Bulletin: IN2010005

Dear Associates:

This is an update on the situation concerning the list of state tax warrants dating from 2006 forward that were not previously entered into the county judgment records. We have been informed that some count clerks were back-dating the tax warrants entered into the records as of the date of assessment rather than the date of entry as required by state statute. Forty-two counties in the State of Indiana maintain judgment records on the INcite system which is maintained by the State. Pat Hess who is responsible for maintaining the INcite system for the Judicial Technology and Automation Committee has informed our industry that INcite does show the Notice Date which, for these tax warrants, could be dated as far back as 2005 or 2006, but the Date Filed is the date it is processed into the database. So, if these tax warrants are sent back out to the counties via download onto the county system, they will show up on searches with the current Date Filed.

The 42 counties currently using INcite are: Benton, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, Clark, Crawford, DeKalb, Floyd, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Harrison, Huntington, Jackson, Jasper, Jay, Jennings, Knox, La Porte, Lawrence, Madison, Monroe, Newton, Noble, Orange, Owen, Parke, Porter, Posey, Pulaski, Randolph, Rush, St. Joseph, Scott, Steuben, Tipton, Union, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Warren, Washington and White Counties.

The list is updated each time a new county comes on board and the list is available at the following link: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/jtac/programs/etax-warrants.html.  

In the counties that are using INcite, you do not need to raise an exception for any loss or damage arising out of tax warrants filed in the clerk's office. The Indiana Land Title Association is working with the Indiana Department of Revenue (IDR) on the IDR issuing a bulletin to county circuit clerks concerning the appropriate date of entry of the tax warrants under state statute and is also working to obtain copies of the lists that were provided to county clerks at their June conference. You may also want to contact your local county clerk directly to request a copy of this list for searching purposes.

We will keep you informed of any further developments.

If you have questions relating to this or other bulletins, please contact your local underwriting personnel or Stewart Legal Services.

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