Hall County has officially launched its foreclosure registry. 

The registry provides the Hall County Marshal's Office with a new tool to track the owners of foreclosed and vacant properties, holding those owners accountable for lack of maintenance and security issues at those homes and protecting surrounding property values as well.  In essence, the registry will give County marshals contact information for the owner of a property in the case of a code violation or other safety issue that needs to be addressed.

According to Hall County Commission Clerk Melissa McCain, banks and mortgage companies in the area will be receiving a letter letting them know that properties in unincorporated Hall County that were foreclosed on prior to Oct. 1, 2013 need to be entered into the foreclosure registry by Jan. 2, 2014.  In addition to foreclosed properties, the owner of any vacant, real property that has not been inhabited for 60 days and has no signs of utility usage in 60 days is also required to register.   The owners of these properties can do so by logging on to hallcounty.org, filling out the foreclosure registry form and submitting that paperwork to the county along with a $100 payment for joining the registry.  McCain said the $100 payment must be submitted, along with a new foreclosure registry form, any time the foreclosed property changes hands.

The owner of any property in unincorporated Hall County that was or is foreclosed on after Sept. 30, 2013 has 90 days from the date of foreclosure or vacancy to register. 

Read more here.

Officials with Hall County Probate Court want citizens to be aware of some technological updates that have been made in their office. 

First, a new system has been adopted to take credit card payments via MasterCard and Visa.  People who choose to use a credit card will be charged a convenience fee by the company handling credit card payments, and the Hall County Probate Court will receive only the fees adopted by the legislature without any hassle to the Court.

Additionally, court software has been updated to a program that allows applicants for Marriage Licenses and Weapons Carry Licenses to fill out their application online.  Presently, they can use a computer in the court to complete their application by filing out an online form.  This will replace the handwritten forms that are typed by court clerks and save time for people seeking the licenses.  In coming weeks, citizens of Hall County will be able to fill out the application information at home before they arrive at the Court and save even more time at the Courthouse.  Citizens will still have to appear in person for both applications to be complete so that a clerk can verify identification and witness signatures.

Sheriff Gerald Couch, along with all of your friends at the Hall County Sheriff's Office, would like to challenge community partners to join the effort by contributing to the Christmas Bicycle Program. 

To make a monetary donation through Dec. 2 and get more information on the Christmas Bicycle Program, please contact Captain Chris Matthews of Hall County Sheriff's Office Courthouse Division at (770)531-7095.

(Pictured in the above photo with the first bicycle donation are Deputy Nicole Bailes, Community Service Officer, and Sergeant Mark Mitchell, Public Information Officer)

The holidays are swiftly approaching, and the Hall County Sheriff's Office wants to warn citizens about scams that may accompany the festive holiday season.

The Criminal Investigative Division of the Hall County Sheriff Office urges you to never give up your personal identity information to companies calling, or mailing, to offer you millions of dollars. Be skeptical! According to the US Postal Inspection Service, "People 60 and older account for 26 percent of all telemarketing fraud victims, and 60 percent of people in that age group are victims of prize or sweepstakes fraud."

Protect your financial and banking information as well. Do not give any numbers out over the phone to anyone claiming to be a bank representative. If the caller claiming to be a bank representative is actually a legitimate employee of your bank, they will already have that information. Most legitimate sweepstakes representatives ask you for information such as your name, address, date of birth, email address, and telephone number. However, they should never require that you enter financial information such as a credit card number, bank account number, or social security number in order to enter to win.

If you are being asked to send money in order to "win" money, you have to ask yourself: "Does this really make sense?" and "Why wouldn't they just take that out of my winnings?"