Real estate agents and mortgage companies will be happy to find out that they can now use property owners’ names to search the county website for information on private properties. Thecounty board previously voted down the feature because of concerns regarding privacy, although people could access the information using owners’ names by calling or showing up at the Cook County Courthouse.
County Information Systems Director Danna MacKenzie told the county board Tuesday, May 26, 2009 that more and more Minnesota counties are allowing online property searches by owners’ names. County Assessor Mary Black said her office gets a lot of calls from real estate agents looking for this information. MacKenzie figured the new feature would save about 20-50 employee hours per year.
Commissioner Jim Johnson asked Black and County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers if taxpayers had expressed concerns to them about privacy issues related to having their properties searchable by name on the county website. They both said, no, although no notices were published informing the public of the possibility.
The board unanimously passed a motion to allow the new feature.
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