Northeastern US Clerks and Treasurers Stand in Opposition to Vermont Lawsuit

Our office has provided appointments and scanned records to all requests as other clerks have and have followed the guidance from the governor.

I also object to Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company's efforts to override the power of the State of Vermont and its officials.

This lawsuit saddens me. The extra effort and hours my assistant and I have worked to maintain new and higher safety and scheduling requirements along with increasing ways to obtain documents despite State restrictions has been priority one for us.

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Vermont Town Clerks have strived to serve their communities as best as they could under extraordinary conditions. Many smaller town offices may not be able to accommodate the 6 foot social distancing as required by the Governor's orders. I know for the Town of Randolph, when the office first shut down in March, I continued to allow researchers in to do their title searches even before the Governor allowed it. It was and is by appointment only. No one has been denied access. It just may be a little inconvenient because researchers have to arrange their schedules.

This lawsuit has no merit . We are all doing the best we can, given that clerks I. Small Vermont towns are normally older and in a covid risk froup

I apologize that my last name is misspelled. It should be Debra Hawkins not Hafwkins.

Throughout the pandemic, we have done everything in our power to provide records and information to anyone who requests it. While also following the directives and executive orders issued by the State, OSHA, VOSHA, ACCD, CDC and Vermont Department of Health. Our main objective is to keep our offices, ourselves, our community, our families and researchers safe and healthy. As elected officials during this pandemic, our jobs have become much more complex and demanding and we have had to come up with ways to run our offices safely for all involved. We did not create this pandemic and should not be pressured into allowing physical access to researchers potentially coming from hot spots. We have provided every service possible in a safe way and have never denied anyone information....ever!

The Clerks are making every effort to provide all the information to the real estate people. This company I believe only allows hands on viewing of documents.

What business of CTs what we do in VT?

Safety is so important now, our clerk has provided needed information, keeping appointments.

While I take our responsibility to make Land Records available very seriously, the law in question was not written with a potentially life threatening pandemic in mind.

I object to a title insurance company trying to override the power of the state of Vermont and its officials. Our precautions are the reason VT is doing so well in this pandemic. We have 2 clerks and a small office space. Should one of us get sick the other would have to quarantine and there would be no one at the office.

This complaint does not belong before the court, this is an unprecedented time and circumstance.

I am a retired Town clerk. I support all Clerks

No one has the right to tell towns how to run their offices.

Vermont is doing a good job keeping our communities safe. It is very selfish of the Connecticut Attorneys to think they know more about Vermont communities safety then our Governor! We as clerks do all we can to help all people get the information they need.

I fully believe that each municipal official is doing their best to meet all the needs of various stakeholders who need access to municipal records and services. It is absurd to allow big business to dictate the working hours of any entity, let alone government offices. CATIC is based in CT. Why would the State of VT allow a CT business dictate VT work practices? Is this CT company sending employees who live in CT to VT to conduct in-person research? If so, are they quarantining 7 to 14 days before entering the town office? If they are not sending employees in person, then they should respect that, although municipal employees work for the public, they are not mandated to do the work of title searchers.

Our town has been open by appointment and work diligently to facilitate title workers with keeping our office safe. My priority is to my office and my tax payers.

We work hard to keep to keep everyone safe and accommodate everyone that needs to come into our office.

We have had no complaints here, searchers have had to make appointments and wear masks.