Debbie Conway – Clark County Recorder

I’ve been here multiple times and I have always been assisted in a professional manner and have gotten in and out quickly

I just read two of the longest reviews I’ve ever seen online. People, this is a government office, not a blockbuster movie! I’ve lived in Las Vegas for almost 34 years so trust me when I tell you that this office has never worked better or more efficiently than under the direction of Debbie Conway. She has instituted reforms that were long overdue.

This is a review about my experience at The Clark County Recorder’s/Assessor’s Office having done of my ‘Declared Homestead’ on a property.
**Declared Homestead– A Homestead gives protection against involuntary claims against an owner’s home**
Recently, I moved to a different property and I was receiving several letters in the mail from all different companies explaining the benefits of homesteading. Usually, they will ask a check for $ 25 and after that they’ll send another letter that I need to pay the extras to homestead. I Asked all my coworkers at work and they were saying that they paid about $ 50 for a declaration of homestead. I thought it was a little too expensive to be recorded. So, I researched and I found out that I can go to Clark County Recorder’s/Assessor’s Office and they can do it for me from there!
1) I went to the Recorder’s Office (located on the 2^nd Floor), filled out the form.
2) After filling out the form, I had to go the Assessor’s Office which is located right next to the Recorder’s office & I signed it in front of a notary. They are offering a FREE of charge to do a notary on Fridays :) You can ask a person to make sure that the information of your property is correct and up-​to-​date. If you ask, they will tell you the real value of your property on both last year’s and this year’s (for your tax purposes).
3) A person at the Recorder’s, she/​he recorded my declaration of homestead and everything was done in less than 20min. I paid ONLY $ 14 in cash (they accept the major credit cards but if you use it, they will charge a fee of $ 3.50. It’s better to pay in cash and get a receipt).
It’s been signed, notarized, & recorded!
I find that the people who work at this place are all efficiently helpful and are willing to take the time to answer my questions (I had tons of questions to ask as usual, LOL). In my experience, it is best go there as early in the morning as possible to avoid a long line. I was there around @9am and there were only a few people waiting. The parking is FREE, don’t need to feed the meters, yay (lots of empty parking spaces). The building is very clean and nice as all the government facilities are sleek :) For a moment, I just thought about how much I hate waiting in line for several hours at the DMV. :(
**Just a Note**
I’m not an expert but my understanding is that if you have a recorded homestead declaration and have a judgment against you, you can still sell your property protecting a certain amount of money as long as you purchase a replacement house prior to six months. And also it will protects the homeowner in the event the equity in the house is attacked by creditors. I think it’s totally up to a person to Homestead or not. But if you decide & want to Declaration of Homestead, you can do it yourself, very easily @Clark County Recorder’s/Assessor’s Office, without using a professional service which charges too much and makes the benefits seem much greater than they are.

Millions of people get married in Vegas. Here’s where you have to go to get a copy of your Marriage Certificate for name changes and all that the experience entails. Most of you will get it over the Internet but I went in person.
While looking at the directory outside an employee taking a smoke break asked me if I needed some help finding where I needed to go. How’s that for service and a random act of kindness so rarely found in Sin City? God Bless the smokers! Always have the low down on work place gossip and general Will Rogers type anecdotes in my experience. I was relieved despite my Rain Man recall of song lyrics, directions and general culture maven status because it could be either of two places on two different floors to check out and time was of the essence. My pal the Marlboro Man hooked me up! «Walk down the long hall to the elevator bank (which have the same animals painted on the freeways and Access Clark County logo) and go up to the 2^nd floor. You need the Recorder’s Office. It’s late in the day so you may have to come back tomorrow but good luck little lady.» I thanked him and bid him farewell. Shockingly, it’s rare that someone here will offer anything unless it involves your cash going into their pocket. I guess I’m just used to southern hospitality. When I ask someone in Texas a question, it usually turns into a half hour conversation I have to break away from. I’m not complaining, I like to gab but my sister hates it. She usually asks where I know the person from and then gets irritated when I tell her they were a stranger. Stranger danger is hardwired in her DNA. Anywho it play out as follows:
I wasn’t discouraged I went in at 4:30 p.m. and literally the only people there were employees. My past experience in other cities has lead me to conclude that city and county employees and all civil servants for that matter are notorious clock watchers and efficiency speeds up dramatically after 4 p.m. Beautiful building. I was surprised it was this nice and wondered who performs the drudgery of vacuuming. They employ a plethora of signs and I yearned for the signage contract calculating the contract and terms in my head. I followed the signs and found my way into the labyrinth that lead to the belly of the beast.
My quest ended in the Recorders Office. They gave me a number, 434 and told me to walk to the end and wait until they called my number. Two people ahead of me at 4:34 p.m. and they were already enthralled in conversation. Ten LONG minutes later they had 433 on their flashing sign. I informed them there was no 433 and I was the last person who gained entry. This fell on deaf ears followed by smirks and rolling of the eyes as it was now about 4:39 p.m. Two more long minutes later my number flashes but they still wait to call me. I’m being punished for my emotional outburst! They have pictures up of famous couples who married in Las Vegas, Elvis and Cilla, Steve and Edye Gourme, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Mai. I ask if Sammy Davis was the first interracial couple married here. Nobody knows or cares since it’s almost 5 p.m. My inquiring mind tortures me as usual and I must do my own research.
They remark on my husband’s unusual first name and print me out a marriage certificate which looks like something I could print out on my home computer. I was expecting something with the Las Vegas sign or a showgirl or something creative in the watermark. (P.S. there is no watermark).
Note: You need to bring your check book because they levy a 3.5% charge for using a debit or credit card! The certificate is $ 15.00! Other cities only charge $ 1.00 for a certified copy-​believe me I checked. I’m used to feeling violated here. They should at least give me a coupon for dinner and a movie or a free counseling session after pounding my ass this hard.
On the whole, this was an interesting experience and while the employees were unfazed and nonchalant they weren’t openly hostile as are employees in dental and doctor’s offices here. They just weren’t willing to make small talk or humor/​entertain me which I think is an enormous part of customer service=basic human kindness. Funny how they are trying to train people to pretend to care at places like Sitel. That should surprise no one who has to call any call center. Many of the employees are missing the sensitivity chip.
Hands down the best thing about doing any kind of drudgery like this or DMV is that this is a small town and I can breeze in and out of any of these places in less than an hour. This would take a day and a half in any large city in Texas.
Satisfactory on my Vegas scale but you can do better people. This is the mecca of the minimum effort mentality.