A Big Apple Day

Today is a big day for Apple Computer. The World Wide Developer’s Conference takes place in San Francisco. In the past Apple CEO Steve Jobs has used the WWDC to introduce some of its most successful products, the iPod and the iPhone to name two. But this conference is really Steve Job’s day in the sun. With this in mind I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some biographical information on Steve Jobs...







Steve Jobs’ was born in San Francisco. His biological mother was Joanne Simpson, but she did not bring him up, rather he was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.

He dropped out of college after only one semester.

Jobs met Apple co-founder Steve Wozinak while working together at Hewlett Packard.

Steve Job married to Laurene Powell in 1991. Together they have three children.

In 1978 when Jobs was only 24 years old he had a child with an artist named Chrisann Brennan. Initially, Jobs denied paternity and Brennan and her daughter lived on welfare. Later Jobs did acknowledge the child and she has since given birth to Jobs’ first grandchild.

According to an unauthorized biography of Jobs he dated folk singer Joan Baez. In Baez autobiography written in 1987 she mentions Jobs also.

Ironically, Jobs is a big Beatles fan but the Fab Four will not allow their music to be sold on Apple’s iTunes.

Here is Jobs’ usual attire...black turtleneck, 501 blue jeans and New Balance 991 Sneakers.

Steve Jobs is a vegetarian.

After several years of speculation about his health, Jobs received a liver transplant in early 2009.

Today, Steve Job will announce the next generation 4G iPhone to the world.

Registry revenue trends

As the end of Fiscal Year 2010 approaches, I took a look at our monthly revenue over the past two FYs (our FY runs from July 1 to June 30). Our two biggest sources of revenue are recording fees and the deeds excise tax which is a tax based on the sales price of a property. In FY09, we collected $4,732,200 in recording fees and $4,784,190 in excise tax, for a total of $9,516,390. In FY10 up until the end of May (i.e., with one month to go), we have collected $4,367,795 in recording fees and $5,135,597 in excise tax for a total of $9,503,392. Given that June is always our busiest month and that this June will be especially busy as the federal first time home buyer tax credit expires, we will easily surpass our FY09 revenue intake in the current FY, perhaps not by enough to proclaim the recovery has arrived, but it's certainly better than another decline.

Delays in recording foreclosure deeds

We receive many calls inquiring about the status of foreclosed properties. Tenants, neighbors and other interested parties might witness the foreclosure auction at the property and call seeking contact information for the new owner. Many times we (and our registry records) are unable to assist because of delays in recording foreclosure deeds.

It's my understanding that in most foreclosures, the high bidder is required to sign a memorandum of sale that allows 30 days to close the purchase which is completely understandable. But most foreclosure deeds seem to be recorded long after that 30 days have passed. In an attempt to learn just how much longer that is, I examined foreclosure deeds recorded for property in Lowell during 2008 and 2009 and noted the auction date for each. There were 379 foreclosures in Lowell in 2008 and they took an average of 109 days from auction to recording of the foreclosure deed. In 2009, there were 238 foreclosures and they took and average of 67 days from auction to recording the foreclosure deed.

These times seem quite long, especially when you consider that in almost all cases, the buyer at the auction is the foreclosing lender. One of the problems with delays of this type is that the property remains in a type of ownership limbo which is detrimental to tenants and neighbors. Unfortunately, with all the other issues swirling around our current economic crisis, no one seems all that interested in this particular issue.

Google Walking Direction

Did you know you can get “Walking Directions” from Google? I tried it out. I entered the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds at 360 Gorham Street as my start location and the UMass Lowell Camp Inn and Convention Center located at 50 Warren Street as the destination.
Below are the results...

Walking directions are in beta.
Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.

Walking directions to 50 Warren St, Lowell, MA 01852

0.5 mi – about 10 mins

Suggested routes

Gorham St 0.5 mi

10 mins

Gorham St and Warren St/Warren Ct 0.5 mi

10 mins

South St 0.7 mi

13 mins

360 Gorham St Lowell, MA 01852

1.	Head north on Gorham St toward Highland St		0.3 mi
2.	Turn right at Appleton St		187 ft
3.	Continue onto Church St		443 ft
4.	Turn left at George St		459 ft
5.	Turn left at Warren St/Warren Ct		161 ft

50 Warren St Lowell, MA 01852

Those of you out there thinking "so what, who needs walking directions"...first, stop being so negative and second consider this...What if you are visiting a big city like Boston or Philadelphia and doing a walking tour of historical sites...all you have to do is plug "where you are" and "where you want to go" into your cell phone's browser and bang...the directions pop up right in front of you.
Now, I think this is pretty cool, even though I am not much of a walker.

Self-selected loan modification

The New York Times reports today that more and more Americans are taking loan modification into their own hands by not paying their mortgages. Money previously sent to the loan servicer is now diverted to other things, both essentials and not-so-essentials, and homeowners take advantage of the slowness of the foreclosure process to gain a year or more of rent-free living. Economically, this makes a lot of sense for the debtor: in many cases they owe more than double the fair market value of the home so there's little hope that the property's value will rebound sufficiently to allow them to sell or refinance. There are still many in this situation who continue to make payments out of a sense of moral obligation, but the folks interviewed in this article express no hesitation about their choice: they acknowledge receiving the money from the loan but feel it was the result of fraud on behalf of the lender, so they see this as a type of self-directed equitable remedy. This tactic has not gained widespread acceptance in Massachusetts, perhaps because in this state, the excess debt left after foreclosure continues to be a liability for the borrower (in many states, home loans are non-recourse, meaning the lender's collection efforts begin and end with the house), but if real estate values remain low and unemployment high, I suspect even in this state, this tactic will be seen more often.

