Simplifile

Contents

Overview

Simplifile’s nationwide e-recording network allows organizations to record in any county on their network. Documents can be submitted directly from within Resware. When the document is recorded, the instrument number and cost is communicated back to Resware, and actions can be triggered. Resware is also notified of rejections and logs the rejection reason as well as triggering an action. The file will show the Simplifile status through the life of the recording process.

Contact:	Sales
	(800) 460-5657 sales@simplifile.com
Website:	https://www.simplifile.com
Time/Cost:	Varies

This demonstrates how to set up and use the Simplifile integration.

Begin here: Contact Simplifile for further information or to register for services at (800) 460-5657 or sales@simplifile.com. Inform them that the integration with Resware will be enabled. To enable this integration, the Simplifile ID, username, and password are needed. The Simplifile ID can be found on their website under Organizations.

Next: Complete the following set up steps.

Next: Send a notification email to support@resware.qualia.com when setup is completed.

Next: Test.

Considerations

Each Simplifile ID is tied to the bank account where Simplifile will auto-draft recording fees.
When new recording bank accounts are set-up in Resware, Simplifile will need to be notified.
Multiple Simplifile IDs can be tied to the same bank account, however, a single Simplifile ID cannot be tied to multiple bank accounts.
Simplifile will generate an invoice for each Simplifile ID.
Multiple users with separate logins may be tied to the same Simplifile ID.
Daily Simplifile transactions can be added to the recording ledger either manually on a file-by-file basis or by importing them into Resware using Admin/Import/Transactions.

Version history

Version	Date	Mantis	Description
Pre 8.26	04/19/2018		Information and screenshots created in version 9.1

Enable the Simplifile integration

Admin> General Setup> Offices> Edit Office

Select the Recording tab and click Enable Simplifile Integration.
Click Save.

Create a partner type

Admin> Partner-Related> Partner Types

Click Add.
Enter a Name, such as eRecording.
Enter 1 as Max Per File.
Select County from the Locale Restriction drop-down menu.
Click Save.

Create a Simplifile eRecording partner

Admin> Partners

Click New.
Enter a Company Name, such as Simplifile.
Enter the partner’s information and set the Partner Type to eRecording.
Click Save.

Set up recording services

Admin> Recording> Recording Services> Credentials

Click Add, which will open the Credentials tab.
From the Service Type drop-down menu, select Simplifile.
Enter a Display Name. This will be displayed to users on the file when selecting a recording account.
Enter a Username. This is provided by Simplifile.
Enter a Password. This is provided by Simplifile.
Enter an Organization ID. This is the Simplifile ID provided by Simplifile.
Enable this account for the appropriate office(s) by click Add in the Enable for Offices area.
Click Change to select the Simplifile partner. To e-record documents on a file, this partner must be on the file. Typically, this partner would be set-up to be auto-added in all counties where recording documents will be submitted to Simplifile.
If this account should only be available when specific partners are on a file in an office, highlight the office and select the partner restrictions by using the Add button in the Partners area.
Click Save.
Repeat the above steps to create an account for each user with separate login information.

Note – The same partner may be associated to each account set-up.

Admin> Recording/Recording Services> Jurisdiction Mappings

Select Simplifile from the Recording Service drop-down menu.
Click Generate Mappings. This will map all Simplifile jurisdictions with Resware counties.
A pop-up may be received with any counties that could not be automatically mapped. Click on the Resware County drop-down menu for each of these instances and select the appropriate Resware County to match with the Simplifile Jurisdiction. This will occur for any township or county with a name variation (e.g. City of Meriden, CT, and Los Angeles, CA).

Admin> Recording> Recording Services> Credential Counties

Select Simplifile from the Recording Service Credentials drop-down menu. The associated Username, Password, Organization ID, and Partner will be displayed.
Click Populate Counties to enable the account for the appropriate counties. This queries the Simplifile service and retrieves the list of counties that are currently set-up to submit documents for the given account.
Since the eRecording partner type is restricted by location, as shown in the partner type set-up above, use Copy Counties to Partner to enable the partner in the same counties in which the Simplifile account can record.
Click Save.

