CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) Response

March 17, 2020

Dear Clear Title Community,

We are all in this together and we can do many things to protect the more vulnerable people in our community, as well as customers and ourselves. Clear Title takes the health and wellness of our people, customers and community very seriously. While our employees and business have not experienced any direct impact from the Coronavirus at this time, we believe it is important to take preventative actions to keep our families and customers safe. The following procedures are being implemented effective immediately and until further notice. We also strongly encourage you to follow these protocols at home and share this with customers, family and friends. The purpose of this policy is to not only keep you and your families healthy, but also slow the spread of the virus so health care professionals are not overrun.

General Procedures & Precautions:

We are limiting entrance into our offices for essential persons only. Currently essential persons include employees of Clear Title and any individual(s) who has an appointment to sign closing documents. All others will be considered non-essential and will be prevented from entering our offices until further notice. All essential persons entering Clear Title facilities will be required to follow Clear Title’s policies and you should inform them of these policies.

• All employees and guests are required to wash their hands upon entering any Clear Title office. This includes but is not limited to coming to work in the morning, returning from lunch or meetings. Proper hand washing consists of using soap and water while washing for a minimum of 20 seconds.
• It is important that employees do not shake hands with others, including customers and vendors. This is a general guideline during most pandemic outbreaks and will be commonly understood by the public.
• When possible, employees should carry hand sanitizer and use it after visiting public places or after signings/meetings. Employees should still wash their hands upon re-entering a Clear Title office even after having used hand sanitizer.
• We ask all employees to cooperate in taking steps to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases in the workplace. In addition to the measures listed above, please be mindful of the following:
  • Stay home when you are sick, preferably as soon as you start feeling sick.
  • Cover your mouth with tissues whenever you sneeze, and immediately discard used tissues in the trash.
  • Avoid people who are sick with respiratory symptoms.
  • Clean frequently touched surfaces.

Symptom Awareness:

 It is critical that employees do not report to work while they are experiencing respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches or chills. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employees remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100 degrees F or 37.8 degrees C) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications. Clear Title reserves the right to send employees home and/or require them to stay home if they are showing signs of illness.

Other Preventative Steps We Are Taking:

• We have given employees the flexibility to work from home if they have children who are out of school, they have family/loved ones who are older or at risk to the virus, or if they just feel safer staying home.
• We are requiring employees that are presenting any symptoms of illness, to stay home.
• We are hiring and contracting additional notaries/signers to expedite and fulfill mobile signing processes or in-office signings. And, we are requiring that these signers follow Clear Title policies and policies of the National Notary Association which includes a health screening application prior to each signing.
• We are implementing clean room policies to ensure a safe environment for customers when signing documents. Including asking customers to bring their own pens or discarding of all pens after use.
• Clear Title Agency of Arizona offers the Zoccam mobile application, enabling real estate agents and buyers to send earnest money checks instantly, securely and at no additional cost.
• We have taken measures to increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfection practices at all our branch locations.
• We have distributed hand sanitizer at all our branch locations for our team and our customers to use in office and meeting rooms.
• We are closely monitoring local, state, and national guidance related to virus prevention protocols.
• We are making charitable contributions from every closing to Valleywise Health Foundation to support emergency preparedness, research and medical education programs at Valleywise Health, Arizona’s Public Teaching Health System. We are proud to show our support for the medical professionals on the front line, tirelessly dedicated to the health of our community.

We hope that the results of the recent virus have minor impact, however we believe it is our responsibility to take precautions as best we can. We sincerely thank you for following these protocols and doing what you can to ensure that we keep our customers, families, community and ourselves as safe as we can.

 

Thank YOU!!

 

 

 

Bart Patterson

Chief Executive Officer

Clear Title Agency of Arizona

 

ABOUT CLEAR TITLE AGENCY OF ARIZONA
Locally owned and operated Clear Title Agency of Arizona provides full-service residential and commercial title and escrow services with multiple locations across the Valley and in Flagstaff. The company has been recognized by Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies and Phoenix Business Journal’s Best Places to Work numerous times and ranks in the top 1% of all First American agents nationally. For more information, visit www.cleartitleaz.com.