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COLUMBUS —The Colorado County commissioners met in regular session Jan. 23.
County Clerk Kimberly Menke and Mark Hutton, territory manager at Fidlar Technologies, went before the commissioner court to discuss a service agreement with Fidlar Technologies’ Property Fraud Alert subscription service for the County Clerk’s Office.
“We’re a full land and vital records software development company that does everything in house,” Hutton said. “Nothing is offshore, including our customer service line, which is really one of the key identifiers for this particular service.”
Menke said this service will be free to any property owner in Colorado County.
“It’s a service that’s going to notify them if anything’s been filed in my office and official public records,” Menke said.
Hutton said the set-up process will involve working with Menke and the IT staff on transferring data and building a custom landing page. Hutton said that while the service monitors information transferred, it does not keep records of the documents. Some of the documents that subscribers will receive notifications for include satisfaction of mortgage and quitclaim deeds that are filed in the clerk’s office.
“This not only is catching fraud, but it’s also going to create notifications for any document it finds,” Hutton said. “So, liens, medical liens, other types of things that folks may not be expecting. It’s not always something necessarily where they need to get a lawyer involved, but it’s a helpful service for them too.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Doug Wessels inquired if fraudulent activity occurs, would a court proceeding be required. Hutton confirmed that court would be required.
There are different ways to sign up for the service, but email is recommended.
“It’s easy to sign up online,” Hutton said. “You can [sign up] via phone, in the county office, or through the website. You can get alerts through your phone or email.”
Hutton said the registration is simple - only first and last name is required and using an alias or shortened version of one’s name can be used. Subscribers can choose how they want to receive notifications and then will receive unlimited phone support.
“We’re the only ones that support not only you from a technical perspective in your questions, but also your subscribers,” Hutton said.
In addition to the support line, people can also call the clerk’s office. Hutton said they receive close to 300 phone calls a month related to the service.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Darrell Gertson asked if the system has ever been hacked.
“Fortunately, no,” Hutton said. “We believe we have a very strong security process and system built and failover to prevent that.”
Hutton shared his testimony of when his identity was stolen in 2015.
“I found out because my wife was trying to secure financing for an investment property,” Hutton said.
He said he now uses Credit Karma to notify him after making large purchases related to his credit. He said this is the similar concept of the property fraud alert service.
According to Hutton, the property fraud alert service was implemented in 2009, but not offered until 2022. He said the service has brought on 180,000 new subscribers.
Hutton said Fidlar would also provide marketing design support for promotion of the service and ongoing marketing designs, such as press release examples, flyers, other marketing packages.
“We’ll help with other opportunities, local events, charitable events, the Knights of Columbus, VFW, etc. Chamber of Commerce events, county fair events, retirement communities, all those things [Menke] might have going on here,” Hutton said. “It’s a great way to engage with the community…[ and] your local title company corporate banks, attorneys, etc. Something else for them to provide for their customers.”
The service agreement will be a $5,500 initial implementation fee and $1,500 in support of the software service and the ongoing work that is required.
Menke said the money collected by the clerk’s office when deeds are filed will be used to pay for the service.
According to Menke, Fort Bend and Galveston counties are amongst some of the larger counties that are already using this service.
“Our association is pushing this to the state of Texas to have some type of property fraud, not necessarily Fidlar, but some type,” Menke said. “Some big counties have their own type of system, but they’re pushing the association to have the same.”
The commissioners voted and the motion was passed.
Fidlar Technologies is based in Davenport, Iowa. Hutton said the company has been operating in Texas through a reseller model for the last 1314 years. The company is family- owned across 16 states with 350 county partners. There are 29 partners in Texas.
