Finishing Touches on the Elevator

The finishing touches are being applied to the Lowell Superior Courthouse Elevator...words is it will open in the next two weeks:

Lowell 175

A gorgeous spring evening last night was the perfect backdrop to the city of Lowell’s 175th birthday party. While the brisk breeze may have strained the arms of those carrying the national flags of the many countries from which Lowell’s citizenry originated, it made the flags much more visible as they were tugged horizontally by the breeze. The speaking program was appropriate to the occasion with my personal highlights being the reading of the winning “Lowell Story” essay by its author, a Wang Middle School student, and the presentation of an enlarged reproduction of the original legislation that granted the city its charter back in 1836 by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin to Mayor Jim Milinazzo (shown above).

Perhaps the best part of the evening was the mix of people who were there. Besides the student musicians in the Lowell High marching band, there were many other young people as part of the many ethnic groups that participated. Many others from the business, government and non-profit community were all present as were many other citizens of Lowell. It was a diverse group in every sense of the word and it represented the city well.

Is Steve Wozniak Coming Back?

Steve Wozniak is one of the most understated people I know (well, I don't really know him...I know of him).

Wozniak along with Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer in 1976. But Woz, as his friends call him (not me) wasn't just another business man...this guy is a computer genius. Completely alone Woz developed the hardware, circuit designs and operating system of the first ever Apple Computer (how would you like to put that on your resume?).

Of course, his Apple partner, Steve Jobs' flamboyant personality completely over-shadowed Wozniak. Sure, Jobs is a genius... nobody can argue against that, but there would be no Apple Computer without Wozniak. Hardware and software development was well beyond Steve Job's abilities in the 1970's.

By 1987 Steve Wozniak was a billionaire and he left Apple Computer...to become a fifth grade math teacher in Los Gatos, California.

And now in a tech world shocker, the genius behind the genius said he would rejoin Apple Computer if asked. In light of Steve Jobs' recent third medical leave, we might just see the return of the Woz.

Lowell's 175th Birthday

This coming Monday, April 11, 2011, the city of Lowell turns 175 years old. The city was founded as a town in 1826, several years after the first textile mills were constructed, but it's incredible growth quickly let to its receiving its charter as a city just ten years later. At the time, Boston was the only city in Massachusetts and Lowell and Salem received their city charters from the state legislature during the same week in 1836.

Lowell is holding a big celebration Monday night at City Hall to commemorate the anniversary. Here's the schedule of events:

175th Kick-Off Reception (Monday, April 11 4:30 PM-6:30 PM) Event Schedule below:

• 4:20 PM – 4:30 PM: Multicultural Parade led by LHS Marching Band
• 4:30 PM – 4:40 PM: LHS Marching Band followed by Lowell Song (Gentleman Songsters)
• 4:40 – 5:05 PM: Speaking Program, including Mayor James Milinazzo, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, City Manager Lynch, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, Senator Eileen Donoghue, Representative Thomas Golden; Lowell story reading by Wang Middle School student; and performance by Amy Black (Mill Girl Song - photo at right)
• 5:10 PM – 5:30 PM: Ceremonial Birthday Cake in Mayor’s Reception Room, Tours of City Hall
• 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Mingling and music (including entertainment by Peter Leonard-Solis)

Update on Superior Court re-use

Top officials of the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), the state agency responsible for all state-owned buildings, traveled to Lowell this past Tuesda at the invitation of the city’s state house delegation to discuss the future of the Middlesex Superior Courthouse on Gorham Street once the new Judicial Center is completed. Plans for the Judicial Center are to be finalized this summer, work is to begin next year, and the structure is to be completed sometime in 2014. At that time, the Superior and District Courts will move into that building.

Peter Norstrand, the DCAM Deputy Commissioner, told those at yesterday’s meeting that the law requires DCAM to first inquire whether any state agency has an interest in using the vacated building. If there is such interest, DCAM can transfer responsibility to the interested agency. If no one in state government has an interest, then the city is offered the same opportunity. If the city is not interested, then DCAM will seek Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from private developers interested in taking on the building.

Normally, DCAM would wait until the building was vacated to begin this reuse process, but Norstrand said that because of all the concern shown in Lowell about the future of the Superior Courthouse, he will accelerate the “polling” process and have it begin this summer. This will allow any other state agency that is interested in using the building time to request funding from the legislature in the coming year’s budget.

It’s unclear where the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds will be located. The only certainty is that it will not be in the new Judicial Center since that will be exclusively for the use of the Trial Court. There’s a remote possibility the registry could remain in the Superior Courthouse as a tenant of whoever takes over the building, but more likely it will end up leasing space in a privately owned building. (Because so much of the registry’s functions have been transferred to computers, the office will only require about 10,000 square feet of space, plus some additional non-public storage areas).

