Electronic Recording procedures

Electronic recording has become a regular part of our operations here at the registry of deeds. If there aren't electronic recordings in the queue waiting to be processed when we open in the morning, we know that there's something wrong with the system. Because this method of recording has become so popular, I thought it might be helpful to revisit the things we check for in deciding whether or not to record an electronically submitted document:

· How many documents are in the payload?
· Is the fee correct?
· What town is the property in? (Is it this registry?)
· Is there a Recorded Land book and page (No registered land!)
· Is the document signed and (if necessary) notarized?
· How many pages are in the document?
· Is each page a good quality image?
· Is the document type correct?
· Is the consideration correct?
· Are the names correct?
Is there any reason why this document should not be recorded?
· Write date/time, document type, and one name in E-Recording log book

One thing we've added to our reject list is tax-exempt transfers. For instance, if a governmental entity is a party to a sale, there is not deeds excise tax due. But when such a transaction is recorded, we still must enter the full amount of consideration but we are able to "exempt" the transaction and permit the customer to record the document. That's not a function we're comfortable outsourcing to the document submitter and there's no way for us to override the transfer tax when it's electronically submitted. Consequently, for now we're not accepting deeds in this category. This is another example of how the procedures for electronic recording must be allowed to develop over time.

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