Bulletin: MS2023002

Dear Associates:

We have been made aware of a cyber-attack that has taken place within the Hinds County, Mississippi computer systems used by many of the county’s agencies. Hinds County is the most populous county in the state and the location of the state’s capital, Jackson. This has resulted in the closure of certain court and governmental offices within the county. It has also impacted the Hinds County Chancery Clerk’s Office, access to the local land records, and the ability to process and record title documents. There have been several rumored timelines for a resolution to this issue, but it could take weeks or months before many county services are functional.

If you are handling a transaction in Hinds County that has been impacted, please inform your Stewart underwriter and also your State Agency Manager. Please revise any current commitments with updated title to require a gap indemnity to be signed by the buyer and seller in the transaction. A Gap Indemnity Agreement is provided here. You will need to inform the lender on any transaction affected that there will be some delay in providing them with recording information for their transactional documents. In addition to our standard Overlimits approval request, please make a note in the Overlimits request form additional comments section if your transaction is impacted.

As long as the Hinds County Chancery Clerk’s Office is refusing any land recordings, or access to the land records for a full title examination is denied or limited, please contact your Stewart underwriter for approval.

If you have any questions relating to this or other bulletins, please contact a Stewart Title Guaranty Company underwriter.

For on-line viewing of this and other bulletins, please log onto www.vuwriter.com.