Homes of Jack Kerouac

Today is Lowell native and author Jack Kerouac's 90 birthday. Kerouac was born on March 12,1922. I must admit I never really "got" Kerouac until recently, but it was passages like the one below from On the Road that ensured that when I got Kerouac, I got him good.

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

Below are several homes owned or inhabited by Kerouac in his life time.

This is 9 Lupine Rd in Lowell, the house Kerouac was born in.

When Jack was four years old his family moved this home located at 34 Beaulieu St in Lowell.









In 1957 Jack Kerouac moved to 1418 Clouser Ave in Orlando Florida.









Jack's second house in Florida is pictured below, located at 5155 10th Ave North in St Petersburg, Florida.

Merrimack Valley Housing Report

The Merrimack Valley Housing Report (MVHR) is a monthly electronic newsletter co-written by UMass Lowell and the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds that began publishing in 2008.  The MVHR regularly reports on residential and housing trends, statistics and real estate news in the Merrimack Valley.  To receive this free electronic publication, send an email to David Turcotte at David_Turcotte@uml.edu.

The March issue was just emailed to subscribers yesterday and eventually will be available on the web as is the January 2012 edition and all previous issues.

I Can't Resist! The New iPad

Last night as I considered today's blog topic, I made up my mind that I would not do the obvious...I would not write about the new iPad. No! No way! Not going to do it!

But...if you follow this blog on a regular basis you know I am a little bit (shall I say) enchanted with Apple products and the company's culture...so, I am salivating to write about the iPad, but I won't...Honest, instead I'll just post the official Apple (New)iPad Trailer.

Year to date deed statistics

I calculated the number of deeds recorded for each town in the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds district for January and February 2011 and 2012 and show the numbers below along with the percentage change.  The first number is Jan+Feb 2011, the second is Jan+Feb 2012:

Billerica - 77 - 73 - down 5%
Carlisle - 11 - 20 - up 80%
Chelmsford - 80 - 91 - up 14%
Dracut - 86 - 89 - up 4%
Dunstable - 4 - 6 - up 50%
Lowell - 195 - 204 - up 5%
Tewksbury - 66 - 82 - up 24%
Tyngsborough - 28 - 28 - no change
Westford - 63 - 62 - no change
Wilmington - 63 - 69 - up 10%

HeyTell

Over the weekend I discovered a really cool new smartphone app called HeyTell. HeyTell allows a user to record a message and send it to another HeyTell user. It is kind of like "voice texting" (hey, is that an oxymoron?). I downloaded HeyTell but realized I didn't know anyone else that was a HeyTell user, so I downloaded it to my wife's iPhone to try it out.

Me: I just put HeyTell on your phone
Her: What is HeyTell?
Me: Its a voice texting service
Her: Isn't that an oxymoron?
Me: Lets try it...I'm going into the living room and then I'll send you a HeyTell message
Her: OK
Me: (Holding my iPhone with the HeyTell app open, I say) "Testing, testing HeyTell".
Her: (Shouting to me from the kitchen) I heard it beep, but how do I get the message off this thing?
Me: (Shouting back) Press the small yellow banner across the top of the phone with my name in it.
Her: (Shouting) I don't see a yellow banner.
Me: (Shouting) Try opening the HeyTell app to see the yellow banner.
Her: (Shouting) OK ,I see it. I'll press it (I can hear my voice) "Test, testing HeyTell". Now what?
Me: Say something back.
Her: (Shouting) "Something back".
Me: Very funny. (A few moments later from the living room) I've got your message. I'll send you another one. (Speaking into HeyTell) "Hello, this is your Supreme Leader Bill Parcells. I am calling from the hydro-graphic planet Albacore in the galaxy known as Bumble Bee. (I wait) Did you get it? Did you get my message on HeyTell?

For a about a minute I heard nothing...just silence. What's going on, I thought...then all of a sudden my phone rang. It was my wife.

Me: (Surprised) Hello?
Her: I've got an idea.
Me: What?
Her: Rather than wasting all this time sending HeyTell messages back and forth, I thought I would just call you, so you could tell me what life is like on Albacore, "Bill" or should I hang up so you can phone me? "Bill".
Me: But...
Her: You do have my telephone number don't you, "Bill", or do people on Albacore just send each other HeyTell messages?
Me: No, Albacore is an advanced civilization...they use their phones for calling too.
Her: So, Albacorians are an advanced civilization and they use their smartphones to call other Albacorians?
Me: Yes
Her: Then just call me, "supreme leader".

Lowell Tweet-Up Tomorrow

Are you interested in learning more about Twitter, the social networking site that allows you to "Tweet" updates 140 characters in length?  If yes, there's a Tweet-Up tomorrow, Saturday March 3, 2012 from 10 am to noon at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation (LTC), the public access cable TV and technology organization in the city of Lowell.  The event is at LTC headquarters at 246 Market Street, right next to the Lowell National Park Visitor Center. 

Whether you want to sign up for Twitter but are having difficulty doing it for yourself or you are an experienced Twitter user looking for a chance to brainstorm with like-users, tomorrow's Tweet Up will have something for you.  It's free, open to the public and there's no preregistration required.  Just drop in and mingle and chat.  If you pick up some Twitter tricks, great.  If not, you'll at least get to spend some time with some interesting folks who like discussing social media and its multitude of uses. 

February recording statistics

Mixed news from February's recording statistics: deeds and mortgages are up compared to a year ago, but so are new foreclosures.  The number of deeds recorded in February 2012 rose 34% from February 2011 (288 in 2011 to 385 in 2012).  Mortgages were up even more, rising 38% (774 in Feb 2011 to 1069 in Feb 2012).  Foreclosure deeds stayed about the same (23 in 2011 vs 24 in 2012) but orders of notice rose 47%, climbing from 53 in 2011 to 78 in 2012. 

The positive news continues, more or less, when February 2012 is compared with January 2012.  Deeds rose 13% (342 in January to 385 in February), mortgages rose 3% (1039 in Jan vs 1069 in Feb), and foreclosure deeds dropped 37% (38 in Jan down to 24 in Feb).  Only orders of notice were troublesome.  They rose 41%, from 46 in January to 78 in February.

Foreclosures up in February

Tomorrow (March 1) I'll post the complete comparative statistics for February 2012, but because of early indications that foreclosures were on the rise, I decided to take an early look at Orders of Notice recorded this month.  There were 76 of them which is a 43% increase from the 53 recorded in February 2011 and a 65% increase from the 46 recorded last month (January 2012).  The percentage of the Orders of Notice for properties in Lowell is also up slightly, rising from 36% of the total in February 2011 to 47% of the total this February.  The breakdown by community is as follows, with the number in that community from Feb 2011 shown in parenthesis following this February's number:

Billerica - 4 - (13)
Chelmsford - 10 - (3)
Dracut - 11 - (9)
Dunstable - 1 - (0)
Lowell - 36 - (19)
Tewksbury - 8 - (6)
Tyngsborough - 2 - (2)
Wilmington - 4 - (1)

I'm not sure what's causing the rise in Order of Notice.  I'll try to dig into the particulars of each one as time permits to look for any patterns.  For now, please check back tomorrow to see the end of month stats for February.

