As DocMagic, Inc.'s Washington security instruments list the name of the trustee as a "grantee" on the first page, a customer questioned the validity of adding the trustee's name. To assure the customer that DocMagic was in compliance, DocMagic's Compliance Department contacted a few county auditor's offices to determine whether or not the trustee must be listed in addition to providing the customer with the following legal explanation.

When an instrument is presented to a county auditor or recorder for recording in the state of Washington, among the state's document recordation requirements is the requirement that the first page of the instrument contain the names of the grantor(s) and grantee(s) with reference to the document page number where additional names are located, if applicable. See Revised Code of Washington § 65.04.045(1)(e).

Revised Code of Washington § 65.04.045(1)(e) references Revised Code of Washington §65.04.015 for the definition of "grantor/grantee." Section 65.04.015(5) states:

"Grantor/grantee" for recording purposes means the names of the parties involved in the transaction used to create the recording index. There will always be at least one grantor and one grantee for any document. In some cases, the grantor and the grantee will be the same individual(s), or one of the parties may be the public.

Apparently, county auditors adopt varying interpretations as to whether or not a trustee is considered a "grantor" or "grantee" for recording purposes. DocMagic's Compliance Department contacted a number of county auditors and was advised by the King County (the county in which Seattle is located) Auditor that it does not require that the trustee be listed as a grantee or grantor on the first page of the security instruments. However, Spokane County does require that the trustee be named as a grantee for indexing purposes.

The supervisor of the Spokane County Auditor's Office advised that most Washington county auditors do require the trustee to be listed as a grantee on the first page of the security instrument. She further advised that there is nothing in the Washington Revised Code that expressly requires that the trustee be named as a grantee. This is simply a policy most counties have adopted for indexing purposes. The supervisor stated that while all auditors in Washington meet annually to reach a consensus on many things, adding the trustee as a grantee on page 1 of the security instruments is one of the items where a consensus obviously has not been achieved.

Based on the above, DocMagic, Inc. will continue to add the name of the trustee under the "grantee" section on the first page of the Washington security instruments. Feel free to contact the Compliance Department if you have any questions concerning the contents of this article.