If credentials for a specific county need to be overridden to use an account other than the account selected, highlight the county and click Override Credentials.
- Select the account the specified county should use by highlighting it and clicking Add Selected. The available list is populated from the accounts in Admin/Recording/Recording Services/Credentials.
- Click OK.

The county will indicate that it’s been overridden if the OverrideUsername, Override Password, and OverrideOrganizationID fields are displayed.

If an override was added and no longer needed, highlight the county and click Clear Override.
Repeat Set up for recording services for all accounts. Multiple accounts can be created in Resware to mirror the users’ enabled counties as set on their Simplifile account.

Note – When additional counties are added on the Simplifile website, Resware will need to also be updated by returning to Admin/Recording/Recording Services/Credential Counties and clicking Populate Counties and Copy Counties to Partner. This will override the current settings in Resware to use the same Simplifile county settings as enabled on Simplifile’s website.

The Copy Counties to Partner function enables each county for all transactions and product types. This may need to be considered for counties that do not e-record transfer documents.

Enable Simplifile for internal users

Admin> Internal Users> Edit User

Click Recording Service Accounts

The default selection is All.
If a user should be limited to specific accounts, click Add.
Select the appropriate account(s) and click Add.

The Account Access option will change from All to Selected and display the accounts added.
Click Close.

Update recording document type information

Admin> Recording> Recording Document Types

It is recommended to add the “Pull Data” Mappings to each recording document type to allow this information to populate when adding recording documents to files.

Highlight a recording document type and click Edit.
Optionally, select a lien type from the Map to Lien Type drop-down menu if this document type requires a lien to be added to the Policy panel.
In the “Pull Data” Mappings area, select the appropriate option for each drop-down menu for Grantee, Grantor, Mortgagor, Beneficiary, Trustee, and Amount.
Click Save and repeat for each recording document type.

Auto-adding the Simplifile partner to files

It is recommended to auto-add the Simplifile partner to ensure they are on the files as needed based on the locations where this service is being utilized. Auto-adding can be set-up either on the product’s action list or by another partner that will be on the files, such as a title company or branch office.

Admin> Action Lists> Action Lists

Auto-adding the partner to action lists is one way to ensure the partner is on the file as needed.

Highlight the action list where the eRecording partner should be added and click Edit.
Click Add in the Auto-Add Partner Types On File Creation area.
Select the eRecording partner from the Add Partner Types panel and click Add.
Click Save.

Admin> Partners

Auto-add a partner based on another partner who will be on files, such as the title company or branch office.

Click Add in the Auto-Add Partners area. Search for the eRecording partner to Select.
Click Save.

Manually adding the Simplifile partner to files

Manually add the partner to any existing files where eRecording services are needed.

File> General

Click Add and select the Simplifile partner from the Search/Add Partner panel.

Creating a document package to record with Simplifile

File> Recording tab

Click Add.

Select a Document Type from the drop-down menu.
Click Pull Data to populate file information such as the actual settlement date, which will pull into the Security Instrument Date. The Grantee, Grantor, Mortgagor, Beneficiary, Trustee, and Amount fields will pull from the file based on the recording document type’s configuration.
Enter any additional information required by the recording document’s language template.
If this recording document is related to a specific loan on the file, select the related loan from the Loan drop-down menu. The default is All.
If the recording document is to be related to any policy on the file, select Add in the Policies area for the respective policy. This will add this recording document to the Schedule A area of the Policy panel.
If the recording document is to be related as a lien, select Add As Lien in the Policies area for the respective policy. This will add the lien within the Exceptions: Liens and Restrictions area of the Policy panel, as set on the recording document type’s configuration. This will add a policy-only lien and will not display within the Liens & Requirements area of the Search Data panel.

Note: Once a recording document is related to a policy using either Add or Add as Lien, the respective association on the Policy tab would need to be removed prior to a recording document being deleted from the Recording panel.

Click Save or Save, New if additional recording documents need to be added.

Highlight the newly added document and
- If the recording document is already on the Document panel, click Associate Doc/Note. Select the Item Type and Item from the drop-down menus. This is the document that will be recorded.
- Click OK.

If the recording document is not on the file, click Attach Doc and locate file.
Enter the Document Type from the drop-down menu.
Click Save.

