NV County Clerk Resigns Amid Mortgage Scandal

Frances Dean accused of selling non-public mortgage data

March 21, 2006

By PATRICK CROWLEY

A county recorder in Nevada has stepped down from her $91,000 a year job amid allegations she sold mortgage-related documents before they were made public.Frances Dean, the Clark County Recorder, relinquished the day-to-day operation of office while the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigates the allegations. “It is important that any and all allegations be investigated fully,” Clark County Manager Tom Reilly said in a statement. “We understand that no county employees are suspected of wrongdoing and we are cooperating with (police) in its investigation. Ms. Deane is an elected official and is accountable to the citizens and does not report to the county manager and the county commission.“ Deane, a Republican who took office in January of 2003, could not be reached to comment. In Nevada the county recorder is responsible for overseeing public documents that include mortgage filings and property transfers.

county photo of Frances Deane

In an interview with MortgageDaily.com, Reilly confirmed that the allegations against Deane include tipping off businesses and individuals when mortgage default notices were filed with the county. Allegedly, Deane was being paid for the tips, which were given in advance of the documents being made public.The buyers of the tips would then have the opportunity to know about property becoming available before the general public.

“I’ve not been fully briefed, and it’s an ongoing investigation,” Reilly said in a March 13 interview. “But that’s the allegation.”

Police and the district attorney’s office did remove documents from Deane’s office, Reilly said.

Reilly did say that Deane’s behavior is a “pattern” and that she was involved “with the same issue when she came into office.”

In the spring of 2004 the Nevada Ethics Commission fined Deane $5,000 after she admitted to starting an Internet company that was set up to sell documents from her office, according to a copy of the ethics ruling.

Reilly said at the time the county was trying to put documents online that Deane was attempting to sell.

“She was putting up roadblocks,” Reilly said. “While we trying to put this information on line for the public, she wanted to sell it.”

Deane did not sell any documents and was not charged criminally, according to the ethics ruling.

Reilly described the atmosphere surrounding the investigation “an ongoing drama” because at first Deane refused to temporarily turn over her duties to an assistant in her office.

“Everyday is a new drama,” he said. “But her stepping aside is in the best interest of the recorder’s office and the best interest of the county.”

Deane is still being paid a salary even though she is not working.

“I appreciate you agreement not to contact your staff or access your workspace or any of its records during this time period,” Reilly wrote in a March 9 letter to Deane. “I believe this arrangement will provide everyone concerned with a level of comfort that the security of the office and its records will be preserved and its mission fulfilled during this difficult period.”

In the biography pasted on her office’s Web site Deane says that before taking office she worked in the “mortgage banking and real estate industry,” but no details are offered about her professional life.

Patrick Crowley is a feature journalist and blogger for MortgageDaily.com. He is also a reporter, blogger and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer.
e-mail Patrick at: [email protected]