End of May recording statistics

Here's a preview of the end of May recording statistics compared to last May's stats. This is as of 3:30 pm, so the 2010 numbers will increase slightly.

For Lowell, deeds were down 28%, dropping from 227 in May 2009 to 164 in May 2010; mortgages increased 45%, rising from 132 to 191; foreclosure deeds were up 182%, jumping from 11 to 31; orders of notice were down 18%, sliding from 34 to 28.

In the nine towns in the Middlesex North District, the statistics were as follows: the number of deeds recorded in May 2010 rose 70% from the number recorded in May 2009, rising from 207 to 352; mortgages dropped 52%, from 1407 to 673; foreclosure deeds rose 136%, from 11 to 26; and orders of notice jumped 81%, from 27 to 49.

Ready for the rush

Tomorrow is the last Friday of the month and the last business day of the month, both of which are historically quite busy for us. I'm anxious to see if that trend holds true. The last day of April did show a substantial increase in recording volume and, with the Federal first time home buyer credit still available for closings (provided that the purchase and sale agreement was executed by April 30, 2010), tomorrow should see a uptick in recordings. One indicator of such a surge that's missing is an increase in telephone calls to the registry during the week leading up to the last day of the month. Typically, an increase in telephone call volume signals in increase in upcoming transactions, but this week, the phones have been largely silent.

We have taken some steps to prepare for a busy day with the most significant being the activation of a third recording terminal on the recording counter. Previously, we had two on the counter and three combination recording terminals/scanners off the counter. Those are typically used to record mail and process electronic recording, but they are also available for walk-in customer overflow. I do find these combination terminals slower than stand alone terminals and scanners during busy times. When you divide the core recording functions of data entry and scanning between two separate machines, I believe we process the documents much more quickly than when it's done on two combination stations. In any case, we're ready for whatever volume of recording the real estate market sends our we tomorrow.

Adverse Possession

All of the emails sent from the link on www.lowelldeeds.com come directly to me. Many of them are inquiries by homeowners with property law questions. While I cannot provide any legal advice, I do feel obliged to give some general background information on the area of law involved, always with the caveat that the person should consult with his or her own lawyer. The other day, someone asked the following:

I am wondering what my neighbor would have to do to file an adverse possession claim on a strip of land on my side of our common property border. He continues to mow the 6-10 foot strip and treat it as his own. Am I at risk of losing this land and having to re-write my deed?

Here's my response:

Your situation is very common, but it really calls for legal advice that is specific to the particular circumstances of your case. For that reason, you should consult your own attorney about the situation.

Generally, it is not the person who is wrongfully possessing the property that begins any legal action. Instead, it is the person whose property is being wrongfully possessed who would file an action claiming trespass. The possessor would then offer an affirmative defense, claiming he had become the legal owner of the property through adverse possession. The main issue is how long has the neighbor and his predecessors used the land as their own. Adverse possession occurs after 20 years of uninterrupted use that is adverse or hostile to the original owner's possession of the property. That means that if the person is using the land with permission, it's not adverse and does not transfer ownership to the user. An attorney might advise you to have the property surveyed and the actual boundary clearly marked. Then, if the neighbor does not agree to that as the boundary, the attorney might send a formal notice to the neighbor, either demanding that he stop using it or telling him that he's using it only with your permission. That would stop the 20 year clock from running. In the long run, however, it's probably wisest to get it cleared up because when the time comes for you to sell the property, having an ongoing boundary dispute might jeopardize your sale. Remember, all of the above is just my general observations about these types of cases and is in no way legal advice to you - for that you need your own attorney.

I Gotta Get A Life

I’ve always thought self-reflection was a healthy thing. Lately, after much “reflection”, I have arrived at a conclusion...I think I need to get a life outside of the registry of deeds. Once you read the three incidents below I am sure you'll agree.


Incident One: 456
This morning I was watching the news on TV and the announcer reported that Law and Order went off the air after 456 episodes. I turned to my wife and said…



Me: Hey, that’s the price of tax stamps.
Wife: What
Me: A seller pays 456 per thousand for tax stamps…you know, four dollars and fifty-six cents.
Wife: What if there had only been 125 episodes of Law and Order, what would you have said then?
Me: I would have said that’s the fee for recording a deed at the registry…of course, that doesn’t include the 456 for tax stamps.
I think I need to get a life.



Incident Two: The Plumber
Last month I was having a problem with my water heater. The plumber came out and looked it over. He said..
Plumber: The problem is with the pressure relief value.
Me: The pressure “release” value?
Plumber: No, I said the pressure “relief” value.
Me: How much is that going to cost me?
Plumber: $600
Me: Oh, too bad it wasn’t a release.
Plumber: Why?
Me: At the registry of deeds a "release" is only $75…$525 cheaper.
I think I need to get a life


Incident Three: Van Gogh
I took my granddaughter to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston last weekend. We saw some wonderful works of art. We saw Van Gogh’s, Picasso’s, Rembrandt’s. As we stood admiring Van Gogh’s “The Postman” I said…




Me: I would scan that painting at 300 DPI.
Granddaughter: What’s a DPI Papa?
Me: Its a setting we use on the scanners at the registry of deeds, Honey. It means “dots per inch”.
Granddaughter: (turning and pointing at “The Sower”) What DPI would you scan this painting at?
Me: 400 DPI with a contrast of 6. The light edges would be tough to pick up.
Granddaughter: (pointing at another painting)…This one?
Me: 200 DPI and keep the density setting at 8.
Granddaughter: and this one?
Me: 300 DPI
Granddaughter: Wow, Papa you really know your scanning.
Me: Thanks Honey,
Granddaughter: But Papa…
Me: What?
Granddaughter: I think you need to get a life.
Me: I think you're right Honey, I think you're right.