The Documents column will show the associated document.
Verify the documents are in the order that they should be recorded. If the order needs to be changed, highlight a document and click on Move Up or Move Down as needed to change the order.
Highlight the recording item(s) to include in a recording package and click Send To.
The Package Name will default to the file number and the package number. A user can override this name if needed. This will be the package name reference used on the Simplifile website.
Verify the Simplifile Account to use for recording and select from the drop-down menu if a different account should be used. This drop-down menu will be populated with the accounts to which the user has rights.
Verify the State Jurisdictions that is defaulted based on the property on the file. Select from the drop-down menu if documents are to be recorded in a different county.
Highlight the first document in the package, then select the appropriate Simplifile Type from the drop-down menu to associate it with the document in Resware.
Enter the Value for each Required Field Name. The Grantees and Grantors will pre-populate as set on the recording document type’s configuration (see Admin> Recording> Recording Document Types).
Highlight the next document in the package and repeat the above two steps. Once all documents in the package have been associated to a Simplifile Type and the Values entered, click Send.

The package is now sent to the Simplifile. Click Yes to open the website to complete the recording process.

Complete process on Simplifile’s website

The user will need to open the package on the Simplifile website, verify the document margins and required county requirements, then set each document as recordable.

Once all documents are set to be recordable, then the package’s status will change from draft to ready and the user can click Submit.

Tracking recording information in Resware

The Package Name column will display the name given to the document package.
The Package Status column will display the status of the recording. It will change as it flows through the recording process.
Simplifile will return the Doc. Recorded Date, Actual Recording Fee, along with the Instrument or Book and Page information.

NOTE: Users can be notified on the action workflow when the document changes statuses by utilizing the Simplifile triggers: Simplifile: All Documents Recorded will be fired when all of the documents on the file have been recorded and Simplifile: Documents Rejected will be fired if a recording document is rejected.

Recording package management

After a recording package has been sent from Resware to the recording service, manual changes may occur on the recording service’s website that will need to be reflected in Resware. The following options allow a user to manually manage the recording package in Resware to reflect these changes if they have the internal user role Recording: Remove Recording Document, Delete package, and Record Package enabled.

Highlight a document and click Remove From Package to remove a document from a package. This may be used if a user removed the document from the package directly on the recording service’s website prior to recording.
Click Delete Packageto remove the package association from all of the documents with in the package sent to the recording service. This may be used to remove the package only in Resware or both Resware and Simplifile’s website.
- Click YES to remove from both Resware and Simplifile’s website, or NO to only remove from Resware.

Click Record Package to manually change the Package Status to Recorded. This may be used to update Resware when the recording information is not returned by the recording service which could occur if the package name was changed directly on the recording service’s website.

FAQ

Simplifile announced changes to the connection encryption setting they will support for integrated e-Recording customers, including those on Resware. They will be removing support for certain encryption configurations on January 22, 2021.

Please refer to the communication received from Simplifile for technical details about this change. Click on this link for the announcement sent to all Resware customers which include instructions to update Resware configurations.

What are the Simplifile password requirements?

In an effort to improve security at Simplifile, they have recently increased the requirements for new passwords – anybody who is creating or re-creating a new password will have to abide by these new guidelines:
must have 9 or more characters
must have at least 3 of the following:
must contain a number
must contain both an upper and a lower case character
must contain a special character (!A$?+….)
must NOT contain a # character.
Note that the character # cannot be used in a password for an account using the Resware integration.

How do we setup and utilize Simplifile’s 7AM Priority Queues via the integration in Resware?

The 7am queues or “Counties” are populated along with the jurisdiction mappings, but only the standard jurisdictions/counties are mapped by default. You have to go into AdminRecordingRecording Services and ADD the 7AM queues to your applicable counties manually. Then, when you send a recording to Simplifile, you can select the 7AM or the standard county in the drop down after clicking “Send To”.

How do I get documents back Simplifile as PDF instead of TIFF?

Go to Admin/General Setup/ResWare Options and go to the Recording tab. In Recorded Documents Additional Parameter(s), enter &image_type=application/pdf.
Please note: Once this has been set, then the Email Exchange Proxy will need to be restarted for this to set.

Updated on December 7, 2022