Real Estate Sales Up

Things are looking better for the Massachusetts Real Estate market according the Warren Group as reported by boston.com this morning. Home sales increased by over 3% in January the highest tally since 2007. On the flip side of this good news is the fact that prices decreased while the number of sales increased. Median prices of single family homes dropped to $260,000 and median condo prices dropped to $247,500. This represents the fifth month in a row that prices have dropped. Obviously, these lower prices are driving the sales numbers up.

I firmly believe that much of the fate of the real estate market is predicated on consumer confidence as do others:

We’re pleased to see that January was another positive month for home sales in Massachusetts,” Trisha McCarthy, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “With each month of improved economic news, buyer confidence continues to build. It is this confidence combined with the ongoing low interest rates and home affordability that will lead to a real estate market recovery (boston.com)

SJC decides homestead case

Last week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion in a case (Boyle v Weiss, SJC-10933) that came to it via the certification of a question by the Bankruptcy Court.  The question was whether the owner of a beneficial interest in a trust who lives in the trust property acquire an estate of homestead in the property?  Based on the law prior to the March 16, 2011 amendment (which was the law governing the homestead in question), the SJC held that the beneficiary could not acquire a homestead under those circumstances.

The relevant homestead statute (since amended) allowed (1) an owner or (2) one who occupies "by lease or otherwise" to acquire a homestead.  The court noted that the same statute defined "owner" as "a sole owner, a joint tenant, a tenant by the entirety, or a tenant in common."  The plaintiff here fell into none of these categories.  The second status - "by lease or otherwise" - was last interpreted in a case decided during the Civil War (Thurston v Maddocks) which held that a homestead could not be acquired by one holds owns only an equitable interest in the property.  The SJC today relied on that holding to reject the "by lease or otherwise" language as a type of "catch-all" for new homesteads. 

In a series of footnotes, the SJC made it clear that while the March 16, 2011 amendment does specifically allow homesteads to be acquired by owners of a life estate and trustees, the homestead in question would still not be valid because it was executed by the beneficiary and not by the trustee as is required by the new law.  The court also stated that since the homestead was invalid when it was first recorded, it could not be revived by the 2011 amendment which said old homesteads continue in full force under the terms of the new law.

Defective Acknowledgements revisited

A few minutes ago an attorney called to ask my opinion on the validity of a certain mortgage.  Pulling up the signature page, I immediately said "it's invalid."  My reasoning?  The acknowledgement clause was invalid.  Here's what it said:

On this 6th day of April 2007, before me personally appeared                  to me known to be the person (or persons) described in and who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged that he/she/they executed the same as his/her/their free act and deed.

The problem is that big blank space following the word "appeared."  I immediately recalled a blog post I wrote back in the summer of 2009 after the bankruptcy court issued a decision called In re Giroux.  In that case, the Bankruptcy Court held that the absence of the name of the person whose signature was being acknowledged in the acknowledgement clause invalidated the acknowledgement.  With no acknowledgement, the mortgage should not have been recorded by the registry of deeds.  The bankruptcy trustee, therefore, was allowed to set aside the mortgage making the lender just another unsecured creditor of the debtor.

In today's conversation, I quickly revised my opinion to "if the Bankruptcy Court is used as precedent, then the mortgage is invalid" because neither the Massachusetts Appeals Court nor the SJC have ruled on this issue.  Even so, based on the bankruptcy court decision back in 2009, I had advised the staff here at the registry to reject any document on which they noticed a name missing from the acknowledgement clause.  I'm not sure how many documents they have rejected on that grounds, but that's our rule here.

The reason the lawyer called me today was that he had been retained to write an opinion letter on the validity of the mortgage bearing the acknowledgement reproduced above.  His research disclosed that other bankruptcy court decisions have ratified the holding of Giroux and one even reached a US District Court which confirmed the "missing name equals invalid acknowledgement" rule, but he knew of no Massachusetts case law on the topic.  He did say that he has found many documents already on record that lack the name of the party whose acknowledgment is purportedly being taken, so if that is fatal to the validity of the document, there are many problem documents lurking out there. 

Lowell Superior Courthouse Elevator

Last year the elevator at the Superior Courthouse in Lowell was completed and opened for operation, but one exterior component remained to be finished...the installation of the "decorative windows" on the brick elevator shaft. I use the term decorative because obviously, these are not real windows. They are replicas that look identical to the real deal. I'm not sure what material was used on the "windows" but I'll try to find out. Installation began yesterday and the job is nearly complete. I'm guessing all will be in place by the end of next week.

The Miracle on Ice - February 22, 1980

You'll excuse me for departing from registry-related material for today's blog post.  This is the 32nd anniversary of "The Miracle on Ice" in which the USA defeated the Soviet Union in men's hockey in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York.  The Americans went on to defeat Finland to win the gold medal while the Soviets got the silver.  Besides being a fantastic display of hockey, this game had enormous symbolism to the nation.  Just three months before, the US Embassy in Iran had been seized by radical students and the embassy staff continued to be held hostage (a situation that would persist until January 1981).  Two months earlier, the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan and the US could do nothing but weakly protest.  In early 1980, it seemed that the Soviets were in the ascent, at least in foreign affairs, while the US was in a period of post-Vietnam decline.  This one hockey game seemed to alter the mood of the nation and signal the beginning of an American resurgence.  Ten years later, Communism collapsed and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.  The video below shows the final minute of the US v Soviet game, with Al Michaels' iconic play-by-play.

Single Atom Transistors

When I was a kid my mother and father bought me a transistor radio for my birthday so could listen to Arnie Ginsburg on WMEX. It measured about 4"X6", about 2" thick and ran on a 9 volt battery. Earlier radios needed to be plugged into a 110 electrical outlet and were big, about as big as a loaf of bread . As I recall my new radio had 16 transistors. It was a real power house and a marvel for its time.

Radios have come a long way since then and so have transistors. First invented in 1954 transistors now power computers. And simply put (because I don't really understand why) the more transistors there are the more powerful the computer.

Physicists at Purdue University and the University of New South Wales have made a startling break through. They have built a transistor from a single atom.

So, what does this mean? It means in the near future, computers and other electronic devices will be more powerful and much faster.

How did they build it? Are you kidding? You're asking me? I have no clue...but here is a video from some people much smarter than I am explaining it.

MassLandRecords training

This morning I spent a couple of hours at the Northeast Association of Realtors office in Westford speaking to a group of about 50 real estate professionals about the relatively new MassLandRecords website.  The event was sponsored by the law firm of Perkins & Anctil which is co-located with NEAR at 6 Lyberty Way in Westford.  Using the large classroom at the site, I was able to access the website and project it onto a large screen so that everyone could follow along.  Rather than do a set presentation, I walked my way through the site, showing how to do name and property searches and how the registered land part of the website is arranged.

