Top Sales of 2014

Here are the top five sales, measured by the consideration stated on the deed, that took place in the Middlesex North District during 2014:

1. 900 Chelmsford St, Lowell -  Cross Point Limited Partnership to CP Associates LLC for $100 million
2. 300 Apollo Dr, Chelmsford - USAA Real Estate Co to TFG Apollo Drive Property LLC for $39.4 million
3. 499 Boston Rd, Billerica - PH Henbil LLC to Boston Road LLC for $35.5 million
4. 10 Burlington Ave, Wilmington - EAF Wilmington Station LLC to SCG Metro at Wilmington Station LLC for $29.8 million
5. 1 Technology Dr, Chelmsford - PH Henchelm LLC to Chelmsford Commons LLC for $22 million.

All ten communities in the Middlesex North District had at least one million dollar sale.  Here is a listing of the towns and the number of million dollar sales that took place in each:

1. Carlisle - 22
2. Lowell - 14
3. Billerica - 11
4. Chelmsford - 11
5. Tewksbury - 11
6. Westford - 7
7. Wilmington - 6
8. Dunstable - 1
9. Tyngsborough - 1

Registry reopens after blizzard

The Middlesex North Registry of Deeds reopened this morning after being closed for two days due to the recent blizzard.  Snow began falling in Lowell on Monday night and continued through to Tuesday night, leaving 33 inches by the time it ended.

Because the registry is located in the Superior Courthouse in Lowell, when the court is closed, we must also close.  By late Monday afternoon, the Administrative Office of the Trial Court had announced that all courts in the Commonwealth would be closed all day Tuesday and on Tuesday night, it announced that all courts but those in the four western counties (Berkshire, Hamden, Hampshire and Franklin) would remain closed on Wednesday.  As far as I can tell, all courts are open today.

School was cancelled in Lowell today, however, which made it easier to get to work.  Parking is a challenge, especially since the city of Lowell's onstreet parking ban remains in effect.

More snow is forecast for this evening, but it seems like it will be more of a nuisance than an impediment.

Registry of Deeds closed on Wednesday

The Middlesex North Registry of Deeds will be closed all day tomorrow, January 28, 2015, due to the blizzard.  The registry will reopen on Thursday.  All courts in Middlesex County are also closed.  http://www.mass.gov/courts/sitealertlanding.html#2136449

Registry of Deeds closed Tuesday due to storm

The Middlesex North Registry of Deeds will be closed all day on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 due to the impending blizzard. 

No decision has been made about Wednesday.  Check back to this site tomorrow and Wednesday morning to get updates on our operational status.

Happy Anniversary . . . to me?

Yesterday was my 20th anniversary as Register of Deeds of the Middlesex North District.  It was on January 5, 1995 that I took the oath of office for the first time.  My tenure has passed so quickly that the actual anniversary date slid by unnoticed. 

Due primarily to the information revolution that has coincided with my time as register, the changes in operations from 1995 to now have been substantial: no more books, everything available on the internet and electronic recording are some of the biggest changes. 

The change process is far from over.  This is the registry's 160th year of existence and all of them have been spent at this same location, but when the new judicial center opens in Lowell (hopefully in 2018) the registry will move into it.  Technical changes are also on the horizon.  These include linking registry records to those of the local assessors to provide true one-stop-shopping for land-related information.  Electronic recording which now accounts for nearly 40% of our incoming documents will continue to grow with municipalities likely to embrace the technology as a means of filing documents such as tax takings and lien certificates in the next year or two.  Electronic signatures and notarizations should also become a reality during the same time.  Even registered land recordings could find their way into the electronic recording process.  There is much to be done in the coming years.

2014 E-Recording Recap

The number of documents recorded electronically dropped in 2014 compared to 2013, but that was a function of the drop in overall recording numbers – they were down 20% overall – since the percentage of documents recorded electronically held steady at 38%.  Having started electronic recording in 2005, we now have ten years of experience with the technology.  Here is how it has grown over time, showing the year, the number of documents recorded electronically, and the percentage of all document recordings the e-file total constitutes:

2005 – 1057 – 1%
2006 – 1871 – 3%
2007 – 3491 – 5%
2008 – 3956 – 7%
2009 – 8168 – 12%
2010 – 9013 – 14%
2011 – 14736 – 30%
2012 – 24210 – 34%
2013 – 25251 – 38%
2014 – 20306 – 38%

Of the 20,306 documents recorded electronically last year, 2169 (11%) were deeds, 5260 (26%) were mortgages, 4729 (23%) were discharges, and 8146 (40%) were “other.”  For documents recorded by all means – electronic, by mail, and walk in - the percentage breakdown changes.  Of the 53584 documents recorded last year, 12% were deeds, 17% were mortgages, 19% were discharges and 52% were “other.”  This suggests that when the refinancing market rebounds the percentage of documents recorded electronically will increase significantly since mortgages and mortgage discharges are more likely than most other documents to be recorded electronically.

The busiest days for electronic recording in 2014 were September 30 (182 documents), May 30 (171 documents) and June 30 (169 documents) came in by that method.  The largest percentage of electronically recorded documents (58%) came in on June 4, October 3 and November 5.  Electronic recordings accounted for 50% or more of daily recordings on 25 of the 247 recording days in 2014.   

End of year statistics for 2014

Welcome to 2015.  Here's a look back at our document recording stats for 2014 compared to the 2013 numbers:

Deeds were down 2%, from 6718 to 6561

Mortgages were down 31%, from 13272 to 9190

Foreclosure deeds were up 3%, from 150 to 155

Orders of notice were up 4%, from 333 to 347

Total documents were down 20%, from 67001 to 53584.

For the month of December 2014 compared to December 2013:

Deeds were up 17% from 6718 to 6561

Mortgages were up 24% from 787 to 974

Foreclosure deeds were up 50% from 8 to 12

Orders of notice were up 31% from 16 to 21

Total documents were up 14% from 4480 to 5116.