2014 Holiday Schedule

Someone from a local bank just emailed with a request that I send the registry's holiday schedule for the remainder of 2014.  If one person is looking for it, others might be too, so here it is:

The following are the remaining holidays in 2014 on which the registry of deeds will be closed:

April 21 – Patriots Day

May 26 – Memorial Day

July 4 – Independence Day

Sept 1 – Labor Day

Oct 13 – Columbus Day

Nov 11 – Veterans Day

Nov 27 – Thanksgiving

Dec 25 – Christmas

Please note that we will be OPEN all day on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

Updating Deed Indexing Standards

Earlier this week the Massachusetts Registers of Deeds Association met in Worcester and agreed to begin the process of updating the Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standards which were created back in 2000 and last updated in 2008.  The hope is to have this new version take effect on January 1, 2015.  We expect to have a draft available for public comment by July 1, 2014.

Here are some of the items we hope to clarify or address in the new version of the standards:

Acknowledgements

Update/explain list of documents requiring acknowledgement

Revisit requirements for out-of-state acknowledgements

Must acknowledgement clause state the name of the person who has signed the document (and not just “the person who signed above”).  In re Giroux, Bankruptcy case

Modification of Mortgage – signatures of all parties must be acknowledged?

Raised Seal – should it be shaded?

Mass. Uniform Probate Code

deed of distribution

disclaimer of property statement

Deed Excise Tax

Selling a stamp although no document is presented for recording?

Is excise tax due in a transfer for consideration if incident to divorce decree?

Names

Punctuation marks in names such as E*Trade or Amazon.com

Non-traditional names – which is first name; which is last name?

Deed of distribution – Code for “Personal Representative”

Affidavit relative to note signed by officer – just institution name or signatory name too?

Certified documents – adding book and page reference

1.  

Recording statistics for March

The stagnant real estate market continued through March.  No doubt the nasty weather was a factor but things slowed down as far back as September and have never really recovered.

The total number of documents recorded in March 2014 was down 33% from March 2013 (3886 v 5824). 

The number of deeds recorded was down 8% (484 v 526).

The number of mortgages was down 52% (593 v 1235).

The number of foreclosure deeds was up 67% (10 v 6)(given the very low numbers in both cases, this should not be of concern).

The number of orders of notice were down 51% (19 v 39).

Possible parking crunch starts tomorrow

The Gallagher Terminal on Thorndike Street, just across the South Common from the Superior Courthouse and the Registry of Deeds, begins a major construction project tomorrow with the demolition of its primary parking garage.  Once razed, a new structure will be built in its place.  While the project is underway, however, parking for commuters will be at a premium.  The Rourke Parking Garage, which is adjacent to the Terminal and has its entrance on Chelmsford Street at the intersection with Westford, will still be open.  Monthly pass holders and daily parkers will be allowed in there on a first come, first served basis.  Unfortunately, that garage does not have the capacity to handle all of the cars displaced from the older garage.  As a consequence of this, we suspect that many commuters will choose to park their vehicles on neighborhood streets like Highland and South and will walk across the South Common to the train station.  Hopefully the impact on parking for this building will be minimal.   

Using Data in Governing

Today's Globe has a story about how new Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has added a couple of big screen computer monitors to the mayor's office.  They display a steady stream of data from various sources around the city.  Seemingly unconnected items like school bus arrival times, code inspections accomplished, and traffic backups taken together paint a minute-by-minute picture of the life of the city and allow Walsh and his staff to identify and address problems faster than has previously been the case.  The story makes that point that while much of this data has previously been available, the software that blends in all together and presents it to the user in a comprehensible form is relatively new.  Big picture, data driven applications available today keep decision makers from drowning in facts and figures.

Mid month statistics for March

Recording stats for the first half of March show that mortgage activity is still extremely sluggish.  For the first two weeks of March in 2013, we recorded 619 mortgages for the entire registry district; for the same time this year we recorded just 242.  Deeds also dropped although not by as much: 262 deeds in the first half of March 2013 and only 190 for the same time in 2014.  At least foreclosure-related documents are still down: just 4 foreclosure deeds in 2013 but only 3 in 2014.  Orders of notice were down by an even greater amount: 25 in 2013 and just 10 in 2014.

This decline in mortgages has persisted since last September.  It's definitely a trend and it seems to be getting worse rather than better.