The issue that generated the most questions was printing.  Many people have trouble printing a document in the proper size.  Many find the document images print in a greatly magnified way so that only a small portion of a document will appear in giant print on a piece of paper.  For the most part, that's an issue between the user's computer, printer and operating systems.  The most likely culprit is a setting of some type for the printer and occurs with some frequency on the computers of those in the real estate business.  None of our printers here at the registry offer the problematic setting but it's something like "scale for PDF".  If you're having problem printing documents from MassLandRecords and that shows up in your printer dialog box when you go to print, de-select it and your document should print in the proper scale.

I encouraged everyone to begin using the "basket" feature instead of the "print document" command.  The basket allows you to set aside documents for downloading and then download them all at once.  When you download in this manner, they come to you as PDF files which I believe are more stable and predictable on your computer than the standard TIFF format that we use for images.  To use this feature, just click "add to basket" and then click the "basket" which is just to the right of the FAQ link on the front page. 

The attendees also showed great enthusiasm for the web features that give full access to our older indexes and documents.  I demonstrated this by searching for Benjamin Butler in the decade before the Civil War.  While current real estate business might not require records of that age, many in attendance seemed interested in history which would account for their enthusiasm.

This morning's event was very useful for me, providing an opportunity to receive feedback from regular website users.  Hopefully, those who attended also found some value in it.  If you would like me come to your office to speak with your staff or your organization about making the most of the new MassLandRecords, I'm happy to do so.  Just send me an email at lowelldeeds@comcast.net to set something up.

Realty Trac Says...Foreclosures on the Rise, Again

I heard a news report this morning quoting some negative statistics from Realty Trac.

On a country-wide basis, foreclosures are on the rise, again.
How much?... A three percent increase from last month.

Last year, in a large portion of the country, foreclosures were down dramatically...but it seems this was more a result of processing delays than an improvement in the market. This months increase is probably the result of the ending of these "processing delays".

According to Realty Trac "one in every 624 households in the US received a foreclosure filing in January, 2012.

Realty Trac is also reporting that Massachusetts experienced a huge 75% increase in foreclosures when comparing year over year.

Even considering this massive spike in Massachusetts, Nevada still remains the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the country... One in every 198 households in Nevada have received a filing.

Mid-month recording statistics

The first two weeks in February brought some good news on the document recording front.  The number of deeds and mortgages recorded in the first two weeks of February 2012 were both 29% than the first two weeks of February 2011.  Deeds went from 125 to 161 while mortgages jumped from 391 to 504.  February is always are slowest month for recordings whether real estate is booming or in a slump so this increase is good news.  Hopefully the final two weeks of the month show a similar increase.

The one down note comes with Orders of Notice.  They are up 50% compared to the same time last year.  For the first two weeks of February 2012, there were 33 orders of notice recorded while for the same two weeks in 2011 there were only 22.  (The number of foreclosure deeds didn't really change with 10 in 2011 and 11 this year).  Percentage-wise the frequency of Order of Notice filings for the towns in the district have increased when compared to the percentage for the city of Lowell.  Of the 22 in the first two weeks of last February, 36% were from Lowell and 64% were from the towns.  This February, 55%  are from Lowell and just 45% are from the towns.

The Best Google Doodles

Google celebrates special occasions, famous anniversaries and holidays with a unique interesting "doodle"... the world knows these as "google doodles". Today, Valentine Day is no exception...and Google did not disappoint its royal audience. But motivated by today's video The Christian Science Monitor has listed several of the best ever google doodles. Here are four...

Watch

First, here is today's google doodle celebrating Valentine's Day.




This one celebrates Charlie Chaplin's 122th birthday.




Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday "google doodle" is perhaps one of the most impressive of all.




John Lennon's 70th birthday was one of my favorite google doodles

The Age of Big Data

Last night I finally watched the movie Moneyball which I thought was terrific and succeeded in capturing the spirit of the 2003 book by the same name written by Michael Lewis.  Both describe the efforts of the 2002 Oakland Athletics baseball team to select players not by the traditional methods of old-time scouts ("he looks like a ballplayer") but through detailed analysis of statistics.  To me, the message of the book transcended baseball, saying that you can count and measure anything and that decisions should be made on the basis of quantitative evidence not gut instincts.  The secondary message of the book and the movie was that when you try to adopt such methods which happen to be counter to the established ways of doing things, you get tremendous push-back from those used to doing things the traditional way.  As the character playing Red Sox owner John Henry put it in the movie, "that makes these folks bat-s*** crazy because they see it as a threat to them."  How true.

A major story in the Opinion section of yesterday's New York Times picked up this theme and gave us a sort of "state of data analysis" piece ten years post Moneyball.  The profusion of data available today from the internet, social networks, sensors in vehicles and attached to packages and from an almost infinite variety of places would have been beyond the ability of someone ten years ago to comprehend.  All of this data now gives us 'a new approach to understanding the world and making decisions."  It also provides pretty good job opportunities.  The story estimates that nearly 200,000 employees with serious data-analysis skills will soon be needed and that there will be demand for another 1.5 million "data-literate managers."

The article also shares the view held by many that all of this data poses a substantial threat to our privacy.  I guess that's true, assuming the data is misused.  But there are great opportunities to become more efficient in our work and everyday lives and that's not necessarily a bad thing. 

Steve Jobs Hero or Villain?

Yesterday an FBI report was released detailing a background check from 1991 on the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Some of the findings are well, shall I say, not very flattering. Now, if you are a regular reader of the lowelldeeds.com blog you know I am a bit schizophrenia when it comes to Steve Jobs. I think he was a real game-changer who revolutionized the way we live and communicate. I also think his product paranoia created a proprietary company that stifled outside innovation.

Below are some quotes from boston.com summarizing the FBI report on Jobs. But there are two sides to every story...last summer I read the recent Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson and I think some of these quotes are unfair.

FBI background interviews of some people who knew Apple co-founder Steve Jobs reveal a man driven by power and alienating some of the people who worked with him.

One person told FBI agents the Apple co-founder’s enormous power caused him to lose sight of honesty and integrity, leading him to distort the truth.

Another interview subject described Jobs to the FBI as a deceptive person — someone who was not totally forthright and honest and as having a tendency to distort reality in order to achieve his goals.

Two people associated with Jobs at Apple told the FBI that Jobs possessed integrity as long as he got his way.

OK, OK, wait a minute here...First Isaacson states that Jobs had a remarkable knack of convincing people to do things his way and often used a technique called reality shaping to persuade people. To me this is totally different than having a problem with the truth or a lack of integrity as these quotes indicate. It is this businessman's strategy, like it or not. I'll agree, Jobs was a manipulator, but not a liar. And for a man with his ability to see the future manipulation was an asset.

Another interview subject told an agent that Jobs used illegal drugs, including marijuana and LSD, while in college.

Yes, Jobs used LSD and smoked marijuana...when he was very young. Jobs admits to experimenting with drugs as a way of exploring self-awareness. He also experimented with Buddhism for the same reason.

One person told the FBI that Jobs had a child out of wedlock and basically abandoned the mother and their daughter.

And yes again, Jobs did have a daughter (Lisa) with his girlfriend (Chrisann Brennan) whom he never married. In fact when Jobs found out Brennan was pregnant he left her and even denied he was the father of the child. But in later years, Jobs admitted his actions were wrong and called it the biggest mistake in his life. Eventually Jobs and his daughter reconciled. Lisa even came to live with him during her teen years.




