Davison County starts notification system to alert property owners about potential fraud

Marcus Traxler, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

Apr. 28—MITCHELL — Who is attempting to make moves on your property?

Davison County has set up a land notification system through its Register of Deeds office, which will allow property owners to receive alerts if someone attempts to change the ownership of an individuals' property.

Danna Kolbeck, who has been the county's Register of Deeds since March when she was appointed to replace longtime Register of Deeds Deb Young, said the program has been in use since April 1.

Alerts can be set for an individual or business name and the individual signing up can provide an email address, which will then be notified with an email with information including the date and type of document.

It comes as mortgage and real estate fraud has become more common nationally, Kolbeck said. That is when someone illegally uses a name on records related to properties to earn financial gain or acquisition of assets.

Kolbeck said that's been good timing for the new alert system because property owners pay the first half of their taxes for the year in April, so they might be more cognizant about the status of their property when it's top of mind.

She credited Young, who held the position for 29 years, for jump-starting the notification program.

"This office does a very diligent job and that's 100% on Deb, but she wanted people to feel assured about their property records. She's always been very good about land records," Kolbeck said.

"It's great that people are diligent and they're paying attention," Kolbeck said. "It's not like a car title, because with a land deed, that stays with the office as a public record. The original, it's usually a piece of paper, it's not necessarily a title like a car would have."

The notification system is built through the county's Trimin software, which went into service in Davison County in 2020. The software cost the county $7,920 in 2023 and is funded through the county's Modernization and Preservation fund, which is funded via record filing fees.

Kolbeck said the Register of Deeds office is also available to answer questions in person or via phone, as well.

"In our office, we always look at the last owner to make sure they're the ones signing it over to the next owner," Kolbeck said. "We want to have clean records and we always follow up with an attorney's office or whatever it might be if there's a question on a spelling or something that might be questionable."