Recording Plans in the Pandemic

The health and safety restrictions in place during the pandemic have altered much of how the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds operates. A major goal is to minimize in-person contact between registry staff and our customers.

To help with this we have created a drop-off system in which customers may leave documents in a basket we have placed at the front entrance of the Lowell Justice Center. Customers place their packets in the basket, call the registry at 978-322-9000 to tell us of the drop off, and then depart. Once the customer has left the building, someone from the registry will come out, retrieve the package, record it, and mail the originals back to the customer.

This system fails when the documents delivered by the customer have some defect that prevents them from being recorded. For this reason, we have imposed an additional requirement on all Registered Land recordings. The customer must first email the intended documents to us at lowelldeeds@comcast.net so that we can review the documents and communicate any corrections needed to the customer before the documents are dropped off. Only after receiving an email back from the registry instructing the customer that the documents are suitable for recording may the customer drop the physical documents off at the Justice Center.

We now impose a similar requirement on all subdivision plans that are to be recorded.

If you have a plan to record, here is what you must do:

If you have an electronic version of the plan exactly as it is to be recorded - in other words, an electronic image showing all necessary signatures and stamps - then email that electronic version to us, preferably as a PDF document.

If you don't have an electronic version, or the one you have doesn't show the needed signatures, then use your phone to take a photo of the plan. Be sure the photo is sufficiently clear for the registry to see the essential elements of the plan (see below for that list), then email the photo to lowelldeeds@comcast.net. We will review the plan as shown in the photo and let you know by reply email whether it is OK to bring it to the Justice Center drop-off box for recording.

Here are the things we require before a plan may be recorded:

1 – That the plan be printed on Mylar

2 – That the plan contain the surveyor’s certification that the plan complies with the rules and regulations of the registry of deeds

3 – That the plan is either (1) approved and signed by the planning board; (2) signed “approval not required” by someone authorized by the town to make that determination; or (3) contain a certification by the surveyor that “no new lines or boundaries are created”

In addition, there should be some kind of book and page or plan book and page reference to the land depicted on the plan so we can determine whether the plan is Recorded Land or Registered Land (and Registered Land plans have additional requirements).

The plan should also contain the name of a person or entity connected with the land and should identify any streets shown on the plan. These entity and street names will be added to our index to assist future researchers in finding the plan.

If you have any questions about this procedure, please email or call us (lowelldeeds@comcast.net or 978-322-9000).