Westford Tax Possession Auction

Last Friday the Town of Westford auctioned off 16 pieces of property taken because of non-payment of real estate taxes. A property Tax Possession auction in the Merrimack Valley is a rare event. Actually, it was the first for Westford. The auction took place in the police station's conference room . Register of Deeds, Dick Howe, Jr and I attended the auction and found it a fascinating study in real estate. The properties on the block varied in size from 1/10th acre to 3.2 acres and some sold for as much as $76,000. Strategic Auction Alliance of Braintree acted as the auctioneer on behalf of the town. I put this brief slide-show together from photos and audio I took with my iPhone.

Will job surge revive real estate?

The Globe reports today that Massachusetts added more jobs to its economy this April than in any other month since 1993. That is indeed good news for the Commonwealth's economy and invites speculation as to how much positive impact this job news will have on the state's real estate market. In my view, this news will help persuade many that the economy is rebounding. Certainly those who are newly hired will be in a better position although the many who still lack jobs or who are underemployed won't feel like it's much of a recovery. Notwithstanding all of this, the single biggest drag on the real estate market today is the outstanding indebtedness of those who purchase or refinanced when the market was at its peak in and around 2005. Individuals in those circumstances who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth are in no position to sell, refinance, or upgrade their housing. A large segment of the population and the housing stock has essentially been taken out of circulation.

Tax lien auction in Westford

Yesterday Assistant Register Tony Accardi and I traveled to the town of Westford to witness the auction of a number of properties that had been taken by the town for taxes through the years. Approximately 50 people, most of them registered as bidders, attended the event which was run by an outfit called Strategic Auction Alliance.

Property tax-related sales are rare in Massachusetts. Our laws are designed to get the taxes paid, not to sell the property, and the procedure is somewhat onerous, requiring a foreclosure proceeding in the Land Court. But Westford followed through on all the requirements. A bit of the room's enthusiasm escaped when town officials announced at the beginning of the event that two parcels (the two most desirable, it appears) were the subjects of last minute court injunctions and would not be part of the auction. Still, the rest of the parcels generated plenty of enthusiasm and soon the sing-song cadence of the auctioneer was booming through the room, dragging bids upwards with skill and humor. The highest amount paid for a parcel was $76,000, the lowest maybe $2000. Even though I was just an interested observer, I found myself caught up in the action and learned much about how such an event is conducted. I'll watch our records for the eventual recording of documents related to these sales and report back on how that end of the transaction is handled.

Russian Officials Visit the Registry of Deeds

On Monday a group of lawyers and court administrators from Russia visited the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. Register Howe took the officials on a tour of the registry which included stops at our Registered Land Department, Electronic Recoding Station, Computer Room and our Scanning Room.

New York City's 311 system

There's an interesting article in today's New York Times about New York City's 311 citizen information hotline. Twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, resident can call 311 and get a knowledgeable and helpful human being on the other end of the phone. The reporter who wrote the story spent two days training and a week "on duty" fielding live calls. The most frequent calls are noise complaints; next come tenants complaining about landlords. Business spikes upward on Mondays since most people seem to believe the service is not operable on weekends.

It's hard to quantify the benefits of good customer service by a governmental entity (telephone operators are continuously scored on their courtesy and helpfulness to callers). But as the reporter points out, the intangible benefits of a citizen feeling that government was able to help in a cheerful, pleasant way has a ripple effect throughout the community.

I'm not sure that a 24/7 helpline will ever be possible for a registry of deeds, but we can and will continue to search for ways to make the service we provide to our customers more helpful and efficient.

Another Lost iPhone?

OK…now, its getting crazy.
Apple Computer known for protecting its technology secrets like a linemen does his quarterback, failed again.
Last month an unreleased iPhone 4G was left on a bar stool in Redwood City.
Incredible…That’s just NOT what you expect from Apple
And now, “reportedly” another unreleased 4G iPhone has be discovered…this time in Vietnam.
Notice, I said “reportedly”.
The “found” device was given to a mobile phone dealer in Ho Chi Minh City. Here is what we know for sure about the “reported” 4G…
It is the same thickness as the real 4G that was lost in Redwood City; It is the same length as the real 4G lost in Redwood City; and it has a front camera like the 4G lost in Redwood City…in other words it is identical.
But there are some experts who think the Vietnamese iPhone is a fake, manufactured in China.
There is no information on how the phone (real or not) got to Vietnam or who might have found it.
Photos of this second lost/stolen/fake iPhone were published in the Vietnamese website Taoviet.

Take a look and make your own decision

Below is the iPhone found in Redwood City last month and confirmed to be real by Apple itself.













Below is the iPhone found in Vietnam...You decide if you think it too is a real 4G.

Debut Screen Capture

Its Microsoft and its Free?

The following conversation and characters are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person is totally unintended.

Me: Microsoft is giving something away free…

My Friend: No Way! The only thing less likely than Microsoft giving something away free would be Apple giving something away free. And that never ever happens.

Me: Well, I thought I would never live to see the day either, but it is going to happen. Microsoft is making its new version of Office (Word, Power Point, Excel, Access) available on the Internet free. Don’t you like free?

My Friend: I love Frrreeeeeee. I just find it hard to believe. Office accounts for a huge portion of Microsoft’s profits…so why would it just give Office away?

Me: Because it has no choice. You see, companies like Google and Adobe have been giving word processing and spreadsheet creating software away for years now, and people are beginning to get use to their programs. I use Google Doc almost exclusively. Because of these free web products and Microsoft’s high software prices ($500 for Office) people are not up grading their older versions of Office.

My Friend: I still don’t get it. How is giving away a product going to help Microsoft regain lost profit?

Me: OK, here’s the strategy…First you give users a free version of Office that doesn’t include all the bells and whistles. Then once you’ve hooked them and they remember how much they love Office, they’ll upgrade to the paid version… that includes all the bells and whistles.