I want to keep this report in perspective...Steve Jobs was an amazing man with many faults, but they were far outweighed by his many virtues.

$26 billion mortgage industry settlement

State Attorneys General from across the US, including Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, have reached a $26 billion settlement with five of the country's largest lenders (Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Ally Financial and Wells Fargo).  Not surprisingly the deal is incredibly complex but according to this article in USA Today, the largest chunk of money, $17 billion, will go to 1 million underwater borrowers who now face foreclosure.  The rationale behind this portion of the settlement is that if these homeowners are able to avoid foreclosure, there will be fewer low-value homes on the market which will boost the entire housing sector. 

Skeptics point to the fact that $17 billion is a small amount compared to the total amount owed in underwater loans.  It is estimated that Americans collectively owe $700 billion more than their houses are worth.  If you are underwater but have been keeping up with your payments, you probably won't qualify for any of this assistance.

As mentioned above, it also appears that Massachusetts will participate in this settlement.  According to this story on boston.com, Attorney General Coakley finally agreed to this deal once she received assurances that she can continue to pursue her existing claim, filed last December, against MERS and against these five lenders for conducting foreclosures without first owning the mortgage being foreclosed. 

Great Real Estate Apps

In the last few years technology has become a major tool of real estate agents, buyers and sellers. And of all the devices the cell phone has become the most frequently used portable connector to the Internet in the real estate area. When we talk cell phones and computer tablet5s we are talking about Apps. There are numerous real estate centered Apps available for both Andriod and iPhone operating systems. Inman News recently put together a list of the 100 most popular real estate Apps. I have selected five of these below:

Zillow Real Estate: Zillow is the number one downloaded real estate App for both iPhone and Android. Zillow has been around for a several years now. I remember writing about it several years ago on this blog when Zillow first was released for computer use. Its popularity comes through its easy of use and content. Zillow provides appraised value and data about most homes in the country.




LoopNet Commercial Real Estate Search: LoopNet is specifically designed to help the real estate investor find "commercial" properties for sale. It searches commercial properties for sale, for lease, sales comps and even market trends.






Property Evaluator: This App does exactly what its name indicates, values property, and like LoopNet it values investment properties. Simply add the some specific criteria of the property and this App will analyze the property value as an investment and project income from it.




Redfin Real Estate: Redfin is "the best MLS powered real estate app", well that's what they say about it. It provides details and pictures of homes for sale. When Redfin first came on the market it was viewed as a Zillow competitor and for a time I even think its popularity was bigger than Zillow.





Mortgage Calculator: This simple to use app allows the user to enter the amount, term and interest rate of a mortgage then in seconds calculates the monthly cost.

Super Bowl XLVI - Giants over Patriots, 21-17

As distasteful as it might be to bring up Sunday's game, I feel an obligation to the historical record to do so.  For instance, the last time the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, back on February 3, 2008 when these same Giants came from behind to defeat the then 18-0 Patriots by a score of 17-14, Tony wrote the following post under the title "Pats 18-1, Why?"

You can explain it anyway you want, but I am going to explain it this way…the Patriots stunk last night. The Giants didn’t beat them. No way, Eli Manning and these Giants couldn’t beat the New England Patriots on their best day… Rather, the Patriots beat themselves. Usually, when you say this about a sporting team you mean it made a lot of mistakes…but that is not what I mean… The New England Patriots just didn’t come to play. Sure, the Giants had an awesome pass rush, but wasn’t this the same pass rush the Pats scored 38 points against in the final regular season game? Truthfully, the Giants didn’t look that good to me, but the Pats looked that bad. It comes down to this…The Giants played exactly the way we expected. Remember, they scored only 3 points in the first three quarters of the game! but, our Patriots did not play as expected. Tom Brady and company did nothing for most of the game. Even if the New England offense played to half our expectations, they would have been up by a least 14 at half time. Heck, the Pats only scored 7 points up until 2:42 of the 4th quarter. Can you believe it? They were held to 7 points for 90% of the game! I know, I know…the Giant’s pass rush killed them…Still, was this the first time the Pats were blitzed hard all season? NO. Admit it…after the Tom Petty break everyone expected the brilliant Belichick to come out with a plan that would slow down the pass rush. He always did in the past, and he probably did last night. I love the Pats too, but let’s face it, for some reason these players didn’t execute. I’m not a sports junkie or football expert…so I’ll say it again in layman’s terms…the Pats stunk last night. There’s no other way to explain it.

We started this blog in December 2003, so we should also have posts from the February 1, 2004 victory by the Patriots over the Caroline Panthers by a score of 32-29 and from the February 6, 2005 Patriots win over the Eagles, 24-21 (I'll dig them out of the archives and post in the coming days).  The Pats' first Super Bowl victory, on February 3, 2002 over the Rams by a score of 20-17 predates this blog as do the January 26, 1986 blow-out loss to the Bears (46-10) and the lackluster January 26, 1997 loss to the Packers (35-21).

Regarding this year's game, it is said that the team that makes fewer mistakes is most likely to win and that was the case here.  Brady getting the safety and then the interception gave up the ball twice not to mention the 2 points and in a relatively low scoring ball control game, that was the difference.  After the long-bomb interception by Baltimore two weeks ago, I didn't think he'd throw it up for grabs like that again.   When it mattered most, Manningham made the catch while Welker did not.  The game made clear Gronkowski's value to the team.  If they could get one or two decent wide receivers (replacing Ochocinco and perhaps Branch) they'd be better.  Brandon Spikes is really good which I never realized since he was out so much.  The running back Ridley was good this year but for his fumbles.  They are reviving the team with younger players even though Brady is aging.  This probably won't be the last blog post we do about the Patriots in the Super Bowl.  

Town foreclosures rising

While compiling the end-of-January statistics last week, I was struck by the significant increase in the number of foreclosure deeds recorded this January compared to the same month in 2011 - 38 in Jan 2012 and just 23 in Jan 2011, an increase of 65%.  This prompted me to scrutinize the individual cases.  What I found suggests that the increase in foreclosure activity is not in the city of Lowell, but in the surrounding towns.

Consider this: In January 2011, 65% of the foreclosure deeds recorded were for property in Lowell while just 35% were for property in the nine towns in the Middlesex North District (15 in Lowell; 8 in the towns).  In January 2012, however, 53% of the foreclosures were from the towns and just 47% were from the city (20 in the towns; 18 in Lowell). 

More evidence is needed before any conclusions can be drawn from this, but it is indeed something worth watching in the coming months.

For the record, here's how the foreclosures in the two months were distributed:

In January 2011: 3 in Chelmsford; 1 in Dunstable; 15 in Lowell; 1 in Tewksbury; 1 in Tyngsborough; 1 in Westford and 1 in Wilmington.

In January 2012: 7 in Billerica, 4 in Chelmsford, 4 in Dracut, 18 in Lowell, 2 in Tyngsborough, 2 in Westford, and 1 in Wilmington.

