Automatization of Verification Letter Requests

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

In 2018, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners passed Ordinance No. 18-12 requiring sellers of real property to disclose to buyers the existence of a special taxing district or the pendency of a petition to create such a district. This Ordinance is implemented by the Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Department, Special Assessment Districts Division (SADD). To comply with this requirement, SADD receives requests from realtors, title companies, and other customers looking for a verification letter that can confirm or deny the existence of special taxing districts. These requests have always come via mail or email and would cost the requester $15 for each folio property requiring research. In addition, the turnaround time for these letters would take, on average, 48 hours, or for those requiring a faster turnover could pay $30 for an expedited request. This created the need for SADD to establish escrow accounts to allow title companies to deposit enough funds to cover the cost of multiple requests. Since implementing our program, verification letter requests prepared by SADD staff dropped to an average of 200 letters monthly within the last six (6) months compared to the previous standard of 1,400 letters monthly. In addition, new visitors utilizing our application were at 97% in February 2022, up 39% from the lowest point in April 2021.