My Friend: Interesting idea…when will the “hook”, I mean the free version of Office be available?

Me: In June

My Friend: wow…now if only Apple decided to give something away free

Me: Stop dreaming my friend, stop dreaming.

The Growth of the Homestead Exemption Amount

Several people recently asked me about the dollar amount of the current Homestead exemption. It is now $500,000 for both the regular Homestead (MGL c.188, s.1) and for the Elderly or Disabled Homestead (MGL c.188, s.1A). I recently did some research regarding the growth of that amount through the years for the "regular" Homestead and thought that progression would be of interest to readers (info on the "elderly" amount will be forthcoming in the future).

prior to 1939, the exemption was $800. In 1939, it was increased to $4000. The following list shows the year and the amount of subsequent increases:

1970 - $10,000
1973 - $20,000
1974 - $24,000
1975 - $30,000
1979 - $50,000
1983 - $60,000
1985 - $100,000
2000 - $300,000
2004 - $500,000

Recurring question on name change after marriage

Each day brings several inquiries from local residents on a variety of registry-related topics. Two questions I was asked yesterday arise frequently. Since neither of them has a clear yes or no answer, I decided to share my views with the caveat that the registry does not provide legal advice, we just make an effort to state our general understanding of the law and procedure.

The first question involved a couple who had recently purchased a home, financed that purchase with a mortgage and then married shortly afterwards. The question was, "how to we add the wife's new last name to the deed?" This question hints at the common public misperception that we maintain some sort of master ownership list that we update as circumstances change. Of course that's not the way the system works. Once a document such as a deed is recorded, that document cannot be changed or altered. If something changes, a new document must be recorded that can be linked to the existing one and change its legal significance.

As I understand it, there is no urgent need to reflect the spouse's new name in the registry's records. She owned the property under her old name and she continues to own it in the same way, only her name has changed. Many people leave the record as is until a new document needs to be recorded for other reasons (a homestead or a new mortgage, for instance). On the new document, the spouse's name should appear "Mary Married-Name, formerly known as Mary Maiden-Name."

Two other considerations do arise in this set of facts. Now that the co-owners are married, they would be eligible to hold the property as tenants by the entirety which, in addition to providing a right of survivorship which may already exist under a joint tenancy, also provides some protection to the spouse against creditors of the other spouse. To create a tenancy in common would require a new deed by which the couple would transfer the property from themselves to themselves as tenants by the entirely. The other issue is the existing mortgage and any prohibitions that may have established on changing the ownership of the property without the consent of the mortgage company.

Because what would appear to be such a simple question does carry with it significant legal pros and cons which is why we always advise folks to consult with a lawyer who can become acquainted with all the particulars of that case.

Courthouse Iron Staircase

Last Friday I decided to take some pictures of the parking lot side of the courthouse before construction begins on the new elevator. While taking these pictures I noticed the beautiful iron staircase leading from the Elm Street entrance to the second floor. Actually, this is only one of many exquisite iron staircases in the old building which dates back to 1845.

I took some close up pictures which I have posted below.
Click on picture to enlarge

April Deeds for Lowell: A closer look

The number of deeds recorded for the city of Lowell this April showed a considerable increase over the number recorded for the same month last year. Today I tried to determine what kind of transfers were represented by those deeds.

Of the 156 deeds recorded for property in Lowell during the month of April 2010, about two-thirds involved arm's length sales of property with the other one-third being related party transfers. Of all the deeds, 90 involved one party or entity selling to another for what seemed to be fair market value (58% of the total). An additional 20 deeds were conveyances from banks (presumably ones that had recently foreclosed on the property) to third parties (13%). While these sales may have been at a discount, they are close to FMV (or perhaps the new FMV). Thirty-seven deeds (24%) involved related party transfers such as spouses conveying to a single spouse (maybe an ex-spouse?) or similar transfers for no consideration. Another 9 deed were individuals conveying property into trusts of which they were the trustee.

A busy day (compared to what?)

Last Friday was the busiest day we've had in a long while here at the registry of deeds. It was the last day of April and the last Friday of the month which both tend to have substantial increases in activity over any other day of the month. But where does this past April 30 fit, volume of recording wise, with the other April 30th's of the past decade (and I use "April 30" to mean the last day on which we were open for business). Here are some numbers so you can make your own comparisons:

2000 - 591 documents recorded
2001 - 685
2002 - 575
2003 - 749
2004 - 816
2005 - 712
2006 - 564
2007 - 540
2008 - 374
2009 - 313
2010 - 470

Call Me Chrome Man

Today May 5, 2010 is a big day for me...

This morning while eating Shredded Wheat with my wife I made a life changing decision.
I didn’t tell her about my decision. I didn’t want to worry her.

Every major decision has consequences. And truthfully, I’m ready and one needs to be ready to make such a big decision and handle the consequences.

Any hesitation I might have had during breakfast dissipated as my mind recited Robert Frost’s famous poem “Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I-- took the one less travel by, and that has made all the difference”.

Today...I’ve decided...to change my life. Today...I've decided...to change my Web Browser.

I’ve been a Morzilla Firefox guy for the past three years. In fact I really like Firefox.
But today... I am officially announcing I've changed to Chrome, Google’s Web Browser. To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Brutus “it is not that I love Firefox less, it is that I love Chrome more”.


I have been mulling this decision for several months now.

Every time I logged into YouTube Google tempts me with a message “YouTube works better with Chrome”.
It does?, I thought.
Every time I logged into my Gmail account Google tempts me with a message “Gmail is faster with Google Chrome”.
It is?, I thought.

Finally, this morning, between bites of Shredded Wheat, I had an epiphany.
I need to make a change. I need YouTube to work better. I need my Gmail to be faster. I need to be...A Chrome Man.

