County Clerk warns of property deed scam

EL CENTRO — For only a few dollars, Imperial County property owners can visit the County Clerk/ Recorder’s office and leave with a certified copy of their deed.

Or they can send $86 to an opportunistic direct mailer and possibly accomplish more or less the same thing.

Imperial County Clerk/Recorder Chuck Storey was making the rounds yesterday to alert residents of mail order solicitation that’s circulating around the state.

The example he shared apparently originated from a Glendora, Calif.-based business called Property Profile. The solicitation promises a certified copy of the recipient’s deed, along with a “Property Assessment Profile,” containing county tax and assessment information, total assessor value, total tax amount, subject property comparable values, flood report and tax delinquency.

All that for only $86.

The thing is, even if these “predatory providers” do actually send the promised deed (very often, Storey said, these kinds of services keep the money and fail to fill the order), they first will have had to acquire it from the County Clerk/Recorder.

“Citizens should know that the County Recorder is the only agency in Imperial County that can issue certified copies of a recorded deed; no other state or county agency is authorized to do so.”

Certified copies of copies of a deed at the Clerk/Recorder’s office are $2.50 for the first page and $1 for each additional page.

“Many services provided by the Clerk/Recorder are being o ered on the internet for costs that far exceed the costs that the County Clerk/Recorder would collect,” Storey said.

These include records of births, deaths, marriages and other events.

“Individuals who have received a record of this type that is not originally