Technical difficulties with lowelldeeds.com

This morning we discovered some technical difficulties with lowelldeeds.com, which is the website of the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.  The main masslandrecords.com site is working fine, however, so please go directly to that to conduct your searches.  If you run into any difficulties or need additional information, please email lowelldeeds@comcast.net.  We will place an update here once more information becomes available.

Proposed legislation on assignments

Yesterday I traveled to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds in Dedham for a meeting of the Legislative Committee of the Massachusetts Registers of Deeds Association.  The main topic of discussion was companion bills filed by State Senator John F. Keenan of the Norfolk and Plymouth District and by Representative Michael D. Brady of the 9th Plymouth District.  Both bills, neither of which has been assigned a bill number, contain the following language:

SECTION 1: Section 6D of Chapter 183 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:

Each assignment of mortgage secured by residential property, as defined in said Section 1 on Chapter 255E, shall be forwarded within 30 days of the date of execution of said assignment to the appropriate registry district for recording.

Of the many problems with the mortgage industry uncovered during this most recent collapse of the housing sector, one of the most frustrating for homeowners was the inability to quickly and reliably connect with the entity holding each homeowner's mortgage.  The intent of this bill, as I understand it, is to increase the likelihood that mortgage assignments will be recorded in a timely manner which will thereby permit homeowners to ascertain the party holding their mortgage at any given time. 

There certainly is a need for this type of reform, so hopefully this bill or some like measure will be quickly enacted by the legislature. 

Flags at half-staff today

All state and federal flags on government buildings in Massachusetts are to be flown at half-staff today in honor of Army Specialist Keith D. Benson of Norwood who died in Afghanistan on January 18, 2012.

iNature

I recently saw a National Geographic article showing several new species recently found in the rain forests of South America. I couldn't stop looking at the pictures of these remarkable creatures. My obsession puzzled me. What is it about them that is so magnetic to me? I speculated...For the past ten years or so, I have absorbed myself in "things" related to digital advancements and perhaps I have shut out and forgotten Nature's many known and yet to be discovered wonders.

Click picture to enlarge.


PAC Man Frog








Turnip Tailed Gecko








Spectacular Conehead Katydid








Glittery Water Beetle










Cowboy Frog

Housing and the State of the Union

In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama addressed housing and mortgages.  This section of the speech in particular caught my attention:

There’s never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest hit when the housing bubble burst.  Of course, construction workers weren’t the only ones who were hurt.  So were millions of innocent Americans who’ve seen their home values decline.  And while government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. 

And that’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.  (Applause.)  No more red tape.  No more runaround from the banks.  A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit and will give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.  (Applause.)

I assume this "let every responsible homeowner" refinance thing means the government will somehow insure the amount by which new loans exceed the existing equity in the home, otherwise the millions of up-to-date homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages will never have an opportunity to refinance, at least not anytime soon.  Since such a program if enacted would create a substantial (and quite welcome) uptick in business here at the registry, we'll be watching its progress in Congress very closely.

A Win is a Win, or is It?

When I was a kid I was a huge Patriots fan...notice I didn't say "New England" Patriots fan because in those days they were the "Boston" Patriots. I can even remember when the franchise started. I remember my father taking me to see the Pats play the Houston Oilers at Fenway Park back in 1964. And I remember the San Diego Chargers crushing them in the American Football League Championship game back in 1066 (the same year William the Conqueror invaded England)...these are old memories.

Today I enjoy the Patriots tremendously and never miss a game, so I'm still a fan, just not a "huge" fan anymore. Why am I telling you this?... because I feel a need to explain my reaction to last Sunday's Patriots victory.

So here goes...

Like many, many others in the area, I watched the Patriots/Raven AFC Championship game. I thought it was a great game, filled with excitement. But, I didn't think either team played particularly well. The climatic moment came with a field goal separating the teams. Raven's kicker Billy Cundiff ran on to the field for what appeared to be a routine chip-shot that would send the game into overtime...

