Letter to Richer

Mr. Richer,

I have somehow been dragged into an argument with a bunch of conspiracy theorists that involves the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. Based on my research you seem to feel that there is nothing to hide regarding records and elections in Maricopa County, so I thought I might be so bold as to reach out to you directly and ask for some information in order to help settle one point in the debate I'm engaged in.

In 2020, on his way out the door, former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes is quoted as saying: "Given the limited circumstances under which a document can be rejected for recording, there have been situations when ‘bad actors’ submit fraudulent or forged records.

Therefore, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office recommends that you proactively check records recorded with our office and those at the Assessor’s office:

RECORDER website (scroll down to search by Last/First Name) ASSESSOR website (search by entering Owner Name or Address)

If you believe that any fraudulent documents have been recorded involving the ownership of your property, please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. More information about Financial Institution/Mortgage Fraud is available from the FBI.

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office will do all it can by cooperating with law enforcement and on any investigation in the pursuit of justice."

https://www.scottsdalerealtors.org/2020/10/30/protection-against-property-fraud/

While I'm sure that you're not thrilled with your predecessor's last-minute acknowledgment of system vulnerabilities and the presence of fraudulent documents in the Recorder's Office information systems, I think it's important that you go on the record regarding whether what Mr. Fontes said is factually and materially true, and still the official position of the Maricopa County Recorder and his office.

As somebody who might desire to do business in Maricopa County in the future, I would certainly like to have an idea of whether the current Recorder is aware of the scope and nature of what I will colloquially refer to as the "fraudulent document problem", and also what is being done to mitigate it by the public servants and county employees tasked with managing these systems.

I hope you can see that it's hard for a simple citizen such as myself to know whether a document is fraudulent, seeing as though I don't have expertise in law or real estate, or the technology to build digital fingerprints to verify signatures with, so it would be nice to know that the Recorder's Office itself is doing something proactive to a) ensure fraudulent documents don't get recorded, b) keep and maintain a record of fraudulent documents as they are found, c) cooperate with local law enforcement agencies and investigators who might be concerned about the consequences of fraudulent data being stored in a publicly available, tax funded database when such records are found, and d) report to the public on the scope and nature of the problem on a regular basis (perhaps quarterly, as you already have a quarterly report the office puts out), so wise, prudent, virtuous citizens can make good decisions about whom to do business with, and where to conduct it.

I thank you for your prompt reply, and for answering my questions as soon as humanly possible.

Sincerely,

<my name>