“I promise to protect and serve everyone in Montgomery County and keep the highest standards of the community office,” Kennedy said. “We will be a team upholding those demands of the community.”
Credit: Lynch, Gregory (COP-Dayton)
Credit: Lynch, Gregory (COP-Dayton)
The Montgomery County Recorder’s Office oversees a $1.2 million annual budget and maintains property records and other documents.
The recorder’s office last year reported an uptick in complaints related to suspected fraud involving quitclaim deeds.
Quitclaim deeds are quick ways to transfer property and often are used by family members or spouses. But in quitclaim fraud, a quitclaim deed with a false signature of the owner, coupled with a negligent or complicit notarization, is recorded against the property.
Kennedy on Friday said she will look into ways to incorporate new technology at the recorder’s office to improve fraud detection, and she also wants victims of fraud to see justice.
“My focus as recorder is to ensure the office is working as a team player in the community, protecting Montgomery County residents and business owners from deed fraud, while strongly advocating for the prosecution of those who commit the deed fraud,” she said.
The Dayton area has seen a few arrests in recent months related to suspected quitclaim deed fraud.
The new county recorder has spent more than 20 years in the real estate and mortgage industry, negotiating and handling mortgage and real estate deals and managing teams of mortgage lenders. Kennedy is a graduate of Kettering Fairmont High School and earned an associate degree in business from Miami Jacobs College.
Kennedy said she was grateful for Benson-Taylor’s assistance in the transition of power, calling Benson-Taylor’s leadership “top class.”
“Literally when I met Stacey, I went to shake her hand and she grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug,” Kennedy said. “I was so touched. It’s been an honor to get to know her.”
Kennedy said she looks forward to working with the existing recorder’s office staff, and she wants to have an “open door policy” for community members.
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