Suffolk County’s title search system is back online, but ramifications from last month’s cyberattack will affect the real estate industry for a bit longer.
The county resumed title searches over the weekend, Newsday reported. It was the first time the industry was able to conduct searches on Suffolk County properties since a cyberattack shut down government servers Sept. 8.
The county provided limited access to title examiners beginning Saturday and restored full access Monday. Those accustomed to remote access to the database during the pandemic, however, are still out of luck. Searches must be conducted in the county’s offices, which remain isolated as officials work to insulate the system from attacks.
The office is opening an hour early every day in an effort to clear the backlog and prevent further transaction delays.
The county’s inability to conduct title searches virtually halted real estate activity. The attack disabled access to county websites, making it impossible to verify property titles or file records. Banks and buyers must verify titles are clean — meaning there are no liens against the property and the seller is the legitimate and sole owner — before transactions close.
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Cyberattack cripples Suffolk County real estate industry
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The consequences of delayed closings are serious for buyers, who typically lock in mortgage rates early in the purchasing process. If they don’t close the sale by the time their rate lock expires, they could be forced to pay a higher rate. And if they don’t qualify for the mortgage with the higher rate, or just don’t want to pay it, the sale could fall through.
Jeffrey Jimenez, who leads a team at eXp Realty, told Newsday that 30 sales of his have gone under contract but haven’t closed since the ransomware attack.
Agents resorted to closing deals by having sellers sign paperwork affirming no new liens or judgments against the property since the preliminary title report stage of the selling process. Some sellers even put money in escrow accounts to push deals along.
But without that initial search, sales could not happen at all.
A hacking group known as BlackCat claimed credit for the attack and demanded payment to restore access to the government servers, the Suffolk Times reported. The hackers claimed to have stolen four terabytes of data, including information on individual residents.
— Holden Walter-Warner