At least 40 Salt Lake County property owners have visited the county recorder’s office trying to pay a $95 fee to obtain a “property assessment profile” that a California firm that sells the product is recommending, but that county officials say is unnecessary and overpriced.
“Property owners do not need to pay a private company $95 for their public property information. The information they are selling in this notice is available through my office ... for a nominal fee, as well as the assessor’s office and the county treasurer’s office,” County Recorder Rashelle Hobbs said Tuesday in a news release.
Hobbs said it appears that some of the people coming into county office believe they are required to pay the $95, but that’s not the case.
“I want to assure the public this fee is NOT a required government fee,” she said in her prepared statement.
Leslie Reberg, Hobbs’ chief deputy, noted that if 40 people have taken the time to come into the county office to pay the fee, she suspects many more have paid the fee and ordered the documents online, by phone or mail.
The “recorded deed notice” mailed to apparently thousands of homeowners says it is coming from a company called “Property Site” in Fresno, Calif.
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The solicitation looks like an official notification, but it does contain a disclaimer. “This product or service has not been approved or endorsed by any governmental agency, and this offer is not being made by an agency of the government,” it notes.
The Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office suggests that if you receive the solicitation and have any questions, contact the county at 385-468-8145.