The main reason that many folks in Lowell are so concerned so early in the process about the future of the Superior Courthouse is that we’re familiar with what happened in Worcester. There, little consideration was given to the existing courthouse until after their new Judicial Center was constructed and all entities moved from the old to the new. The old building, a beautiful structure that overlooks the downtown, was closed up and allowed to linger until early in this past winter when an auction was held to sell the building to a private developer. When only one bidder emerged from the process, DCAM canceled the auction and now the fate of the building is uncertain. As challenging as it may be to find a future use for the Lowell Superior Courthouse, no one wants it to follow the same path taken by its counterpart in Worcester.

The Lowell Sun published a story about this meeting.

Google SketchUp

If you are interested in design, of most any sort, you'll find google's latest release very helpful. It is called Google SketchUp. I tried it and I love it. It is easy to use and best of all its FREE!

Here is an introductory video presented by google...

Pulling state money from Bank of America

The CBS News program 60 Minutes last night featured a story on "The Mortgage Paperwork Mess." Today, Essex South Register of Deeds John O'Brien requested that State Treasurer Steve Grossman withdraw state funds from Bank of America because of that Bank's avoidance of recording fees at the registry of deeds. Here's the statement released by John O'Brien:

Following last nights 60 Minutes expose on the Mortgage Paperwork Mess (view at www.salemdeeds.com ) Southern Essex District Register of Deeds, John O’Brien announced that he has written to Massachusetts State Treasurer, Steven Grossman. He has asked that the Treasurer change depository banks. Register O’Brien has specifically asked the Treasurer to place all deposits from his Registry into a local, non-MERS bank that follows the Massachusetts Land recordation rules. On an annual basis the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds deposits approximately $25 million dollars into Bank of America.

O’Brien, who is leading a nationwide effort against the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (“MERS”), of which Bank of America is a major shareholder asserts that Bank of America, along with the other MERS member banks have failed to record assignments and pay the associated fees and in doing so has deprived the taxpayers of millions of dollars in lost revenue. O’Brien estimates that in his county alone the amount is over $22 million dollars and that, he adds, is a very conservative estimate. According to O’Brien, the loss of revenue to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could be as high as $200 million dollars and to the nation, possibly in the billions.

O’Brien, who has asked MERS and their lender banks to come clean, open their books, and provide a full public accounting as to how many times and to whom they have sold consumers’ mortgages said, “Perhaps when these lenders lose millions of dollars in deposits, they may begin to understand the seriousness of their actions. It seems to me that their business model which has been referred to as “fees for thee, not for me” needs to be abolished.”

O’Brien further stated, “I find it extremely ironic, that the chief executive of Bank of America, who just last week received a $10 million dollar bonus continues to allow his bank to participate in this scheme. A scheme which has compromised the integrity of the land recordation system in Massachusetts. MERS has defended their practices by saying that they were helping the registries of deeds by reducing the amount of paperwork that needed to be recorded. This claim is outrageous. This is help that I did not need, nor did I ask for. It is very clear to me, that the only ones that they were helping were themselves, which I find shameful. For us to continue to reward these banks by depositing taxpayers’ money into them, is clearly not the responsible thing to do.”

O’Brien said he is reaching out to Registers’ of Deeds in Massachusetts and across the nation to ask them to join with him and encourage their state and county governments to follow his initiative and withdraw public funds from MERS’ member banks. O’Brien said, “By doing this we will send a resounding message that government officials are no longer going to stand by and continue to allow MERS and their joint venture banking partners to profit at the expense of the very same people that they are abusing.

Yes, They Have No iPad 2's

Saturday I took a ride to an Apple Store to get a look at the new iPad 2. I promised myself I was going to buy one as soon as the second generation came out.

When I walked into the Apple Store the iPads were right there, right at the front of the store. One thing I have to admit about Apple, not only are its products functional, they're stylish and beautiful as well. The iPad 2 is no exception. When you see it you want to pick it up and touch it.

The Apple Store was mobbed, but there were at least ten iPads on display, so I grabbed one and gave it a spin. I checked out CNN, the New York Times, the Lowell Sun and more. It lived up to all my expectations...it is a wonderful product.

As I said before I wanted an iPad 2 and I must admit I had a plan that day, a plan that would ultimately lead the purchase of an Apple tablet.

My wife didn't accompany me into the Apple Store. She went into the dress shop beside it. I hung around and hung around, waiting and just playing with the iPad 2.

Here was my plan... When my wife came out of the dress store she'd come over and ask me what I thought of the iPad 2. I'd tell her I loved it and WE could use it for soooo many things. Good strategy, right? I know her...she'd say "why don't you buy it then"?.
Oh Yeah!