Super Bowl Half-Time Show

Sure we're all excited about watching the Patriots play the Giants in Sunday's Super Bowl. But over the years the half-time show has become almost as much a center of interest as the game itself. This year Madonna will lead the twenty minute entertainment segment. Below is a list of the past lead performer at the Super Bowl half-time show:





2011: The Black Eyed Peas
2010: The Who
2009: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
2008: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
2007: Prince
2006: The Rolling Stones
2005: Paul McCartney
2004: Janet Jackson
2003: Shania Twain, Sting
2002: U2

But of all the Super Bowl I have seen my favorite by far was Michael Jackson in 1993. You can see Jackson's performance on YouTube. Here is the description that accompanies the video.

One of Michael Jackson's most acclaimed performances came during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. As the performances began, Jackson was catapulted onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvas, he maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for several minutes while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and began to sing and dance. His routine included four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White" and "Heal the World".

Healing the housing market

After watching the State of the Union speech last week I wrote a blog post about the President's remarks on the need to allow more homeowners to refinance.  Since then, I've been curious to learn details of the plan.  Yesterday, the White House issued a fact sheet titled "President Obama's Plan to Help Responsible Homeowners and Heal the Housing Market."  The plan is certainly comprehensive and seems to offer some good ideas, but I was especially interested in how it deals with homeowners who are underwater on their current mortgages.

Upon reading the fact sheet, it is clear that a portion of the proposal deals with underwater homeowners.  Here's the example it uses to illustrate the proposal:

• A borrower has a non-GSE mortgage originated in 2005 with a 6 percent rate and an initial balance of $300,000 – resulting in monthly payments of about $1,800.
•  The outstanding balance is now about $272,000 and the borrower’s home is now worth $225,000, leaving the borrower underwater (with a loan-to-value ratio of about 120%).
• Though the borrower has been paying his mortgage on time, he cannot refinance at today’s historically low rates.
• Under the President’s legislative plan, the borrower would be eligible to refinance into a 4.25% percent 30-year loan, which would reduce monthly payments by about $460 a month.

There are many other aspects to this proposal but what is described here would certainly be a big help.  That extra $460 per month would undoubtedly be spent on other things and would thereby stimulate the economy while increasing the chances that the homeowner could ride out this fiscal storm.  Of course, this part of the proposal requires Congressional action, so given the state of things on Capitol Hill, it might not advance much beyond the Fact Sheet stage for a while.

End of month statistics

It's February 1st which means it's time to look at January's recording statistics.  As in the past, I'll compare January 2012 with January 2011 but following that, there's a new feature - a three month comparison.  Looking at individual months spaced a year apart certainly has some value, but I think comparing the three most recent months to the three months before them will help spot emerging trends.  Here goes:

The number of deeds recorded in January 2012 was down 11% from the number recorded in January 2011 (384 to 342); the number of mortgages was down 12% (1185 to 1039); the number of foreclosure deeds was up 65% (23 to 38); and the number of orders of notice was up 70% (27 to 46).  The overall number of documents was down 8% (5335 to 4911).

Now for the three month comparison.  I took the same document types for the last three months (January 2012, December 2011 and November 2011) and compared their totals to the totals for the prior three months (October, September and August of 2011).  Here's what I found:

The number of deeds recorded in the last three months was down 6% from the prior three months (1354 to 1273); the number of mortgages recorded was up 20% (3129 to 3753); the number of foreclosure deeds was up 5% (111 to 117); and the number of orders of notice was up 8% (154 to 167).  The total number of documents recorded rose 12% (15015 to 16742).

whatifsports predictions Patriots 27-25

I don't know why they should even bother to play the Superbowl? The results are already in...

The Patriots will be World Champions. How do I know...whatifsports.com told me. Whatifsports.com predicts NFL winners including the score and games details.

In a squeaker whatifsports' computer model predicts the New England Patriots will defeat the New York Giants 27-25. Two points!? What a game, what- a- game!

And I've got details...

Both Tom Brady and Eli Manning will throw one interception and each team will turn the ball over once on a fumble. How do I know this? whatifsports' computer model told me.

And more...

The Giants defense will pressure Brady all day sacking him three times. But super Tom is tough and will still manage to throw for 296 total yards. Eli Manning too will feel the Pat's front four breathing down his neck. The Pats will get to Manning twice before game's end. But Manning will still have a good game throwing for 267 yards. I know this because whatifsports' computer model says so.

Details, details, details...

The Giants will be successful on six out of thirteen three downs tries an the Pats will convert six out of twelve third downs. The Patriots will punt three times the Giants four. The Pat's will rush the ball 24 times for a total of 98 yards and the Giants 27 times gaining 108 yards. Both teams will have three penalties called against them and both will average 20 yards on kick returns.

How do I know all this? Well, if whatifsports' computer model predicts it, it must be true.

Yes, whatifsports gives more details... but I'm going to stop right here before you decide its not even worth watching the game.

Technical difficulties with lowelldeeds.com

This morning we discovered some technical difficulties with lowelldeeds.com, which is the website of the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.  The main masslandrecords.com site is working fine, however, so please go directly to that to conduct your searches.  If you run into any difficulties or need additional information, please email lowelldeeds@comcast.net.  We will place an update here once more information becomes available.

UPDATE: As of 1230 pm, the lowelldeeds site was back in operation, at least for most users.  Anyone who can't reach it yet should be able to shortly.  Thank you for your patience.

Proposed legislation on assignments

Yesterday I traveled to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds in Dedham for a meeting of the Legislative Committee of the Massachusetts Registers of Deeds Association.  The main topic of discussion was companion bills filed by State Senator John F. Keenan of the Norfolk and Plymouth District and by Representative Michael D. Brady of the 9th Plymouth District.  Both bills, neither of which has been assigned a bill number, contain the following language:

SECTION 1: Section 6D of Chapter 183 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:

Each assignment of mortgage secured by residential property, as defined in said Section 1 on Chapter 255E, shall be forwarded within 30 days of the date of execution of said assignment to the appropriate registry district for recording.

Of the many problems with the mortgage industry uncovered during this most recent collapse of the housing sector, one of the most frustrating for homeowners was the inability to quickly and reliably connect with the entity holding each homeowner's mortgage.  The intent of this bill, as I understand it, is to increase the likelihood that mortgage assignments will be recorded in a timely manner which will thereby permit homeowners to ascertain the party holding their mortgage at any given time. 

There certainly is a need for this type of reform, so hopefully this bill or some like measure will be quickly enacted by the legislature. 

Flags at half-staff today

All state and federal flags on government buildings in Massachusetts are to be flown at half-staff today in honor of Army Specialist Keith D. Benson of Norwood who died in Afghanistan on January 18, 2012.

iNature

I recently saw a National Geographic article showing several new species recently found in the rain forests of South America. I couldn't stop looking at the pictures of these remarkable creatures. My obsession puzzled me. What is it about them that is so magnetic to me? I speculated...For the past ten years or so, I have absorbed myself in "things" related to digital advancements and perhaps I have shut out and forgotten Nature's many known and yet to be discovered wonders.

Click picture to enlarge.