And now, I am.
If you would like to be a Chrome Man (or Woman) too the download is easy...its making the decisions that is the tough part.

April recording statistics

The only piece of good news to be found in April's recording statistics is regarding the number of deeds recorded in the city of Lowell. In April 2009, there were 106; in April 2010 there were 167, an increase of 58%. The nine towns in the Middlesex North District saw only a slight increase in deeds, from 277 to 319, a 15% increase.

Foremost in the bad news category was an across-the-board increase in the number of foreclosure deeds recorded: Lowell rose from 20 to 36, a 80% rise. Town foreclosure deeds were up more dramatically, jumping from 9 to 31, a 244% increase. Town orders of notice were also up by 62% although orders of notice for Lowell dropped slightly, from 48 to 42. Another negative note is a noticeable decrease in the number of mortgages recorded. Lowell's drop was only 11%, from 237 to 212 but the town decline in mortgages was 39%, dropping from 1137 to 693.

Techie Shorts

Here are five of this weeks biggest Techie Shorts

1.Apple sold an incredible one million iPads in the first month of sales. That figure is double the amount of iPhone sold in its first month. Did you get that DOUBLE the sales of the iPhone

2.The Verizon's Droid smart phone is selling like hotcakes (see the iPhone and Blackberry aren’t the smart phones out there). Right now, you can’t buy a Droid and Verizon representatives are telling customers don’t expect to see delivery for several weeks.

3.Wired magazine is one of my favorites...Here is an example why. After the “theft” of Apple’s iPhone 4G and its premature publication by Gizmodo, “Wired” set out to find the person who found the phone and sold it to Gizmodo...within one week it hunted down and found Brian Hogan. Nice job Gizmodo.

4.Google is cooking something up. I can just feel it...the Internet giant purchased Bump Top. Bump Top? Remember when Google purchased YouTube for one billion dollars and we all asked "whats YouTube"? Yeah, you remember...and now we're all asking "Whats Bump Top?". It is a company that developed software that can take two dimensional pictures and make them three dimensional. I feel something simmering.

5.And back to Apple again...in December of 2009, Apple bought LaLa. Lala is a free music service that allows you to listen to “most” any song you want, did I mention Free? Just six months later Apple shocked Lala lovers, with an announcement that the site would be closing at the end of May. You see, I was right..Apple and Free are like water and oil.

Law Day 2010 (Part II)

Congratulations to all involved in this year's Law Day ceremony, held earlier today in Lowell Superior Court. The primary organizers of the event were the judges and staff of the Lowell Juvenile Court and the Greater Lowell Bar Association. After a formal opening of the court session by Assistant Chief Court Officer Wayne McDaniel, the Lowell High Junior Air Force ROTC elite color guard presented the colors, the pledge of allegiance was led by students from the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School and the National Anthem was sung by by Tiernan O'Rourke, a young man with a wonderful voice.

After welcoming remarks were made by Judges Patricia Flynn, Christine McEvoy and Barbara Pierson and a proclamation from the city of Lowell was presented by Kevin Broderick, vice chair of the city council, the five entrants in the essay contest read their speeches. They were:

George Murphy of Dracut High (winner)
Elizabeth Pepe of Notre Dame (second place)
Molly Black of Lowell Catholic (honorable mention)
Joshua Bradbury of Greater Lowell Tech (honorable mention)
Kevin Sorota of Lowell High (honorable mention)

After the speeches (which were all excellent and well-presented), the Lowell High School Chorus entertained the audience with a medley of patriotic songs. At the end of the formal program, the Bar Association treated everyone to a luncheon.

This was the sixth year that the Juvenile Court and the bar association hosted this event. These days, everyone is so busy that people often pass on participating public events like Law Day, but these types of activities play a very important and positive role in our civic culture and are deserving of our full support.

Law Day

Since 1958, May 1 has been recognized as Law Day in the United States. Internationally, the day had long been known as "International Workers Day" and considered a celebration of organized labor. The Soviet Union, however, transformed "May Day" into an elaborate parade intended to show off Soviet weaponry and (by their thinking) military superiority. As a counterweight to that, President Eisenhower instituted Law Day, an opportunity to celebrate the rule of law and the democratic institutions in America that rest upon the rule of law.

On recent Law Days, the Lowell Juvenile Court and the Greater Lowell Bar Association have held a Law Day ceremony here at Superior Court. The event includes entertainment, speeches by dignitaries and an essay contest by high school students. This year, the ceremony will be held on Friday, April 30 beginning at 11:30 am at the Middlesex Superior Courthouse, 360 Gorham Street, Lowell. Everyone is invited to attend.

Apple vs Gizmodo

The saga of the stolen/missing iPhone goes on...

Remember I wrote about this last week? Well, the story just keeps getting better and better.
First a little refresher...After having a couple of beers at a local bar in Redwood, California an Apple Engineer left his iPhone on a bar stool. After a brief inspection, the person determined that was something different about this iPhone and he was right. The Apple engineer had actually lost a "not yet released" iPhone 4G.
The finder sold the new iPhone to a popular tech site named Gizmodo for $5,000. Jason Chen, the editor of Gizmodo filmed the phone and did what you would expect any techie to do...he showed it to the whole world on YouTube.
As you would expect Steve Jobs and company were furious. Chen responded by giving the phone back to Apple, but it was too late, the damage was done.
Here is where it gets good...Last Monday, Apple kicked it up a notch (as Emeril) would say). They called the cops...and the cops made a visit to Chen's house, while he was out.
The San Mateo County Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team forced entry into Jason Chen's apartment and confiscated his computers, hard-drives, digital cameras, cell phones and copies of his American Express bill...of course, this was done with a search warrant.
Wow, I guess there's a simple message here...Don’t mess with Steve Jobs and Apple. They play tough.
And its not over... County authorities are considering charging Chen with receiving stolen property.
But it still gets better...Today Apple announced the dates for its Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC)at which they will release the "kind of new" iPhone 4G.

