Frequently asked questions about Doxpop's Property Watch Service

https://watch.doxpop.com

Doxpop Provides a free service called Property Watch that allows property owners in the counties we serve to set a watch for Recorded Documents filed that match the legal description of their property and/or their name. 

The purpose of this service is to keep people informed of any Recorded Document that may affect them. Although similar services are touted as "Fraud Alert" systems, Doxpop takes a less scary approach: We believe that property owners should simply be aware of anything that affects them, including the vast majority of documents that are legitimate.

The following are the most common questions we are asked about this service:

Is property watch really free? How can you do this?

The Property Watch service is provided at no cost to the public in counties where the Recorders have partnered with Doxpop. Because the Recorders who choose Doxpop are careful stewards of the public trust, no tax money or other public funding is used to provide this service to your community. Doxpop funds this service solely using the revenue we generate by providing research tools to professionals who use our system to locate the Recorded Documents they use in their business work. If you are curious about the paid services that fund this free service, take a look at https://www.doxpop.com/prod/common/AboutUs.

What about privacy? Does Doxpop sell the information I provide while signing up?

No, Doxpop will never sell or transfer the information you enter during signup. Our revenue comes from the services mentioned in the paragraph above, so there's no need or temptation to engage in shady practices. You can find our privacy policy here: https://watch.doxpop.com/property/privacy-policy

Will Property Watch prevent someone from filing a fraudulent document?

No. Because the law does not allow Recorders to reject any properly formatted document, it is currently not possible to prevent fraudulent filings. Our role is to notify you quickly enough that you can take action before the fraudster does damage by convincing their real victim (the "buyer") that they can take possession of your property. A fraudulent document does not  actually transfer ownership, so the damage that occurs is when the person who thinks they bought the parcel from a fraudster shows up to take possession. Immediate notification allows you to prevent the damage through swift action.

If I receive a notification, does it mean fraud has occured?

No! In fact, fraud is extremely rare. The vast majority of notifications we send out just alert you that a legitimate document has been filed. That's why we call our service "Property Watch" instead of giving it a scary name like "Fraud Warning". If you receive a notification, there is usually no cause for immediate concern. We expect you will almost always recognize the document as being part of a transaction you're aware of. However, if you don't recognize the document, you should follow up as soon as possible to learn more.

Does signing up for Property Watch create a Doxpop account that I can log into?

No, Property Watch is a standalone service that does not create a regular Doxpop account. If you'd like to explore our other services, we invite you to sign up for a Doxpop account at our "Free" subscription level, which is designed to allow non-professionals access to public records. If you're interested, you can do that using the "Subscribe Now" link in the upper left corner of: https://www.doxpop.com.

Can Doxpop tell me if a document is fraudulent or affects me adversely?

No, We are not attorneys or title professionals. We can't offer legal advice. What we can do is alert you to the document filing and, if you ask,  provide some details about what appears on the document. In most cases, you'll recognize it as a legitimate document. However, if you don't recognize the document, you should investigate. If you call or email our support team, we can help you by providing some of the details about the document. If you are still puzzled about the document after learning those details, then we recommend you consult with someone who is qualified to render an opinion about if or how the document affects your property.

I have subscribed to property watch for a property that is described using "Section/Township/Range" in the legal description, and I'm getting alerts for parcels that are not mine. Why does this happen?

Only the "short" legal description and party names are consistently entered in the indexing system for Recorded Documents. In rural areas, the short legal is not very specific, and typically only allows us to narrow the match down to a "Section", which is a one square mile area. If your legal description is composed of one- or two-digit numbers and the letters N, S, E, W separated by dashes, you are affected by this. (Example: 29-11N-1W) Although we know alerts for this type of parcel are not very precise, we always send notifications for a potential match. We believe the trouble of investigating a potential false positive result is worth it to avoid missing an actual match. If you receive an alert of this sort, just contact us, and we'll look at the specific document to help you assess whether it really refers to your parcel.

I got notice from Doxpop about my neighbor's property transactions. Why?

If you live outside of an incorporated area such as a city or town, your "short legal description" is based on section, township and range. It is common for several people to own property in the same section. That means we'll send you an alert when a document is filed that references the same section. If you recognize the name of one of your neighbors on the document, that's the likely cause, and the document almost certainly doesn't affect you. 

