Bulletin: NC2024003

Dear Associates:

Eleven additional North Carolina counties will upgrade to the Odyssey Integrated Case Management System (the “Odyssey Portal”) on July 22, 2024. The eleven additional counties are: Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk, Swain, and Transylvania.

Currently, the following counties are live on the Odyssey Portal: Alamance, Beaufort, Camden, Chatham, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Durham, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Hyde, Johnston, Lee, Martin, Mecklenburg, Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, and Washington. We expect all one hundred counties in North Carolina will migrate to the Odyssey Portal by the end of 2025.

The North Carolina Land Title Association (NCLTA) adopted a VCAP to eCourts Odyssey Portal indemnity agreement for use by title insurance underwriters. The purpose of the indemnity agreement was to address the limited period between the VCAP system going offline and the Odyssey Portal going live. During the migration to the Odyssey Portal in the pilot counties (Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake), users raised concerns about the search function and reliability of the Odyssey Portal. As a result, the NCLTA revised the original indemnity agreement. You can find both a pdf version of the revised indemnity agreement (effective 7/11/23) and a Microsoft Word version on the NCLTA website (https://www.nclta.org/).

To insure without exception to any matters filed with the Clerk of Court’s office, this indemnity agreement must be obtained from all Sellers/Owners and Purchasers of the Land, if at the time of closing the records in the Clerk of Court’s office are affected by migration from the current VCAP system to the Odyssey Portal. The revised indemnity agreement removes references to documents found in a normal search of a Register of Deeds index. It also clarifies that this indemnification form does not replace the need for obtaining the appropriate NCLTA lien waivers. Attorneys must search the Odyssey Portal, and obtaining this indemnity agreement will not discharge that responsibility.

In addition to adopting the revised indemnity agreement, the NCLTA published a sample requirement for title insurance commitments (see below). You must include this requirement in Schedule B-1 of the commitment in counties affected by the migration.

If at the time of closing, records in the Clerk of Court’s office potentially affecting Title to the Land are affected by computer data migration from VCAP to eCourts Odyssey Portal, and if coverage is requested without exception for any matters filed with the Clerk’s office during this period in which the attorney’s ability to search these records is impacted, the following are required:

1. attorney’s certification of examination of the VCAP portal immediately prior to the migration;
   
   
2. attorney’s certification of examination of the eCourt Odyssey Portal according to the most current search standards available; and
   
   
3. receipt of fully executed NCLTA Form “Affidavit of Understanding and Indemnity and Hold Harmless Agreement Regarding Computer Data Migration (VCAP to ECOURTS ODYSSEY PORTAL)” or satisfactory equivalent approved in advance by Stewart Title Guaranty Company counsel.

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

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