County Services FAQ
Find answers to common questions about foreclosure, mortgage, title search, and other county-related data services we provide.
Foreclosure is a process that allows a lender to recover the amount owed on a defaulted loan by selling or taking ownership (repossession) of the property securing the loan. The foreclosure process begins when a borrower/owner defaults on loan payments (usually mortgage payments) and the lender files a public default notice, called a Notice of Default or Lis Pendens.
Pre-foreclosure refers to the state of a property that is in the early stages of being repossessed due to the property owner's inability to pay an outstanding mortgage obligation. Reaching pre-foreclosure status begins when the lender files a default notice on the property. At this point, the property owner has the opportunity to pay off the outstanding debt or sell the property before it goes into foreclosure.
Pre-foreclosure in some states lasts more than 13 months. When you miss mortgage payments you could start a process that ends in your home's foreclosure. There's also a period of time between when your mortgage lender considers your loan in default and when it actually forecloses — that's called pre-foreclosure.
Visit the County Assessor. Most states now have additional tools available for free property title searches. You can find these on your state government sites under "county assessor." You will have to select your county, and you can then search through the listed properties.
Mortgage is a legal agreement by which a bank, building society, etc. lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor's property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt.
Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure where a person, called the owner-occupier, owns the home in which he/she lives. This home can be a house, apartment, condominium, or a housing cooperative.
A new mover refers to an individual who has recently changed their residential address. New mover data captures these individuals who are likely to need new services and products in their new location.
A quitclaim deed is a legal instrument which is used to transfer interest in real property. The entity transferring its interest is called the grantor, and when the quitclaim deed is properly completed and executed, it transfers any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, called the grantee.
Depending on the terms of the timeshare contract, an owner may rent their week or interval to another party in exchange for payment. There are third parties that will try and rent timeshares on behalf of their owners as a one-time event or an annual occurrence.
Divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, is the termination of a marriage or marital union, the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state.
Safety Data Sheet FAQ
Refer to Section 2, 14 and 15 of the SDS, which shows the chemical's hazardous and dangerous goods classifications.
SDS documents follow a mandatory 16-section GHS format. Key sections include: Section 2 – Hazards identification, Section 3 – Composition/ingredients, Section 4 – First aid measures, Section 5 – Fire fighting measures, Section 6 – Accidental release measures, Section 7 – Handling and storage, Section 8 – Exposure controls, Section 9 – Physical and chemical properties, Sections 10–16 cover stability, toxicology, ecology, disposal, transport, regulatory info, and other information.
Online SDS are considered accessible if employees have ready-access to these stored documents. However, it is strongly recommended that printed hard copies are made available and kept where they can be found quickly in the event of an accident or emergency. A clearly marked folder with Safety Data Sheets stored alphabetically by trade name is recommended.
Employers must make sure that all controlled products have an up-to-date (less than three years old) MSDS when it enters the workplace. The MSDSs must be readily available to workers exposed to the controlled product. If a controlled product is made in the workplace, the employer has a duty to prepare an MSDS for those products. Employers may computerize the MSDS information as long as all employees have access, are trained, and hard copies are available upon request.
1. Perform an internet search — most companies have SDSs available on their websites.
2. Contact the manufacturer of the chemical directly and request a copy.
3. The manufacturer or distributor is required to provide an SDS with the initial shipment — file and keep these when received.
A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with the chemical product. It is an essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety program.
Before OSHA implemented the GHS, MSDSs could be in any format. With the GHS changes, SDS documents now have a mandatory 16-part format with more required information than older MSDSs. See the OSHA Brief "Hazard Communication Standard: Safety Data Sheets" for more information about the currently required 16-part GHS format.
1. Your laboratory or workplace should have a collection that came with hazardous chemicals ordered.
2. Most universities and businesses have a collection on site — check with your Environmental or Occupational Health Office.
3. Get them from the distributor that sold you the material, or contact the manufacturer's customer service.
4. The internet has a wide range of free resources — 100+ such sites are available online.
5. You can purchase software or internet subscription services.
Under WHMIS law, an MSDS for a controlled product must not be more than three years old. If you are still using a product bought more than three years ago, you may not have a current MSDS. Contact the manufacturer or supplier and ask for a newer version.
GHS (Globally Harmonized System): Defines and classifies the hazards of chemical products, and communicates health and safety information on labels and safety data sheets.
Harmonized WHS Laws: Provides a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces, facilitating a consistent national approach to WHS.
The GHS is not mandatory, therefore safety data sheets that comply with the GHS or the existing classifications can be used during the 5-year transition period.
A key change of the WHS Regulations is the use of hazard classes and categories under the GHS. As it is not mandatory for SDS to be prepared according to GHS until 1 January 2017, it is likely that you would have a mix of safety data sheets — some prepared according to the GHS and some not.
Employers, employees, end users and emergency services personnel who are exposed to or could be potentially exposed to these products.