Top Ten of 2012

Here's my Top Ten events of 2012 as viewed from the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds:

1. Assistant Register of Deeds Tony Accardi retired after 18 years at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.
2.  Five new Registers of Deeds were elected in November, all to take office on January 3, 2013.  They are Mary Olberding in Hampshire, Scott Cote in Franklin, Paul Iannuccillo in Essex North, Maria Curtatone in Middlesex South and Patricia Harris in Berkshire Middle.
3. The percentage of documents being recorded electronically continues to grow, approaching 40% of our monthly totals.  
4. Hurricane Sandy caused the closure of the courthouse and the registry on October 29, 2012 and a delayed opening on October 30, 2012.  Storm damage and power outages were limited in Greater Lowell.
5. There were 68 sales of more than $1 million recorded during 2012 with the largest being $35 million paid by Lowell General Hospital for Saints Medical Center.
6. The city of Lowell held a tax title auction in April and again in August.  This was the first time in recent memory that Lowell disposed of tax title property in this manner.
7. The personal computers and document scanners at the Registry of Deeds were replaced with updated models running the Windows 7 operating system.
8. The Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision in Eaton v. FNMA, its third decision in recent years on assignments.
9.  More and more customers are using smart phones and tablets to conduct business.  Watching a lawyer loitering near the recording counter while using a smart phone to confirm funding prior to going on record has become commonplace.
10. National events drove much of the non-real estate conversation at the Registry of Deeds this year: The New York Giants defeated the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, 21 to 17.  The US Supreme Court upheld the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.  President Obama was re-elected and Elizabeth Warren defeated Scott Brown in the November election.  Everyone was stunned in mid-December with the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.