(1)
Technical standards and
implementation guidelines.
(a)
Electronic recording of real property documents shall meet technical standards
for document formatting and document data fields and follow implementation
guidelines as prescribed by the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA)
which are hereby incorporated by reference, made a part of this rule, and
listed below:
(i) PRIA Request Version 2.4.2,
August 2007;
(ii) PRIA Response
Version 2.4.2, August 2007;
(iii)
Document Version 2.4.1, October 2007;
(iv) Notary Version 2.4.1, October
2007;
(v) eRecording XML
Implementation Guide for Version 2.4.1, Revision 2, March 2007;
(vi) URPERA Enactment and eRecording
Standards Implementation Guide, December 2005.
These standards are available from the Property Records
Industry Association, 2501 Aerial Center Parkway, Ste. 103, Morrisville, NC
27560, and athttp://www.pria.us/.
(b) eRecording shall be offered
and conducted in accordance with the models of submission described in the
URP-ERA Enactment and eRecording Standards Implementation Guide, Section 2.3,
eRecording Models.
(c) Each
recording officer who accepts documents for eRecording shall provide open
architecture for reception of electronic documents. All reception software,
including web portals, must support PRIA eRecording SML Implementation Guide
for Version 2.4.1 standards.
(2)
Web portals.
(a) The world wide web will be the most
common delivery medium for electronic documents.
(b) A document delivered over the web should
provide a minimum amount of information in the delivery package sufficient to
identify and authenticate the sender to the recording officer, while also
itemizing the contents of the package.
(c) Payment processing, if supplied at the
portal, shall comply with the 2012 NACHA Operating Rules & Guidelines,
which is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of this rule. This
publication is available from NACHA: The Electronic Payments Association, 13450
Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 100, Herndon, VA 20171, and at
http://www.nacha.org/. The recording
officer and portal provider shall determine the portal's payment processing
capabilities, and each recording officer shall designate approved methods of
payment, which may include credit cards, ACH (automated clearing house), escrow
accounts, electronic checks, or other methods.
(3)
Business rules. Recording
officers shall establish and publish business rules that govern how eRecording
will be conducted. The business rules may be in electronic or hard copy format
and may appear on a portal or the recording officer web site. The transmitting
parties' electronic acknowledgment of acceptance of the terms of the business
rules is acceptable. The business rules must cover the following items:
(a) Memorandum of understanding or
contract;
(b) Defined technical
specifications;
(c) Document
formatting and indexing specifications;
(d) Hours of operations and processing
schedules;
(e) Payment
options;
(f) Termination
terms;
(g) Document rejection
rights;
(h) Statement that any
amendments and/or alterations to the business rules will be published with
adequate notice before taking effect;
(i) Statement clarifying the liability of the
recording offices.
(4)
Security.
(a) All electronic
documents must be secured in such a way that both the transmitting and
receiving parties are assured of each other's identity and that no unauthorized
party can view or alter the electronic document during transmission,
processing, and delivery. If followed through the entire electronic document
process of execution through recording, the security measures identified in
chapter 6 of the eRecording XML Implementation Guide for Version 2.4.1,
Revision 2, March 2007, satisfy this requirement.
(b) Each recording officer who elects to
accept electronic real property documents for recordation shall implement
reasonable measures such that each electronic document accepted for recordation
is protected from alteration and unauthorized access.
(5)
Electronic signatures.
Recording officers are only required to accept electronic signatures that they
have the technology to support. Recording officers have no responsibility to
authenticate electronic signatures embedded within the body of the
document.
(6)
Notarizations. Pursuant to chapter 65.24 RCW, notarizations must:
(a) Be performed by a notary public who has
been appointed by the Washington state department of licensing, or a person
authorized by the laws of another jurisdiction outside the state of Washington,
in accordance with chapter 42.44 RCW; and
(b) Comply with all applicable requirements
for performing a notarial act as found in chapter 42.44 RCW and chapter
308-30
WAC, as amended from time to time, except that in the case of notarizations
performed electronically, an impression of the official seal or stamp is not
required.
Recording officers have no responsibility for verifying or
authenticating notary signatures and acknowledgments.
(7)
File formats for
eRecording. The electronic recording standards commission recommends
that electronic recordings be converted to (if necessary) and preserved as
image files along with their associated metadata. If submissions are accepted
in XHTML (extensible hypertext markup language) format, they shall be converted
to a digital image until the viability of preserving these eRecordings in their
native format has been demonstrated. Document images should be submitted as
defined in WAC
434-663-305 and meet all state
requirements for recorded instruments as defined in
RCW
65.04.045.
(8)
Records retention and
preservation. Recording officers must not destroy public records,
including electronic records, without the approval of the local records
committee, in accordance with
RCW
40.14.070.
Recording officers must retain electronic public records in
electronic format such that the records remain usable, searchable, retrievable,
and authentic for the length of the designated retention period in accordance
with WAC 434-662-040.
The local records committee has approved the local government
common records retention schedule (CORE) and the county auditor records
retention schedule authorizing the minimum retention periods for recording
officer records, and designating those records with enduring value as
"archival."
Recording officers may transfer public records designated as
"archival," including electronic records, to Washington state archives for
preservation and for facilitating public access to the records.
(9)
Payment of recording
fees. Electronic payment of recording fees and excise tax, where
applicable, shall be collected by the county agency responsible for such as
prescribed in accordance with Washington state law and accepted industry
standards without incurring unreasonable electronic processing fees.
