The Connecticut legislature passed a new law effective January 2013 that allows individuals to electronically submit their land records. Last week, Farmington became the fifth town in the state to take advantage of it.
The others that use it are Torrington, Manchester, Glastonbury and Waterbury.
Other states have offered electronic recording before.
"It's just bringing Connecticut up to date," Farmington Town Clerk Paula Ray said. "It's not a new thing."
The town has agreements with three companies that provide the recording service, including Simplifile of Utah, Corporation Service Company of Delaware and eRecording Partners Network of Minnesota.
"It's another way to deliver the records to the Town Clerk's Office to have them recorded," Ray said.
The new service sends the records straight to the recording system on the computers in the clerk's office, eliminating the extra step of the town employees having to scan the documents. People who utilize electronic recording will already have a copy, saving the town money on postage otherwise needed to mail the records back.
The service does not cost the town anything because residents who elect to use it would pay the delivery agents for the electronic recording service on top of their regular processing fees to the town.
People can still submit forms like deeds over the counter and through the mail like before. The processing is done the same once the record is received. The fees to the town don't change.
The Town Clerk's Office has had two records submitted electronically so far.
"We're getting used to it, but we definitely see the merit in the process," Ray said.
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