The dynamics at this conference are going to be something else...questions abound: Does Jobs mentioned the theft?
Was the found iPhone really the 4G?
Will Apple hold the release modify the phone?

All this because a guy stopped to have a few beers on his way home...wow! I love this stuff?

Second mortgages and foreclosures

An article in the April 19, 2010 print edition of Banker and Tradesman quantifies the impact of second mortgages on the likelihood of foreclosure. B&T examined 320,000 single-family homes and condominiums that were purchased between 2003 and the end of 2007 and that (1) involved at least one mortgage and (2) are still owned by the original purchaser. Using an "automated valuation model", B&T concluded that 46% of those original homeowners are now underwater (meaning they owe more on their mortgage than the property is worth). Roughly one-third of those 320,000 homes involved second mortgages. Of that group, 69% are underwater.

Besides increasing the likelihood of foreclosure, the existence of a a second mortgage greatly complicates any effort to have a short sale of the property since the consent of two lenders, both competing for the same too-small pool of money, must be obtained.

My own review of foreclosure cases in this registry district confirms the B&T findings: properties with second mortgages represent a disproportionate share of those undergoing foreclosure.

The Numbers Game

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales in the month of March increased by 6.8%.

Honestly, activity here at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds, just doesn’t reflect any kind of increase in business; in fact it is just the opposite. On April 26, 2009 we ended the day with 18,984 documents recorded...today April 26, 2010, exactly one year later, that figure will probably be about 17,100. This represents a decrease of about 1,884 or 10%. That is significant number.

Of course, the NAR is talking about just Deeds(sales) and my numbers represent all documents. So let's compare Apples to Apples (as they say) and look at deeds only at Middlesex North...Last year we ended April 26, 2009 with 1,358 deeds recorded...today, April 26, 2010 we will probably end the day with 1,450 deeds recorded. That is an increase of 92 deeds or 6.5%. OK, that number fits with the NAR numbers.

But our business is driven by mortgages, not deeds. We are busiest when refinancing is booming...Let's take a look. We ended April 26, 2009 with 4,509 mortgages recorded. We will probably end today, April 26, 2010 with 3,170 mortgages recorded, a decrease of 1,339 or 29.5%.
That's significant.

April 23 in Literary History

April 23 is one of the most important days in literary history. April 23 is the date William

Shakespeare was born and the date he died.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford on Avon in 1564. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children with her...Susanna, Hamnet and Judith.

No one really knows what Shakespeare looked like or much about his philosophical or religious beliefs, but there are few that deny him the title of "greatest writer in the English language" and few that dispute his enormous influence on our society.

In all, the bard is credited with writing 38 plays and 154 sonnets. But what impresses me the most about Shakespeare’s words is that they are quoted more than any others except for the Bible.

Below are some of the more famous Shakespearean quotes…

1. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players:
   
2. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
3. Brevity is the soul of wit.
4. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.
5. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose
   By any other name would smell as sweet."
6. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
   But in ourselves"
7. "Nothing can come of nothing…"
8. A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!
9. Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
   Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds;
10. Sweets to the sweet, farewell!

This is perhaps the most famous speech in dramatic history...Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy. In this video Laurence Olivier plays Hamlet.

What a Buzz

Bees buzz, electric saws buzz and even people buzz, but now there is Google Buzz.

Google’s Buzz is the latest in social networking sites. Yes, it looks and acts similar to other social sites.

I must admit, I love Buzz, but then again I’m kind of an odd duck.
How odd? Well, lets put it this way, I am the only person I know that uses Buzz.

I have been on for about three months and right now I have no Buzz friends...but, don’t feel bad for me. I have no friends, mainly because I don’t know anyone on Buzz, accept for me that is.

OK, so why do I like Buzz so much...
Because it connects directly to my Gmail, YouTube and Blogger accounts. When I write a blog post it is immediately posted on my Buzz page. If I post a YouTube video it too is immediately posted on my Buzz page.

Its great.

When I first started to use Buzz and experienced its inter-connectivity I thought it was going to take over the world, or take over Facebook at least.

But, I seem to be wrong...Buzz just isn't, well, creating much of a buzz in the social networking world.

I still think the concept of Google Buzz is a winner...Now all Google needs to do is get someone besides me to use Buzz.

Wanna be my friend?

Work Begins, Maybe

There is buzz everywhere that tonight is the night...The night when construction on the Lowell Superior Courthouse elevator will begin. The first step is for crews to lay footings for the structure, which will be attached to the side of the building.

Bids, talks and meetings have filled the past year in preparation for this work. Last month an architectural artist began casting molds of the historic window frames on the old building built in 1845. These cast will be used to duplicate decorative windows on the outside of the new elevator.

But last week the biggest sign that construction was near occurred. Dig Safe outlined three safe areas in the Elm Street Parking lot for boring.

The plan is for work to begin at 6:00 in the evening and continue until 4:00 in the morning…we’ll keep you posted as the project progresses.

Give Me My iPhone Back...Now!

Did you hear the one about the Apple Engineer that walked into a bar?
This is priceless. As they say, you can't make this stuff up...we''ll be talking about this one for years to come…

On March 19 an Apple Engineer named Gray Powell stopped to have a few in a bar located in Redwood City, California. After a couple of beers Powell left the bar and headed home. Shortly after Powell's departure another person, completely unassociated with the Apple engineer found his iPhone sitting on a bar stool.

Innocently, "the "finder" unlocked the phone and discovered it belonged to Powell. He intended to return the phone in the morning, but the next day "the finder" discovered the memory of the iPhone had been completely wiped out, remotely.

