Internet based release tracking system
An Internet based real estate transaction and release tracking system that insures deeds of trust, liens and other encumbrances are released in a timely manner after the lien holder has received payment for the underlying obligation. Based on information provided by an agent, such as an escrow agent or a settlement agent, the system creates a unique electronic record for each real estate transaction entered by the agent. The system receives update information, either automatically from other computers or via manual input from searchers, and uses this update information to track each real estate transaction. The system monitors the records and indicates when a lien holder has failed to release their lien after a statutory time period that begins after the passing of the settlement date. When the statutory time period has passed, the system generates a number of forms, including a demand letter. The demand letter is sent to the lien holder demanding them to release the lien. If the lien is not thereafter released, further legal documents can be generated and sent to a law firm for legal action to be taken against the delinquent lien holder.
1. A system for collecting information related to a real estate secured financial transaction and ensuring that each lien securing a piece of real estate that is a subject of the financial transaction is released in a timely fashion after an obligation underlying the lien has been satisfied, the system comprising:
a programmed computer;
a subscriber management program executing on the computer that receives and stores transaction data and creates a subscriber profile for an agent;
an order and invoice program executing on the computer that creates a transaction record based on the transaction data, and authorizes a release of real estate forms to the agent;
a real estate forms program executing on the computer that generates one or more real estate forms related to the real estate secured financial transaction and transmits the one or more real estate forms to the agent;
a search management program executing on the computer that assigns the transaction record for tracking and receives update information related to the record; and
a tracking program executing on the computer that receives the transaction record from the search management program, determines whether the obligation underlying the lien for the transaction record has been satisfied and the lien not released within a specified time period after the obligation has been satisfied, and in such instance sends out one or more notifications.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction record includes more than one lien and the tracking program creates a lien record for each lien and tracks a status of each lien, and further wherein the specified time period is equal to a time period set by applicable state law.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a legal forms program is also provided and the legal forms program, upon receipt of a notification from the tracking program, or a system administrator, generates one or more legal forms pertaining to the real estate secured financial transaction and transmits the legal forms to a law office or another system administrator.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more real estate forms that are provided to the agent include payoff letters, invoices, demand letters, certificates of satisfaction, release instruments, fax cover sheets, shipping labels, and transaction reports, wherein the transaction reports include, lien information, obligor information, settlement information, pay-off information and loan information.
5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the legal forms program includes legal form templates for multiple jurisdictions that are used to generate the one or more legal forms, and wherein the legal forms include release instruments, demand letters, cover letters, certificates of satisfaction, complaints and summons.
6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the system is accessed by searchers and other computers via the Internet, and further wherein the real estate forms and the legal forms are transmitted over the Internet.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction record includes multiple fields and multiple attributes, and a settlement date is assigned to at least one field in each record, and further wherein a specified lien holder is a lien holder that has received payment for the underlying obligation.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the search management program includes multiple protocols and data mining programs that are used to interact with, and receive the update information from other computers, and further wherein the search management program receives search results at random times from searchers.
9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the subscriber profile that is created by the subscriber management program is used by the real estate forms program and the legal forms program when generating the real estate forms and the legal forms.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the programmed computer comprises multiple servers.
11. A method for collecting information related to a real estate secured financial transaction and ensuring that each lien is released in a timely fashion after an obligation underlying the lien has been satisfied, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving and storing, by a programmed computer transaction data via a subscriber management program that creates a subscriber profile for an agent;
creating a transaction record based on the transaction data and authorizing a release of real estate forms to the agent;
generating, by the programmed computer, one or more real estate forms related to the real estate secured financial transaction by a real estate forms program;
transmitting the one or more real estate forms to the agent;
assigning the transaction record for tracking and receiving update information by a search management program using the programmed computer;
updating the transaction record by forwarding the update information to a tracking program; and
tracking, by the programmed computer, the record via a tracking program to determine whether the obligation underlying the lien has been satisfied and the lien not released within a specified time period after the obligation has been satisfied, and in such instance sending out one or more notifications.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transaction record includes more than one lien and the tracking program creates a lien record for each lien and tracks a status of each lien, and further wherein the specified time period is equal to a time period set by applicable state law.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein a legal forms program is provided and upon notification from the tracking program, or a system administrator, generates one or more legal forms and transmits the legal forms to a law office or another system administrator.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more real estate forms that are provided to the agent include payoff letters, invoices, demand letters, certificates of satisfaction, release instruments, fax cover sheets, shipping labels, and transaction reports, wherein the transaction reports include, lien information, obligor information, settlement information, pay-off information and loan information.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the legal forms program includes legal form templates for multiple jurisdictions that are used to generate the one or more customized legal forms, and wherein the legal forms include release instruments, demand letters, cover letters, certificates of satisfaction, complaints and summons.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the system is accessed by searchers and other computers via the Internet, and further wherein the real estate forms and legal forms are transmitted over the Internet.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transaction record includes multiple fields and multiple attributes, and a settlement date is assigned to at least one field in each record, and further wherein a specified lien holder is a lien holder that has received payment for the underlying obligation.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the search management program includes multiple protocols and data mining programs that are used to interact with, and receive the update information from other computers, and further wherein the search management program receives search results at random times from searchers.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the subscriber profile that is created by the subscriber management program is used by the real estate forms program and the legal forms program.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the programmed computer comprises multiple servers.