Virginia Law

A. A clerk of a circuit court may provide a network or system for electronic filing of land records in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 (§ 55.1-346 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 55.1 regarding the satisfaction of mortgages and the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (§ 55.1-661 et seq.). The clerk may require each filer to provide proof of identity to the clerk. The clerk shall enter into an electronic filing agreement with each filer in accordance with Virginia Real Property Electronic Recording Standards established by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the clerk from entering into agreements with designated application service providers to provide all or part of the network or system for electronic filing of land records as provided herein. Further, nothing herein shall be construed to require the electronic filing of any land record, and such records may continue to be filed in paper form.

B. Any clerk of a circuit court with an electronic filing system established in accordance with this section may charge a fee not to exceed $5 per instrument for every land record filed by paper. The fee shall be paid to the clerk's office and deposited by the clerk into the clerk's nonreverting local fund to be used exclusively to cover the operational expenses as defined in § 17.1-295.

C. The clerk shall maintain a disaster plan, as defined in § 42.1-77, for recovery of any land record in possession of the clerk that is maintained as an electronic record.

2008, cc. 823, 833; 2010, c. 430; 2012, c. 234; 2013, c. 77; 2016, c. 264; 2017, cc. 90, 289.

A. A clerk of a circuit court may provide a network or system for electronic filing of land records in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 (§ 55.1-346 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 55.1 regarding the satisfaction of mortgages and the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (§ 55.1-661 et seq.). The clerk may require each filer to provide proof of identity to the clerk. The clerk shall enter into an electronic filing agreement with each filer in accordance with Virginia Real Property Electronic Recording Standards established by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the clerk from entering into agreements with designated application service providers to provide all or part of the network or system for electronic filing of land records as provided herein. Further, nothing herein shall be construed to require the electronic filing of any land record, and such records may continue to be filed in paper form.

B. Any clerk of a circuit court with an electronic filing system established in accordance with this section may charge a fee not to exceed $5 per instrument for every land record filed by paper. The fee shall be paid to the clerk's office and deposited by the clerk into the clerk's nonreverting local fund to be used exclusively to cover the operational expenses as defined in § 17.1-295.

C. The clerk shall maintain a disaster plan, as defined in § 42.1-77, for recovery of any land record in possession of the clerk that is maintained as an electronic record.

D. Any clerk of a circuit court with a network or system for electronic filing of land records established in accordance with this section shall also establish a property alert electronic notification system that allows individuals to enroll such individual's name or tax identification number of real property in the property alert notification system at no cost to such individual, provided that the land records for such real property are filed in such circuit court as required by law.

E. A property alert notification system established pursuant to this section shall (i) notify the enrolled individual when any document describing, affecting, or purporting to affect the enrolled real property is filed; (ii) notify the enrolled individual when any document containing the enrolled name or tax identification number is filed; and (iii) include in the notification the instrument number, the instrument type, the recording date, and the name or tax identification number in the document.

F. The clerk of a circuit court shall be immune from civil liability and no person shall have a civil cause of action against the clerk of a circuit court for any act or omission relating to the establishment, maintenance, or operation of a property alert notification system established pursuant to this section.

G. Any clerk of a circuit court with a system or network for electronic filing of land records and a property alert notification system established pursuant to this section, in conjunction with the locality in which the circuit court sits, shall provide property owners with (i) educational information on real estate and deed fraud and (ii) information about the property alert notification system available in such jurisdiction. Such information may be provided by mail, by newspaper, on the court's or the locality's website, or by other available media.

2008, cc. 823, 833; 2010, c. 430; 2012, c. 234; 2013, c. 77; 2016, c. 264; 2017, cc. 90, 289; 2026, cc. 364, 365.