What's In an Affidavit

There has been a trend developing in the industry that Recorder's offices do not want to accept affidavits to correct correct misspellings misstatements in conveyance documents. While this has been a widely accepted practice in the past, it is not so in the present. The arguments from the Recorders say that it open's them up to too much liability due to the potential for fraud. For instance, an error in a legal description which conveyed more property being corrected by an affidavit which states that less property was to be conveyed or a spelling in a name being changed which could substantially change the grantor or grantee's name.
On the other side of the coin, attorney's and title companies argue that a reliable third party which does not benefit from the transaction, but has specific knowledge of the transaction should be able to file an Affidavit to correct such minor scrivener's errors. But what is minor and what is not, and what is a reliable third party that does not benefit. The Recorder's say 'minor error' is in the eyes of the beholder, and attorney's and title companies are benefiting monetarily from the very transactions they are try to make corrections for.
Therefore, the cautious title company should spell check and proofread multiple times throughout the transaction process to avoid costly recording errors which could range from the simple re-recording of the document to quiet title actions to expensive policy claims.