LowellDeeds

Even though "multiple documents" was an item on the agenda for the recent register's meeting, we ran out of time and didn't discuss it this time. What is a multiple document? It's a single piece of paper that tries to do two different things. Registries tend to calculate the recording fee for that one piece of paper as if it was two separate documents. It's indexed as if it's two separate documents, as well. But it is only one document and it gets only one instrument number. The purpose of this practice is to equate the fee with the amount of work performed. If you're indexing a single piece of paper as if it were two different documents, the registry would be doing twice as much work for the same fee (which would be unfair to all other customers). In Lowell, when confronted with such a document, we ask the person doing the recording whether they want it indexed as two different documents (say, an appointment of trustee and an acceptance) and if they are ready to pay twice the recording fee. When they hesitate or say no, we just record it and index it as if it were just one, simple non-complex document.