This is a situation where we know some false alerts will occur due to the limitations of the property indexing system... But we believe better safe than sorry, so we send the alert to be sure.

Why can't Doxpop use my address or parcel number to avoid false alerts in unincorporated areas?

In Indiana, Recorders are required to index documents by entering the names of the parties involved and the short legal description. A short legal description will be a subdivision & lot number in an incorporated area, or section, township & range in rural areas. Because address & parcel number are not required to file a document, we can't use those without a serious risk of missing a document that doesn't include that information. Even if it means we'll have to explain a few false alarms, we'd much rather err on the side of caution given the stakes involved.

https://watch.doxpop.com

E-filing account maintenance: Have a new employee? Here's what to do.

It’s easy to forget that Doxpop and E-file are actually two separate systems. We work hard to make them seamless for your efficiency. This though can cause some confusion when it comes time to manage users on these accounts, whether that's getting a new employee setup or ensuring you made the appropriate modifications when someone leaves the firm.
In the next few blog posts, we’ll elaborate and document the steps you'll want to follow in common situations in the hope to make things a little clearer.

Have a new employee? Here are the steps to get them added to Doxpop & E-file-

First, let's get them their own Doxpop user.

You can add an unlimited number of users on your Doxpop account at no additional cost, so why not give everyone their own login. The following steps will need to be done by the Doxpop account administrator.

• Navigate to the ‘my doxpop’ tab.
• Then on the blue menu to the left, click the ‘add a user’ link
• Enter the new employee's information and assign them a password (they can change this later). 
• Click [Done]. They are not sent an email from Doxpop so you'll want to provide that information to the new user. 

Now that they are set for Doxpop, let's get them added to your firm's e-file account.

This will need to be done by an e-file account administrator, that may or may not be the same as the Doxpop account administrator.

• Navigate to the ‘e-filing’ tab
• Then on the links to the left, click on the ‘E-filing Account Administration’ link
• In the lower left box is the users for e-file. 
• To add a user click the [New User] button
• Enter their information and select if you would like them to be an Admin on the e-file account.
• Click [Save & Send Activation Email] 

The new user will then be sent an activation email from tylerhost.net. We’ll cover the steps they need to follow at the end of this post, but as an account admin, there are a couple other things you may need to check or set up while we are here.

Is the new user a paralegal or assistant that needs to get a copy of service emails for the attorney(s) they work for?

• If yes, you will want to add that in the service contact under that attorney's name.
• This is done by clicking on the appropriate service contact name in the Service Contact section. 
• Then you can add multiple email addresses to get copied anytime that service contact is served in the 'administrative copy' field.
• If you need multiple people copied just separate the multiple emails by a comma. 

Is the new user also a firm attorney?

• If yes, you will want to add them to the firm service contacts by clicking the [New Service Contact] button.
• Then you will also need to add them as a firm attorney by clicking the [New Attorney] button. 
• Then, if they are bringing cases with them to the firm you will want to make sure you get their service contact attached to all their cases and we have a tool that will help with that!
• In the 'Service Contacts' section, click on [Additional Tools] button.
• Here you can use the first tool to attach the service contact to all the public cases the new attorney’s bar ID is a party of record on.
• Once that process completes you will get an email that lists all the cases that were found and that they were attached to. 

This wraps up the administrator's steps to be done. Now the new user is ready to finish their setup.

New User actions-

Here are the steps the new user will need to follow:

• Click the validation email in the tylerhost.net email for e-file.
• Log into Doxpop with the Doxpop credentials you supplied them. 
• If they wish to change the Doxpop password, have them visit the ‘my doxpop’ tab and use the [change password] button to change that.
• Navigate to the ‘e-filing’ tab.
• Click the ‘Log Into E-filing’ link on the left side.
• Enter the password provided in the tylerhost.net email. Note: it's probably best to copy & paste this.
• Ensure the ‘Remember my e-filing credentials’ checkbox is checked. This will allow us to store their e-file credentials and have them always logged into e-file anytime they are logged into Doxpop.

That's it! Your new user should be all set to start filing on your firm’s behalf!

If you run into any issues during this process always feel free to pick up the phone and give our support team a call at 866-396-7671. A real human will answer the phone and help walk you through the process!

Make sure and sign up to follow us by email over to your left to get notifications in your email each time we post a new blog entry. Next time we’ll cover what to do when someone leaves the firm.