PAC Man Frog








Turnip Tailed Gecko








Spectacular Conehead Katydid








Glittery Water Beetle










Cowboy Frog

Housing and the State of the Union

In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama addressed housing and mortgages.  This section of the speech in particular caught my attention:

There’s never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest hit when the housing bubble burst.  Of course, construction workers weren’t the only ones who were hurt.  So were millions of innocent Americans who’ve seen their home values decline.  And while government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. 

And that’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.  (Applause.)  No more red tape.  No more runaround from the banks.  A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit and will give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.  (Applause.)

I assume this "let every responsible homeowner" refinance thing means the government will somehow insure the amount by which new loans exceed the existing equity in the home, otherwise the millions of up-to-date homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages will never have an opportunity to refinance, at least not anytime soon.  Since such a program if enacted would create a substantial (and quite welcome) uptick in business here at the registry, we'll be watching its progress in Congress very closely.

A Win is a Win, or is It?

When I was a kid I was a huge Patriots fan...notice I didn't say "New England" Patriots fan because in those days they were the "Boston" Patriots. I can even remember when the franchise started. I remember my father taking me to see the Pats play the Houston Oilers at Fenway Park back in 1964. And I remember the San Diego Chargers crushing them in the American Football League Championship game back in 1066 (the same year William the Conqueror invaded England)...these are old memories.

Today I enjoy the Patriots tremendously and never miss a game, so I'm still a fan, just not a "huge" fan anymore. Why am I telling you this?... because I feel a need to explain my reaction to last Sunday's Patriots victory.

So here goes...

Like many, many others in the area, I watched the Patriots/Raven AFC Championship game. I thought it was a great game, filled with excitement. But, I didn't think either team played particularly well. The climatic moment came with a field goal separating the teams. Raven's kicker Billy Cundiff ran on to the field for what appeared to be a routine chip-shot that would send the game into overtime...

When Cundiff's kick was in mid-air, I yelled to my wife, "he hooked it"...and then my next words were "I feel bad for that guy". I didn't yell "he missed it, the Patriots win". My wife just looked at me. "I mean it. I feel bad for him", I said again. I am little embarrassed to admit this was my reaction, but it was.

I leaned back on the couch and wondered...hey, Tony you're a Patriots fan. Why do you feel bad for Cundiff when the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl? What's the matter with you?

I continued to ponder my unusual reaction and then it hit me. I know why I didn't scream and yell "Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl". I didn't because I thought this game "should" have gone into overtime. Neither team played poorly, but neither team deserved to win either. Sorry, but that was how I felt. Of course, I wanted the Patriots to win, but I didn't feel like they had earned it at that point...but neither had the Ravens.

I know, I know...all that matters is which team finished with the most points...but truthfully, some victories are sweeter than others... and to me this was a lemon.

Still seeking accountability for housing bubble

A story in the Business Section of the Globe detailed the quest of Eileen Foster, a Massachusetts-based former VP at Countrywide to recover judgment for what she alleges was her wrongful termination in retaliation for her internal complaints about Countrywide's lending practices.  Reading the story revived all the memories of shaky borrowers, fictitious financials, and loan originators who were paid based on the size of the loan and interest rate with the likelihood of repayment not even part of the equation.  I still found it astounding that no one has been held accountable for all of these practices.  It seems that the only time attention refocuses in this direction is when the odd, isolated case like the above bubbles up into the public eye.  The New York Times said as much last week in an editorial based on the ongoing prosecution of a single mortgage broker from Queens named Adul Ahmad.  As the Times observed,

Whatever Mr. Ahmad did or did not do, one thing is sure: he did not act alone. The attention Mr. Ahmad has drawn highlights the relative lack of scrutiny of the big banks and their senior executives. Big banks created demand and provided credit for dubious mortgage loans, which they bundled into securities and sold to investors. If not for reckless lending and heedless securitizing, there would have been no mortgage bubble and no mortgage bust — and, in all probability, no Edul Ahmad

At the end of the editorial, the Times speculates that lawsuits of the type recently brought by Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley "may ultimately prove more revealing and helpful to wronged homeowners" than anything done or being done by the Feds.  Still, it's now more than four years since the collapse occurred and that's a long time to wait for some resolution.

.

Homesteads and an uncooperative spouse

Someone recently asked a question (which I paraphrase below) about the new homestead law:

I noticed that the new Declaration of Homestead law requires both spouses to execute the document.  What happens in a case where the spouses aren't getting along and one spouse refuses to sign the form.  Does this mean the other spouse is precluded from obtaining a homestead? 

I don't believe the law addresses this scenario, but laws can't cover every possible set of facts so often the answer to a question like this must await an appellate court decision on each unique issue that arises.  That works well for everyone except the guy who has to be the first to litigate the issue.

Absent such a court decision, here's how I would analyze the question posed: Section 5 of Chapter 188 (the Homestead law) would apply. While section 5(a)(3) specifically states that where the property is jointly owned by a married couple, the homestead "shall be executed by both spouses."  But section 5(a) says it shall be signed "by each owner to be benefitted by the homestead."  If one spouse is not interested in obtaining a homestead, it would make no sense to prohibit the other from doing so just because of the recalcitrant spouse.  And I assume the empahsis on both spouses signing is because that's the exact opposite of the case under the prior version of the homestead law which only allowed one spouse to sign. 

If I was an attorney advising a client in this situation (which I most definitely am not - this is just speculation) I would say to fill out the homestead in his own name, make a note somewhere on it that the property is co-owned by SPOUSE but that she refuses to sign and he wishes to obtain a homestead on his interest in the property then I would record that.  But, if such a homestead were ever challenged, it would signal the start of a lengthy period of litigation over the issue

Deeds and Homestead releases

We're starting to see some documents come across the recording counter containing the caption "Affidavit Related to Homestead Pursuant to MGL c. 188, s.13" which states:

Section 13. A deed, release or mortgage containing a statement of the marital status of a grantor may be relied upon by a good faith purchaser for value. As to acts undertaken in good faith reliance on such deed, release or mortgage, an affidavit executed and acknowledged by the grantor, releaser or mortgagor under penalty of perjury stating that, at the time of delivery of the deed, release or mortgage, the affiant had no spouse then entitled to claim the benefit of an existing estate of homestead, shall be conclusive proof of the nonexistence of such benefit at that time. The affidavit may be recorded in connection with the execution and delivery of a deed, release or mortgage and shall be accepted in the appropriate registry of deeds and registry district of the land court. The subsequent residency or renewal of residency in the home by a spouse of the grantor, releaser or mortgagor shall not defeat the priority of a mortgage, release or conveyance accepted in reliance on such affidavit.

As I understand it, simply by living in the home, a non-titled spouse, possesses a homestead estate in the property that cannot be defeated by the title-holding spouse.  Let me illustrate: Husband holds title in his own name with wife using the property as her personal residence.  Simply by reason of (1) her status as spouse and (2) her occupancy of the home, she automatically has an estate of homestead in the property under the automatic homestead provisions of the 2011 law.  This means that should the husband convey the property to a third party, that conveyance does not defeat the wife's homestead rights.  In fact, her right to occupy and use the home would be superior to that of the new owner.

