People are trying to buy and sell houses in New Orleans, LA, but they are finding themselves under a technologically induced real estate freeze. A computer crash in late October has effectively rendered all real estate records in the Orleans parish inaccessible, making it impossible for buyers to receive title insurance and clear title[1]. The cause of the crash is unclear, but its ramifications are crystal. Since a 30-year check is done on every property in the area before it is sold to determine if “the property is burdened with any liens, lawsuits, court judgements or other legal impediments to a sale,” the market cannot remain active with all of this data locked away. Although a group of “knowledgeable real estate professionals” has come forward to volunteer to catalog and index the data manually, reported Jackie Clarkson, a city councilwoman, “We are nowhere near coming to a final conclusion” because without an order from the Governor of the state, the Clerk of Court “cannot accept the liability of volunteer workers.”

Until the information is once again accessible, the real estate market in the area will remain at a standstill since mortgage companies and title insurance companies will not allow deals to move forward that are not certified free and clear. Clarkson warns that any more delay could “devastate not only the local real estate market but the overall local and state economy.” Indeed, there have already been some unexpected ramifications in addition to the expected problems encountered by homeowners and home-buyers who are unable to move forward in their transactions. For example, construction on a planned LSU teaching hospital has been delayed indefinitely, preventing an influx of jobs into the area.

At this time, while hard drives have been partially restored and recovered, a full recovery has been projected, over the past few weeks, for “one week, turned into two weeks, which turned into a date near the Mardi Gras season, which has now turned into an indefinite amount of time,” reported the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR), adding, “This by far is unacceptable”[2].

“We know not enough is being done because…you can’t buy a house in the Orleans Parish,” complained Joe Ory, president of NOMAR. “That’s a pretty serious problem.”

[1] http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/11/progress_reported_in_solving_n.html
[2]http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/mortgage-computer-crash-realtor-meeting/q9r04O-Qg0uZZcSQGBBmzw.cspx