District Attorney Nola Tedesco Foulston is alerting consumers to current solicitations involving property deeds. 

The Sedgwick County Register of Deeds Bill Meek has reported that several Sedgwick County consumers have received direct mailings from an out of state company that offers to procure an “official or certified copy” of a deed from the local Register of Deeds for a fee of $69.50. The solicitation begins by stating, “Our records, obtained from public information, show that …” 

The solicitation then continues by indicating that the recipient of the letter recently had title to property transferred to him or her. The solicitation includes, “The U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center website recommends that property owners should have an official or certified copy of their deed.” It states that if the consumer does not have “this important document” it may obtain one by filling out the enclosed order form and remitting $69.50.

The District Attorney advises Sedgwick County consumers to know the following:

*The Sedgwick County Register of Deeds provides certified copies of public records at a cost of $1 to certify a document plus $1 per page; thus a certified copy of a deed normally costs $2 to $3, not $69.50.
 
*Under Kansas Statute, a person is allowed to have access to public records so long as the requester does not intend to, and will not: (1) use any list of names or addresses contained in or derived from the records or information for the purpose of selling or offering for sale any property or service to any person listed or to any person who resides at any address listed, or (2) sell, give or otherwise make available to any person any list of names or address contained in or derived from the records or information for the purpose of allowing that person to sell or offer for sale any property or service to any person listed or to any person who resides at any address listed. 

If you have received one of these solicitations, you are encouraged to contact the District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Division intake line at 316.660.3653.