Last week, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office launched a new service, Maricopa Title Alerts.  It works like Google Alerts, and emails users whenever the county records their name on a document. Roughly 15,000 people who have already signed up for the service.

Almost as soon as County Recorder Stephen Richer took office in early 2021, he says people were already reaching out, asking about private services that monitor names.

“I researched [services like] that and sent those to them,” Richer said. “And those are services that you can subscribe to. You have to pay for them.”

But existing services came with a price tag.

“I started developing this service in house, such that people wouldn't have to pay for that private service,” Richer said. “Now, of course this only monitors recordings in Maricopa County, but for people who just have holdings in Maricopa County, this is sufficient.”

Richer said the aim is to keep people better informed, and help combat crimes like title fraud.

“We’re hopeful that it [one, puts] fraudulent actors on notice that there’s more likelihood of being apprehended swiftly with this program in place,” he said. “And two, [it] gives people peace of mind in case they were worrying about this.”

The names of over 31,000 individuals and businesses have been enrolled so far through the recorder’s website. Richer said a few other jurisdictions throughout the country have similar services, but Maricopa County is among the first in the U.S.

Maricopa County Recorder's Office

Roughly 15,000 people have signed up, and over 31,000 names have been enrolled so far through the recorder’s website.