Happy Evacuation Day

March 17 is still recognized as a holiday in Suffolk County, I believe, and that holiday is Evacuation Day which has nothing (directly) to do with the Irish or St Patrick's Day.  The holiday commemorates the departure from Boston of the British Army during the Revolutionary War. 

There are three important dates during the New England phase of the Revolution.  First is April 19, 1775 which is the battle of Lexington and Concord.  Second is June 17, 1775 which is the battle of Bunker Hill.  And third is March 17, 1776 which is the day the British evacuated Boston after the Americans fortified the high ground in Dorchester with artillery dragged from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston by Henry Knox during the winter of 1775/1776,

While it's true that the British did leave Boston in mid-March 1776, the historic record is ambiguous about the exact date (more likely it was over several days).  But March 17 seemed like a good date, especially when American-Irish politicians gained some influence in the state legislature.  Those most likely to oppose a holiday celebrating the patron saint of Ireland would also be most likely to support a Revolutionary War holiday.  Hence, we have Evacuation Day on St Patrick's Day. 

January & February electronic recording statistics

The percentage of documents being recorded electronically is down from the same time last year.  I don't think the decline is related to electronic recording.  I think it's a consequence of the decline in refinancings.  That's because the document types most often recorded electronically are mortgages and discharges.  When the volume of those two goes down in proportion to all other document types - which has been the case for several months - the percentage of electronic recordings goes down similarly.

In January 2014, we recorded a total of 3,919 documents.  Of those, 1,373 were recorded electronically.  That's an average of 35%.  In January 2013, we recorded a total of 6,064 documents.  Of those, 2,499 were recorded electronically.  That's an average of 41%.

In February 2014, we recorded a total of 3,382 documents.  Of those, 1,126 were recorded electronically.  That's an average of 33%.  In February 2013, we recorded a total of 5,218 documents.  Of those, 2,084 were recorded electronically.  That's an average of 40%.

Key US Senators agree on Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac plan

The New York Times is reporting that the ranking members of the Senate Banking Committee, Tim Johnson, a Democrat from South Dakota, and Mike Crapo a Republican of Idaho,have agreed to a plan that will eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The proposal would set up a new agency called the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation but would also ensure that most of the losses suffered from bad loans would be from private funds, not from the taxpayer.  Another part of the bill would require minimum down payments of 5% (or 3.5% for first time home buyers).  One analyst predicted that interest rates would rise approximately 0.5% as a result of these new standards.  The Times article reports there is much skepticism that a bill such as this would pass in the House of Representatives, but many are pleased at the apparent bipartisan support in the Senate.

Mortgage securities litigation in Massachusetts

The New York Times reports today in its business section about litigation brought in a Massachusetts state court by an investment firm against a number of major mortgage companies which it says misrepresented the quality of the mortgages used to back up bonds sold to the investment firm.  Most of the lenders have settled but Credit Suisse denies liability.  Today's story reports on discovery materials that have been made public including internal emails between Credit Suisse executives in which they complain about the poor quality of the mortgages their sales people were originating.  The emails certainly seem incriminating although as with any litigation, it's important to get the whole story before drawing conclusions.  Still, the release of these emails that were written in 2006 and 2007 only now begs the question of why weren't they discovered by and acted upon by government regulators in the interim.

Decline in number of mortgages being recorded

The number of mortgages recorded each month, which had averaged nearly 1,300 from January 2012 through August 2013, suddenly dropped in the fall of 2013 to 964 in September, 809 in October, 725 in November, and 787 in December.  The first two months of 2014 have been even worse with only 570 mortgages recorded in January and 493 in February.  I'm not sure of the cause of this drop but it has to be affecting the housing market and the broader economy.

For historical context, here are some statistics for deeds, mortgages and total documents recorded at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds from 2002 through 2013:

	Deeds	Mortgages	Total Docs
2003	8,756	31,221	115,890
2003	8,977	41,800	146,956
2004	9,165	28,079	96,204
2005	8,930	25,402	87,866
2006	7,236	20,503	72,830
2007	6,767	15,999	66,192
2008	5,568	11,451	56,011
2009	5,557	14,743	65,838
2010	5,390	13,675	63,122
2011	5,158	11,818	59,563
2012	6,017	15,828	71,596
2013	6,718	13,272	67,001