how to fix it or make them aware of the problem. I would have left it, did my own search the complete way and then laugh when county gets sued."
Most of us want what is best for the County. The flawed disclaimer is still posted, and will likely take the County 25 years to change. That should be IMMEDIATE.
You make a good point Bernie - but they won't want to admit the state of affairs. My money is on it stays the way it is. I couldn't find a civil case from 2014 that has been decided - so things are missing as you say.
Thanks for doing this story and posting the link.
Here's the disclaimer found on the Northampton County Sheriff's Sales website:
"DISCLAIMER
The County of Northampton and the Sheriff of Northampton County make no representations or warranties as to the suitability of this information for your particular purpose, and that to the extent you use or implement this information in your own setting, you do so at your own risk. The information provided herewith is solely for your own use and cannot be duplicated or sold. The County of Northampton is not liable for any damages or claim for attorney’s fees arising from the use of the information provided.
The County of Northampton assumes no responsibility for any information inaccurately or falsely submitted by Plaintiff’s attorney.
This web site is provided as a public service and is updated periodically, however, the information is limited and is not required by law. If you have additional questions concerning the purchase of property at Sheriff’s Sale or the filing of legal pleadings, please contact your attorney. Employees of the Sheriff’s and Prothonotary’s offices are not permitted to give legal advice.
THE BUYER GETS THE PROPERTY “AS IS”, CAVEAT EMPTOR (LET THE BUYER BEWARE)."
The Brown Administration may want to take a page out of the Stoffa Administration and engage with the stakeholders. They may learn something before their term is up in the next two years.
This is found on the Sheriff of Northampton County's website:
"DISCLAIMER
The County of Northampton and the Sheriff of Northampton County make no representations or warranties as to the suitability of this information for your particular purpose, and that to the extent you use or implement this information in your own setting, you do so at your own risk. The information provided herewith is solely for your own use and cannot be duplicated or sold. The County of Northampton is not liable for any damages or claim for attorney’s fees arising from the use of the information provided.
The County of Northampton assumes no responsibility for any information inaccurately or falsely submitted by Plaintiff’s attorney.
This web site is provided as a public service and is updated periodically, however, the information is limited and is not required by law. If you have additional questions concerning the purchase of property at Sheriff’s Sale or the filing of legal pleadings, please contact your attorney. Employees of the Sheriff’s and Prothonotary’s offices are not permitted to give legal advice.
THE BUYER GETS THE PROPERTY “AS IS”, CAVEAT EMPTOR (LET THE BUYER BEWARE)."
Why can't the Brown Administration take a page from the Stoffa Administration and engage with the stakeholders? Maybe they'll learn to do that in their last two years.
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