The Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds office has launched a free record alert system that will inform county property owners of any filings recorded to their real estate.
Mary Dysleski, who oversees the county deeds/wills offices, said many counties are offering this service due to reports of deed fraud, although she has not been notified of any such incidents in this county.
“It’s just another precaution, a method to be aware,” Dysleski said.
There is no way for the Recorder of Deeds Office to know if a document is fraudulent if all required data is properly executed, Dysleski said. While the alert system does not prevent a document from being recorded in the office, it allows property owners to monitor the recording of documents containing their Property Identification Number (PIN) or name from the time they sign up for the service, she said.
The alert system is provided by Recorder of Deeds vendor, Landex. Property owners may register up to five PINs or names for monitoring.
Dysleski recommends PINs to avoid receiving alerts for unrelated property owned by others who share the same name. PINs are available on tax bills or by searching for a parcel on the county’s free GIS/Mapping portal at luzernecounty.org.
To register for the free alert, visit: https://www.landex.com/recordalert/luzerne.
Microsoft contract
County council approved a contract last week with Microsoft Corporation for productivity software and operating system licensing.
The $1.68 million agreement will run from July 1 through the end of June 2027, with annual payments of $562,300.
According to the request from county Information Technology Director Andrew Mesaris:
This is a continuation of a Microsoft enterprise agreement the county implemented in 2015 covering a range of products and services.
“This agreement has enabled Luzerne County to maximize its leverage of technology to carry out government operations and provide the best service to the public,” it said.
In addition to maintaining licenses for the current version of Microsoft’s server and office productivity software for every user, it also will allow for continued software maintenance to upgrade every user to the latest version at will, software support directly from Microsoft and installation of Microsoft products on multiple devices per licensed user.
“For the past nine years, this enterprise agreement with Microsoft has provided security, stability, accountability and efficiency for Luzerne County,” it said.
Study commission
The county’s Government Study Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.
Commission members are developing a plan to assess the county’s home rule charter and identify deficiencies.
In line with the practices of prior study commissions, this one plans to retain an outside consultant to provide additional expertise and guidance along with an attorney and clerk. It also must prepare a budget request for council approval.
Authorized by county April 23 primary election voters, the commission will have nine months to report findings and recommendations and another nine months if it is opting to prepare and submit government changes. An extra two months is allowable if the commission is recommending electing council by district instead of at large.
Voters must ultimately approve any commission recommendation for it to take effect.
Butler Township land
The county administration has approved a contract with an appraiser to value county-owned property in Butler Township that may be sold, but county Operational Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora said appraisals cannot be activated until other work and approvals are completed.
Under the contract with Alyson Kole General Appraisal Services in Kingston Township, the county would pay $450 for each appraisal.
A proposed subdivision that must be approved by council and the township calls for 10 parcels that would be grouped into three packages for sale, Pecora said.
The parcels are in the vicinity of West Foothills Drive, South Old Turnpike Road and South Hunter Highway.
Legal descriptions and deeds for the properties also would be needed to appraise them, Pecora said.
In total, the county owns approximately 530 acres in the township because it operated the Kis-Lyn work camp for juvenile delinquents from 1912 to 1965.
Two tracts cannot be sold and must be sectioned off because the county is locked into long-term leases for a youth camp (17.8 acres) and the Keystone Job Corps Center, which operates a federally funded, residential educational/vocational program on 122.9 acres, officials have said.
The land earmarked for sale also would not include a section identified by outside entities as a possible plant location to treat pollution from the Jeddo Mine Drainage Tunnel, officials have said.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
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