Suffolk Cyberattack: Title Searches Return As Property Sales Delayed

RIVERSIDE, NY — Suffolk County officials resumed allowing title companies to perform searches on Monday, nearly a month after the county's web-based applications were disrupted following a ransomware attack last month.

Title companies that use the county clerk's office to conduct the required title searches of properties before house closings had been unable to obtain records from the clerk’s office, which had been compromised in the cyberattack, Newsday reported.

The inability of those independent companies to access records and perform title searches delayed some real estate house closings since Sept. 8 because they were unable to verify if there were any claims against a property in closing. But the clerk's office allowed a small group of researchers back in by making computer terminals available over the weekend to see if the new system would work, and finally opened it up to everyone on Monday.

Jeffrey Jimenez of EXP Realty in Hauppauge said he has about 30 sales that have been hanging in limbo without the title searches complete and it has had homebuyers and sellers, alike, very anxious.

'It's a little bit slower than normal, but it's going back to the pre-COVID way of doing it," he said. "What was the problem was the uncertainty of not knowing when the county was going to allow this to happen again. We were going into three to four weeks."

Jimenez described the situation as "a significant backlog."

To alleviate the process, sellers were being asked to supply affidavits indicating their properties were clear or any title or lien issues, but not all were willing to do that, so banks began asking them to place $25,000 to $30,000 in escrow, he explained.

"It's a matter of it comes out of their proceeds," he said. "So, if they rely on those proceeds to buy something else, definitely it's going to stop them from being able to move forward. So, not everyone has got the money."

In the meantime, he said he is asking clients to be patient as the county moves forward.

"We are praying that it gets better," he said.

The county's web-based applications were attacked on Sept. 8, forcing officials to take down some of its services, including web pages and email, while they undertook an investigation. The attack has since been deemed a ransomware attack.

A cybercriminal gang named "BlackCat" has alleged responsibility, according to posts on the dark web.

County officials have previously said that the hackers responsible for the cyberattack had either accessed or acquired residents' personal information and they advised vigilant credit monitoring.

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