Tarrant County Adopts Hart InterCivic System to Electronically Record Real Estate Documents; Universal eRecording Counter Speeds Recording Process, Increases Accuracy.

Business Editors/High-Tech/Government/Real Estate Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2004

Tarrant County has become the first urban Texas county to electronically record titles, mortgage documents and other property records. Electronic recording, known as eRecording, is a feature of Hart InterCivic's Anthem(tm) system for integrated public records management. Tarrant County adopted Anthem last fall as part of an ongoing e-commerce initiative that includes electronic recording, extensive Internet access to documents and online sales of public records.

"Tarrant County is a model for the state of Texas and the nation," said Matt Walker, Hart vice president for eGovernment Solutions. "The county has a clear vision of the future of e-commerce and has made steady progress toward achieving its goals."

"Hart Anthem is the cornerstone of our e-commerce initiative. We are pleased to move into the next phase with the introduction of eRecording," said Tarrant County Clerk Suzanne Henderson, who also serves as president of the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks.

eRecording allows title companies and others to electronically submit for recording real estate documents from any location, at any time of the day or night. Hart InterCivic's Universal eRecording Counter(tm), a feature of Anthem, can accept all electronic documents that meet standards established by the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), regardless of the format used to create them.

"eRecording can greatly increase the speed with which real estate documents are recorded, and therefore the speed with which transactions can proceed," said Chris Lyons, project manager for Hart InterCivic. "Automating the recording of real estate documents allows the County Clerk's staff to process more documents more quickly and to spend more time on quality control and customer service. It's a win-win situation for the county and the public."

Walker and Henderson serve on PRIA's Texas State Advisory Committee, which studies issues surrounding eRecording. Another committee member -- Walt Wileman -- is president of Orion Financial Group, which was the first private company to electronically file property records in Tarrant County.

"I met Walt Wileman in Washington, D.C., at a PRIA meeting five years ago, and we discovered that we were both from Fort Worth and shared an interest in electronic document recording," said Henderson. "It can be a challenge to educate private sector companies about the value of eRecording. Fortunately for us, Walt already understood, and his company was first in line to eRecord."

"Our company's goal is to stay on the leading edge of technology, and that means electronic recording," said Walt Wileman, Orion's founder and president. "eRecording saves work and expense for us and the county and helps both of us make better use of our resources. It will only get better as more counties across the country implement eRecording."

Orion, which is headquartered in the Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, records hundreds of thousands of real estate documents in counties across the United States each year. Orion gives its customers access to imaged copies of their documents on the company's Web site, a process that can take several days. Following electronic recording of the first Tarrant County document, Wileman noted that the document was available on the Web site by the next morning.

About Hart InterCivic (www.hartintercivic.com)

From electronic voting to the most effective technologies for automating local government processes, Hart InterCivic's name stands for exceptional expertise, absolute accessibility and trusted transactions. Hart InterCivic is a leader in providing products and services that help redefine the relationship between state and local governments and the citizens they serve. Hart InterCivic, with offices in the United States, including company headquarters in Austin, Texas, is working nationwide to bring governments closer to citizens through complete electronic government (e-government) solutions and election management solutions. More information about Hart InterCivic is available from the company's Web site at www.hartintercivic.com.

Anthem and Universal eRecording Counter are trademarks of Hart InterCivic Inc.