To protect against this, deeds to property owned by just one spouse should also be signed by the non-titled spouse in order to release those homestead rights.  But how does anyone know whether a sole owner of property has a non-titled spouse?  That's the purpose of this affidavit.  Here's an example of one that involved not a spouse-seller, but an executor of an estate/seller:

I, Mary Jones, execturix of the estate of Jane Doe, do under oath depose and say that at the time of the Decedent's death, she had no spouse entitled to claim the benefit of the existing estate of homestead in and to the property located at 360 Gorham Street, Lowell.  Executed under the penalties of perjury this 7th day of January 2012.

The above cited-statute certainly allows for this kind of affidavit and makes it legally effective.  One problem, however, is the added cost for the $75 recording fee.  It's too bad that the revised homestead law, intended to help consumers, now imposes on some an additional charge of $75 to sell their homes.  It would be better if the legislature, the legal community, and the registers of deeds all agreed to have this additional affidavit embedded in the deed itself and to not charge an additional fee for it.  That would deal with the title issue while not imposing an additional cost on home sellers.
 

Protesting SOPA and PIPA

Today's the day that many major sites on the internet go dark in protest of two pending bills in Congress: The House's "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and the Senate's "Protect Intellectual Property Act" (PIPA).  This article in the Washington Post briefly lays out the dispute.  According to the Post, this struggle pits Hollywood and the recording industry, both of which seek to curb online piracy of copyrighted works, against the largest technology companies such as Wikipedia, Google and Twitter which assert the proposed bills will stifle innovation on the internet. 

We don't plan to have www.lowelldeeds.com or www.masslandrecords.com go black today, at least not in protest, but these bills do bear close watching.  The internet has become a vital part of so much of our lives these days, that it would be a shame to regress just to protect the financial interests of those who failed to keep up with rapidly changing technology.

Advanced Recycling in Lowell

Several years ago the city of Lowell changed its trash pickup procedures.  Formerly, almost whatever you put out at the curb in whatever quantity was picked up, no questions asked.  The new system restricts residences to a single large city-issue barrel (officially called you "cart" because of its wheels) but there's an unlimited amount of recycling of paper, plastics, cans and bottles.  But we often have other stuff that needs to be disposed of but is precluded from inclusion in the cart because of its nature (i.e., electronic devices).  Up until now, city residents could call a special number and arrange a curbside pickup providing a credit card number was first given to pay the nominal-to-moderate pick-up fee.

Now, a new outfit called Northeast Material Handling Inc has opened at 38 Prince Avenue (the old Prince Spaghetti plant near the intersection of Gorham and Moore Streets) that accepts drop offs on the second Saturday of each month between the hours of 8 am and noon.  They charge nominal fees for most items.  For example:

•  Appliances - $7 each -  stoves, refrigerators, microwaves, etc
• Televisions - $.35 per lb
• Electronics - $3 - PCs, laptops, radios, speakers, copiers
• Plastic & Metal - $8 - swing sets, patio furniture, lawn mowers, snow blowers
• Misc items - $3 - phones, coffee makers, batteries, dehumidifiers, light fixtures, etc
• Books, paper and cardboard - all free

If you're like me and your garage and basement have piles of no-longer-used stuff that you have difficulty getting rid of, this might be for you.  And it's my understanding that the service is not limited to Lowell residents.

Mid-January recording statistics

It's only January 13, but since the 15th falls on a Sunday, the documents recorded right now are all that we'll have for the first half of the month.  Comparing the first 15 days of January 2012 with the first 15 days of January 2011 unfortunately doesn't present much cause for optimism.  (From here on in this post, when I write "2012" or "2011" I'm referring to the first 15 days of January in each of those years).

The number of deeds recorded dropped 19%, from 169 in 2011 to 137 in 2012;
The number of mortgages recorded dropped 27%, from 609 in 2011 to 446 in 2012;
The number of orders of notice dropped 21%, from 14 in 2011 to 11 in 2012; and
The number of foreclosure deeds rose 80%, from 10 in 2011 to 18 in 2012.

The distribution of those foreclosure deeds is as follows: 9 in Lowell, 3 each in Billerica and Chelmsford, 2 in Westford and 1 in Dracut.  As much as these stats trend negatively, it's just a small sampling so I'd be hesitant to draw any inferences.  Still, this is something that we'll watch closely as the month draws to a close.

Coakley & O'Brien respond to WSJ editorial

Last week the Wall Street Journal published an editorial (portion only available on WSJ website) deeply critical of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's lawsuit against some major national lenders for alleged improprieties arising out the housing crisis and its aftermath.  My blog post about that editorial can be found here. 

Recently the Journal published letters to the editor in response from Attorney General Coakley and from Essex South Register of Deeds John O'Brien.  Coakley wrote, in part, 

. . . If the banks wanted to resolve this crisis in a timely manner, they had 14 months to do so. Instead, they dragged out negotiations and attempted to obtain broad liability releases for seemingly every imaginable illegal conduct. Last month we declared "enough was enough" and filed a lawsuit seeking the one thing the banks have resisted at every stage—real accountability for their actions and real relief for homeowners. . . .

While O'Brien added

. . . The real pain for homeowners is the havoc that these lenders have wreaked on the chains of title and property rights . . . I have been fighting for the "little guy" and I am very happy that the Massachusetts's AG has chosen to do the same.

Both letters are available in full on the Journal's webpage.  Please check them out.

UMass Lowell puts Cultural Resources Inventory online

If you're interested in the history of Greater Lowell, you will be delighted to learn that the University of Massachusetts Lowell has just made the multi-volumed "Cultural Resources Inventory" and "The Lowell Neighborhoods: An Historical and Architectural Overview" freely available online.  These documents are part of the larger Paul Tsongas Congressional Collection that is held by the UML Library. 

I was fortunate to have found a copy of the Cultural Resources Inventory here at the registry of deeds when I arrived back in 1995.  It's been of great utility when assisting customers in researching some of the most historically significant properties in Lowell.  Now all of that material is available online.  For example, here is the article about St Peter's Church which was located across the street from the courthouse but was torn down 15 years ago. 

All of these records can be accessed via this link:  http://digitalscholarship.uml.edu/surveys/   

Please check it out.

Electronic Recording in 2011

We commenced electronic recording of documents at Middlesex North back in 2005 and the number of documents submitted that way has increased continuously each year since.  Here's a glimpse at the growth of electronic recording, showing the number of documents recorded electronically each year since 2005 and the percentage of overall recordings represented by electronically filed documents:

• 2005 - 1057 efiles - 1% of all documents
• 2006 - 1871 efiles - 3% of all documents
• 2007 - 3491 efiles - 5% of all documents
• 2008 - 3956 efiles - 7% of all documents
• 2009 - 8168 efiles - 12% of all documents
• 2010 - 9013 efiles - 14% of all documents
• 2011 - 14736 efiles - 25% of all documents

Here's the breakdown by document type of our 2011 electronic recordings:

• Discharges - 5889 total - average of 24 per day
• Deeds - 819 total - average of 3 per day
• Mortgages - 3871 total - average of 16 per day
• Other - 4117 total - average of 17 per day
• Total efiles - 14,736 - average 60 efiles per day
• Total documents - 59,173 - average of 241 total documents per day

New Probate Law Delayed

The new Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code, which was scheduled to take effect on January 2, 2012, had its effective date pushed back 90 days by a bill that was signed by Governor Patrick on December 30, 2011.  The new effective date is March 31, 2012 according to this directive from the Probate and Family Court.