When Cundiff's kick was in mid-air, I yelled to my wife, "he hooked it"...and then my next words were "I feel bad for that guy". I didn't yell "he missed it, the Patriots win". My wife just looked at me. "I mean it. I feel bad for him", I said again. I am little embarrassed to admit this was my reaction, but it was.

I leaned back on the couch and wondered...hey, Tony you're a Patriots fan. Why do you feel bad for Cundiff when the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl? What's the matter with you?

I continued to ponder my unusual reaction and then it hit me. I know why I didn't scream and yell "Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl". I didn't because I thought this game "should" have gone into overtime. Neither team played poorly, but neither team deserved to win either. Sorry, but that was how I felt. Of course, I wanted the Patriots to win, but I didn't feel like they had earned it at that point...but neither had the Ravens.

I know, I know...all that matters is which team finished with the most points...but truthfully, some victories are sweeter than others... and to me this was a lemon.

Still seeking accountability for housing bubble

A story in the Business Section of the Globe detailed the quest of Eileen Foster, a Massachusetts-based former VP at Countrywide to recover judgment for what she alleges was her wrongful termination in retaliation for her internal complaints about Countrywide's lending practices.  Reading the story revived all the memories of shaky borrowers, fictitious financials, and loan originators who were paid based on the size of the loan and interest rate with the likelihood of repayment not even part of the equation.  I still found it astounding that no one has been held accountable for all of these practices.  It seems that the only time attention refocuses in this direction is when the odd, isolated case like the above bubbles up into the public eye.  The New York Times said as much last week in an editorial based on the ongoing prosecution of a single mortgage broker from Queens named Adul Ahmad.  As the Times observed,

Whatever Mr. Ahmad did or did not do, one thing is sure: he did not act alone. The attention Mr. Ahmad has drawn highlights the relative lack of scrutiny of the big banks and their senior executives. Big banks created demand and provided credit for dubious mortgage loans, which they bundled into securities and sold to investors. If not for reckless lending and heedless securitizing, there would have been no mortgage bubble and no mortgage bust — and, in all probability, no Edul Ahmad

At the end of the editorial, the Times speculates that lawsuits of the type recently brought by Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley "may ultimately prove more revealing and helpful to wronged homeowners" than anything done or being done by the Feds.  Still, it's now more than four years since the collapse occurred and that's a long time to wait for some resolution.

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Homesteads and an uncooperative spouse

Someone recently asked a question (which I paraphrase below) about the new homestead law:

I noticed that the new Declaration of Homestead law requires both spouses to execute the document.  What happens in a case where the spouses aren't getting along and one spouse refuses to sign the form.  Does this mean the other spouse is precluded from obtaining a homestead? 

I don't believe the law addresses this scenario, but laws can't cover every possible set of facts so often the answer to a question like this must await an appellate court decision on each unique issue that arises.  That works well for everyone except the guy who has to be the first to litigate the issue.

Absent such a court decision, here's how I would analyze the question posed: Section 5 of Chapter 188 (the Homestead law) would apply. While section 5(a)(3) specifically states that where the property is jointly owned by a married couple, the homestead "shall be executed by both spouses."  But section 5(a) says it shall be signed "by each owner to be benefitted by the homestead."  If one spouse is not interested in obtaining a homestead, it would make no sense to prohibit the other from doing so just because of the recalcitrant spouse.  And I assume the empahsis on both spouses signing is because that's the exact opposite of the case under the prior version of the homestead law which only allowed one spouse to sign. 

If I was an attorney advising a client in this situation (which I most definitely am not - this is just speculation) I would say to fill out the homestead in his own name, make a note somewhere on it that the property is co-owned by SPOUSE but that she refuses to sign and he wishes to obtain a homestead on his interest in the property then I would record that.  But, if such a homestead were ever challenged, it would signal the start of a lengthy period of litigation over the issue