He found this curious and began to examine the phone closer. "The finder" discovered this iPhone was like none he had ever seen before. This phone had a strange case disguising it to look like an iPhone 3GS. There were two camera openings and it was much squarer than the 3GS. "The finder" knew he had found something special.

Somehow a popular tech site named Gizmodo heard about the unique iPhone and purchased it from "the finder" for $5,000.

People are speculating that the iPhone Powell lost is actually the new iPhone 4G scheduled to be released in June.

And Apple wants it back, now!…according to one rumor Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself called Gizmodo and demanded the phone be returned. I see a law suit coming...

Below is a video Gizmodo made of the new Apple 4G iPhone. It is quite a sneak preview.

Elevator construction begins next week

Word is that construction of the new elevator for the courthouse will begin next Wednesday, April 21. Since the majority of the work will be performed between 6 pm and 4 am (i.e., in the middle of the night), court operations should not be unduly disrupted by the work. A good portion of the employee parking lot will be blocked off to accommodate the contractor's equipment and the excavation, but that should have little effect on the public.

The elevator will be for handicap accessibility only and not for the general public. It will be constructed in an external tower, constructed along the south side of the 1848 building (the brick one in the rear), adjacent to the employee entrance. The elevator will have stops at parking lot level, the first floor and the second floor. I believe that construction is expected to take six months to a year to complete.

On another note, please remember that the Registry of Deeds is closed this coming Monday, April 19, due to the Patriot's Day holiday.

Media reports increase in foreclosures

An AP story in today's Lowell Sun reports a nation-wide surge in foreclosures. This is old news to us here at the registry; so many of the documents we see these days are foreclosure-related or part of the debt collection process. And with each foreclosure, values slide a bit more which just traps more and more homeowners in a situation where they owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth.

Here's what I wrote on this site at the end of March about the direction of real estate:

Our recording statistics for March 2010 duplicate trends seen last month. When compared to the same time last year, the number of mortgages recorded is down substantially while the number of foreclosure-related documents is up. Specifically, the number of deeds recorded for the entire registry district slid slightly, from 439 in March 2009 to 414 in March 2010, a decline of 6%. Mortgages were down by a much greater margin, slipping from 1430 to 920, a drop of 36%. Foreclosure deeds jumped from 33 to 57, an increase of 73%, and orders of notice more than doubled, going from 43 to 112, a jump of 160%. The total number of documents recorded dropped 20%, from 5919 to 4709.

When these figures are broken out by the city of Lowell versus the nine towns in the district, the same trends persist, although there was a slightly greater drop in deeds and mortgages in the towns and a slightly greater increase of foreclosure documents in Lowell.

Timing Is Everything

More often than not, timing is everything. It is true in life, business and even the registry of deeds.
For the past two years the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds has had a twitter account. Every day we post at least one tweet. We usually tweet about projects or happens at the registry and/or the Superior Courthouse.
What does this have to do with "timing"?
I’ve written about the registry's foray into twitter before and truthfully, we are looking for more followers...so this time, as I blog about twitter, I hope is the right time to get you interested. Just go to twitter.com sign up and look for lowelldeeds then start following.

Registry closed on Monday, April 19

Monday, April 19, is Patriot's Day here in Massachusetts. It's a state holiday, so all state and municipal offices will be closed. Patriot's Day commemorates the events that occurred not too far from here on April 19, 1775, when a regiment+ of British soldiers ventured into Middlesex County in search of arms and munitions. At day break, they were met at Lexington by that town's militia; shots were fired and the American Revolution commenced. The British continued on to Concord where they were engaged and driven back by other area militias which, later in the day, included men from towns in this Registry District including Tewksbury, Dracut, Chelmsford and Billerica.

Google Tablet

Just when I had convinced myself that I needed to buy one of Apple's new iPads, I find out that Google is making a tablet computer too...and it will run on Google's smart-phone Android Operating System. Now I don't know what to do...Apple? Google? Apple? Google?

Below is a "concept video" of the soon to be released Google tablet...once you see this you'll know why I am so confused. It looks like Google got a real winner coming.

iPhone OS 4.0

What a week Apple Computer is having…first the company release the revolutionary iPad and yesterday Steve jobs announced a brand new operating system for the iPhone. It is called OS 4.0 (one problem worth noting, OS 4.0 can NOT be downloaded to first generation iPhones, like mime)

If you are an iPhone user (other than first generation) here is what OS 4.0 will give you:

1.You’ll be able to run two Apps at the same time. As an example you could listen to Pandora music while playing a game.
2.You’ll be able to organize your Apps into folders rather than having page after page of icons on the phone’s desktop.
3.If you have an AOL email account and a gmail account you’ll finally be able to get email from multiple accounts.
4.And gamers, you’ll love this one…OS 4.0 will allow you to play games against friends “online”.
5.You’ll be able to wipe out data on your phone, remotely (don’t know why I would want that but…).
6.The same software now offered in the new iPad for e-reading will be available for iPhone allowing you buy and read books on your phone. I like this one the best.

Apple continues to be the industry’s leader mainly because of innovation like this. Thanks to Brian Caulfield of forbes.com for info used in this post.

The condominium market

The records here at the registry of deeds provide us only a limited ability to discern what is built upon each property, but we can usually pick out condominiums with ease. Consequently, I've applied a "condominium filter" to some of our recording statistics. In 2009 in the city of Lowell, for instance, condominiums accounted for one out of every three foreclosures. In the nine towns in the Middlesex North District, one out of every four foreclosures was a condominium.