The amended law - whenever it may take effect - should have a significant impact on registries of deeds and land records.  Now, when a beneficiary of a will or an estate takes real estate directly from the decedent, the executor or administrator will create a Deed of Distribution that will be recorded at the Registry of Deeds.  Previously, the only evidence of such a transference of title of real estate could be found in the probate records themselves.  Nowhere at the deeds registry would there be an indication of a change of ownership. 

Once this new law is in effect and those who practice in this area work out its details through their everyday experience, we will probably find that this new law is a positive development.

Wall Street Journal on Mass AG Lawsuit

I don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal in either paper or electronic form, but early this past Tuesday, my home delivery person inadvertently (I think) dropped a copy of that day's WSJ along with the Globe.  Flipping through the pages, I was surprised to come upon an editorial on the lawsuit recently filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against a number of national banks for alleged improprieties arising out of the housing crash and its aftermath.  Not surprisingly, the piece takes a dim view of the suit (although you can only see the first couple of paragraphs if you're not a logged-in subscriber).  The paper cites Coakley's 2010 Senate loss and suggests this effort is merely an attempt to capitalize on anti-bank sentiment for public relations purposes.  The editorial focuses primarily on the MERS and robo-signer issues and says the former has already been validated by courts around the country and the latter is being corrected internally by these lenders.

I've previously gone on record stating I find nothing wrong with the organization and concept of MERS (although it, like every other lender, should not be permitted to cut corners without being penalized) and the issue of robo-signers, while improper, is a lot more complex than many want to believe given the reach of agency law.  Where the Journal completely misses the mark is the whole untimely assignment issue which flows from last January's SJC decision in Ibanez.  That case, in reiterating the law of Massachusetts for more than 300 years, made it clear that before a foreclosure could be commenced, the foreclosing party had to own the mortgage, otherwise the foreclosure would be void.  Because that seemingly self-evident proposition had been eroded away not by legislative or judicial acts but by persistently sloppy practices by national lenders, what should have been a footnote came as an devastating blow to the vitality of any quick recovery of our housing sector.  Notwithstanding the Wall Street Journal's belittling of the issues raised in the AG's lawsuit, the fact remains that many of those who have purchased previously foreclosed properties no longer own those homes right now and the process of rectifying that will be long and expensive.  We have to start fixing this problems somewhere and it seems that a lawsuit is an appropriate place to begin.

David Pogue's List of Techie "Stuff"

Every December New York Times' Columnist David Pogue lists his favorite technology devices for the year. I like techie "stuff" and my birthday is not that far off (only seven months, fourteen days, seven hours). Below I've described a fewof the things on Pogue's list, any of which would be a nice gift for someone like me.


Stay N' Store: This is a small 16 gig flash drive that costs only $25.00. The important word here is small. Stay N' Store is so small it is designed to remain plugged into your computer ALL the time. I could use it to expand my current computer's memory (of course, I wouldn't need Stay N' Store if I got a new computer for my birthday).

SoundRacer: I drive a Jeep Wrangler and I love it, but it is not very stylish. For just $32 SoundRacer could solved this problem for me. You see if I had SoundRacer all I would have to do is plug it into the Jeep's DC outlet and I've got an instant Ferrari, almost. Once connected SoundRacer simulates the sounds of acceleration, shifting and braking of a souped up sports car.

iCookbook: A mere $5...You should've seen the face of my iPad after all my holiday cooking...covered with smudges of butter, morsels of dough, sticky sticky sticky, all from swiping through pages of my favorite recipes. I love my iPad too much to treat it like a napkin. iCookbook would allow me to turn pages using volume commands so I can keep my pasty fat fingers off the screen. BTW, I've decided this thing is so cheap, that even if I don't get it for a birthday present in seven months, fourteen days and seven hours, I'm going to kick out the five bucks myself and get it anyway.

Turbomount: And speaking of tablet computers...I love mine, but I hate that I have to hold it with one hand and control it with the other. No, I'm not asking for more hands for a gift...rather for about $100 Turbomount system solves the problem, providing two adjustable arms that'll hold my tablet for me.

And here is my absolute favorite...

Audio Bulbs: $300, yes a little pricey, but...Audio Bulbs are wild! Can you imagine a light blub that's a speaker too? A wireless transmitter sends sound from an iPod, iPad, or CD player to, don't laugh, a light bulb. No, I'm not kidding...If I had an audio blub, I'd replace my living room "100 watter" with one and read my latest book (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72) while listening to Warren Zevon belt out Werewolves of London...from the lamp shade. I just gotta have one of these.

Winter arrives

This morning's temperature of 8 degrees before calculating wind chill reminded us all that notwithstanding the unseasonably warm weather we've been enjoying, it is winter.  In reviewing last year's blog posts recently, I noted how many days our operations were curtailed last January and February by heavy snow.  With that in mind, I thought I'd review our normal practice in the event of a snowstorm.

Since we are located within a courthouse, access is controlled by Trial Court security.  If the Trial Court decides the building should close early or not open in the morning, then we mirror that closing since we would be unable to let members of the public into the building.  There is not one set place to obtain that type of information.  It's best to check with the media and, as soon as I get the news, I post it here, so this blog is a good resource.

Short of the building being closed, we try to stay open during our normal business hours but sometimes employee safety dictates closing early.  Often we send the bulk of the staff home early and keep a few volunteers on hand for a bit longer.  A couple of years we did that, however, and the snow got so deep by the time we left that the only way any of us got out of the parking lot was by flagging down a passing snowplow and slipping the driver $20 for him to clear a path to our cars.  After that experience, I became a little quicker on making the decision to close.

Hopefully this will all be a theoretical discussion and any snow we receive will be more nuisance than major impediment.  After all, snow has already accounted for (indirectly, at least) two days of closure in the aftermath of the Halloween storm.  But just in case, remember to check the blog when it snows.

2011 Recording Statistics

With 2011 now at an end, we can look at recording statistics for the year and compare them to the numbers from 2010.

The total number of documents recorded in 2011 was down 6% from the number in 2010, sliding from 63,122 in 2010 to 59,563 in 2011;

The number of deeds recorded was down 4%, going from 5390 in 2010 to 5158 in 2011;

The number of mortgages was down 14%, going from 13,675 in 2010 to 11,818 in 2011;

The number of orders of notice was down 37%, dropping from 1143 in 2010 to 720 in 2011;

The number of foreclosure deeds was down 27%, dropping from 1143 to 720.

The 59,563 documents recorded in 2011 was the lowest annual total since 2008 when only 56,011 were recorded.  The previous low occurred in 1991 with 52,019.  The peak of recording came in 2003 when we handled 146,956 documents.