"The Law" is only as good as the people who know it. Depending on the state and recorder's office, redacting "Decisions" are rarely or never made when recording. Depends on the Recorder, his/her comfort level, mood and time & effort. Some are FANTASTIC; some don't care and don't want to know. If it is an original document and the fee is correct, record with no questions asked.
The best case: The attorney or person responsible for sending the document for public recording puts a black marker through the SSN or medical information and it gets filed "as is" and includes a note re what and why ("the law") the information was blacked out.
The worst case: I've had too many where the Clerk (mostly Florida) refused to record original documents that contained both a social security number and confidential, sensitive medical information (cause of death) because, "We can't record it because the original was altered." HIPPA, SSN # and privacy be damed. One Recorder said, "I will record the original and after it is recorded, the person can send a written request asking for the information to be removed." Duh! It is recorded, posted on-line for the world to read and after that you want the deceased to send a letter requesting removal of his cause of death and SSN - too late.
Clueless abound: Sadly, throughout the county (including Connecticut) I still see where notaries public confronted with "ss." or "________ as identification" in the notarization document ignorantly insist to the signer that the notary has to write in his/her social security # or driver's license # to "prove that I identified you." In many cases it is not the notary, the loan "processor", "closer" or "title expert" requires the DL # to be written on the form or "we won't fund the loan."
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