The primary reason condominium foreclosures are relatively high is the roller coaster ride of prices through the last decade. Back in 2000, the median price of a condo in Lowell was $90,000. In 2005 when prices reached their peak, that number rose to $194,900. By 2009 it had slid to $147,000. If you bought a condo in 2000 and still owned it (and hadn't refinanced in the interim), you'd be in pretty good shape. But if you bought anytime near mid-decade, you probably paid more for the unit than it is now worth.

Similar trends apply to condo values in the towns of the Middlesex North District. In 2000, the median condo price was $142,900, in 2005 it was $256,500, and in 2009 it was $215,500. The 2005 to 2009 drop was 16% which means that if you bought in 2005 and borrowed more than 80% of the then value of the property, you now owe more on your mortgage than your unit is worth.

Net Neutrality

Earlier this week the FCC lost a huge ruling when a US Appeals Court shot down its attempt to control net neutrality. Haven’t heard of net neutrality? Trust me…you will in the near future.

First, What is net neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the concept that Internet Service Providers must treat all Internet traffic the same. That’s the way the Internet world works today. You pay one monthly fee and download anything you want with no additional charge. You can search for a particular site and you'll get it. This is net neutrality.

If net neutrality is gone this “might” not be the case. The Internet Providers (companies like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T etc) want to create a kind of two-tiered Internet. One tier of information would be provided to the consumer free, the other tier would be assessed an additional charge paid by the consumer or it would download slower.

For instance, just image if Comcast or Verizon made a deal with Microsoft and when you searched using Internet Explore it came up faster than when you searched using Mozilla Firefox.

Scary? You bet.

But there is another side to this story….The Internet Providers argue they own the pipes that deliver the data and they have the right to surcharge Internet gluttons. They even state a two-tier system would benefit the average user. How? Providers believe limiting big downloads would speed up the average surfer's Internet experience.

The fight for net neutrality goes on…but has suffered a major set back.

Community Preservation surcharge may increase

Senate Bill 90 now pending before the state legislature makes some modifications to the Community Preservation Act. The CPA went into effect back in 2002 and allows communities in the Commonwealth to vote to increase their property taxes to raise money for a variety of uses including open space and historic preservation. Any amount raised by a town is matched by the state from a Community Preservation Trust fund maintained by the state. This CPA Trust is funded by a surcharge on documents recorded at the registry of deeds. Since 2002, the surcharge has been $20 per document with municipal lien certificates having a $10 surcharge and homesteads being exempt.

SB 90 retains these surcharges with one important modification: If the state's Trust Fund has insufficient money to support at least a 75% match to the towns that opt into the act, the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue may raise the surcharge by an amount sufficient to raise the needed funds. The maximum the surcharge could increase would be to $70 ($50 for MLCs). This means that if there is an acute shortage of CPA funds and the surcharge is increased by the maximum amount allowed, it would cost $125 to record a mortgage discharge (instead of the current $75), $175 to record a deed (now $125) and $225 to record a mortgage (now $175).

As a practical matter, having the CPA surcharge change by some random amount (the reset fee is "rounded up to the nearest $1) will be disastrous for the operation of the registry of deeds. Our diverse clientele has a difficult enough time getting the current fees right even though they have been in place and unchanged for seven years. Changing the fees on a yearly basis will create recording gridlock when mail is returned, e-recordings are rejected, and customers are turned away, all because they haven't updated their registry fee chart. The objectives of the CPA are commendable, but tweaking it in the manner proposed is not without some negative consequences.

iPad

It looks like the Apple iPad did not meet industry experts sales expectations. On its first day Apple sold 300,000 iPads units, including preorders. Experts estimated iPad sales would approach 600,000 to 700,000...it didn't.
Most people I talk to ask..."what does the iPad do that a small laptop computer won't do. Truthfully, I don't know yet...and I wonder if that is the reason sales did not live up to expectations.
Regardless of the number of sales, Apple shares have jumped $1.59 in the past week fueled by iPad anticipation.
As far as I am concerned the jury is still out and the future of the iPad is in question.
Below is the Apple Company promotional video...it tell you exactly what the iPad can do. You can make up your own mind.

First time home buyer credit expires soon

A glance at the calendar reminds us that the Federal First time Homebuyer tax credit will be coming to an end soon. The deadline for having a purchase and sale agreement executed is May 1, 2010 and the closing must occur before July 1, 2010. The credit available for first time home buyers is $8000 and for long time homeowners who purchase a new residence, it's $6500. According to the Treasury Department, more than 1.8 million taxpayers have collected $12.6 billion in tax credits due to this act. The nice thing about a tax credit is that you get the money whether you owe any tax or not, so even if you'd be receiving a refund anyway, your refund would be even larger, possibly even exceeding the amount of taxes you already paid in. Taxpayers who purchase homes during 2010 may also claim this credit on their 2009 tax return (which is due in 13 days) or can wait until their 2010 returns are due.

From our vantage point, homesales have remained flat during the first quarter of 2010. Hopefully the continued availability of this tax credit plus the return of nice weather will cause an uptick in real estate activity in the coming weeks.

March recording statistics

Our recording statistics for March 2010 duplicate trends seen last month. When compared to the same time last year, the number of mortgages recorded is down substantially while the number of foreclosure-related documents is up. Specifically, the number of deeds recorded for the entire registry district slid slightly, from 439 in March 2009 to 414 in March 2010, a decline of 6%. Mortgages were down by a much greater margin, slipping from 1430 to 920, a drop of 36%. Foreclosure deeds jumped from 33 to 57, an increase of 73%, and orders of notice more than doubled, going from 43 to 112, a jump of 160%. The total number of documents recorded dropped 20%, from 5919 to 4709.

When these figures are broken out by the city of Lowell versus the nine towns in the district, the same trends persist, although there was a slightly greater drop in deeds and mortgages in the towns and a slightly greater increase of foreclosure documents in Lowell.