Don't misunderstand me...its not that I can't make my own decision, I was just looking for some positive reinforcement. I'm sure you've been there on a big purchase.

Well unfortunately, phase one of my plan failed...my wife remained in the dress store much longer than I expected.
Where the heck is she? I thought looking toward the entrance.

The guy beside me had been firing a barrage of questions at this very knowledgeable Apple salesperson...how big is the iPad 2, how much does it weigh, how long is the battery life, does it have different fonts, is it WiFi compatible etc... Hey, buddy, do some research. Finally he ran out of questions and I knew it would not be long before the salesperson was pressing on me.

Oh boy, I'm going to have to decide to buy or not to buy on my own, I thought.
What do I do?
Panic set in.
My mind raced, Tony, you can do this... if you want it, buy it, no big deal.

Salesman: Hi, nice product isn't it?
Me: (Where is my reinforcement!) I love it.
Salesman: Most people do
Me: (That's it, I'm going to do it...nervously) I like the black, I'll take a black one.
Salesman: Sorry, we don't have any black in stock.
Me: OK, then give me a white one, please.
Salesman: Sorry, but we don't have any white ones in stock either.
Me: What other color does the iPad 2 come in?
Salesman: None.
Me: (relieved) So you mean you don't have any in stock at all. Is that what you are saying?
Salesman: Yes,
Me: So, let me just be certain....yes, I'm in an Apple Store right?
Salesman: Yes,
Me: And yes, you don't have any of the new iPad 2's.
Salesman: Yes...I mean No. I mean yes, we have no iPads.
Me: (with confidence) So, like when do you expect to get them in?
Salesman: Maybe Tuesday. You can call and check...but IF, and that is IF, we get some I would suggest you get here around 4:30 AM so you can get in line before we run out.
Me: (now my confidence is arrogance) Are you kidding...you want me to come here at 4:30 in the morning hoping I get an iPad 2? Sorry but I'll pass.
Salesman: No problem sir.

I meet my wife outside the Apple Store and she said...you know I thought for sure you were going to buy an iPad 2 today.
Me: Oh, I'd never do that without talking together about it first.

March statistics

As the days passed, March seemed to provide more and more evidence that the real estate market was sputtering. The end of the month statistics don't paint such a bleak picture, but they do convey a mixed message.

For the entire district, the number of deeds recorded in March 2011 was down 2% from March 2010 while the number of mortgages was down 5% for the same period. The good news is that foreclosures are down by double digits as they have been for a number of months. In March 2011, the number of foreclosure deeds recorded dropped 42% (57 to 33) compared to March 2010 while Orders of Notice were down 44% (112 to 63) for the same period.

The failure of TARP

In an Op-Ed in yesterday’s New York Times, Neil Barofsky, the outgoing Special Inspector General from 2008 until yesterday of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), lamented that the program had failed to meet “some of its most important goals.”

Though there is no question that the country benefited by avoiding a meltdown of the financial system, this cannot be the only yardstick by which TARP’s legacy is measured. The legislation that created TARP, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, had far broader goals, including protecting home values and preserving homeownership.

These Main Street-oriented goals were not, as the Treasury Department is now suggesting, mere window dressing that needed only to be taken “into account.” Rather, they were a central part of the compromise with reluctant members of Congress to cast a vote that in many cases proved to be political suicide.
The act’s emphasis on preserving homeownership was particularly vital to passage. Congress was told that TARP would be used to purchase up to $700 billion of mortgages, and, to obtain the necessary votes, Treasury promised that it would modify those mortgages to assist struggling homeowners. Indeed, the act expressly directs the department to do just that.

But it has done little to abide by this legislative bargain. Almost immediately, as permitted by the broad language of the act, Treasury’s plan for TARP shifted from the purchase of mortgages to the infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars into the nation’s largest financial institutions, a shift that came with the express promise that it would restore lending.

Barofsky goes on to say that mismanagement of TARP turned it into a program that helped almost exclusively the nation’s largest banks and deprived everyone else of its benefits. That has tainted the legacy of TARP and pretty much ensures that any

Reptile Takes to New Media

Did you catch the story about the snake that escaped from the Bronx Zoo in New York City. The crafty reptile has been on the loose since last weekend frustrating searching zookeepers.

And this isn't just any snake...I mean, this is an Egyptian Cobra, one of the most dangerous snakes in the world. Zoo officials believe the Cobra is hiding somewhere right in the zoo...but, evidence has surfaced that might indicate they are wrong. Recently, the venomous cobra has set up its own Twitter account and is sending tweets chronicling its new found freedom...and these tweets indicate the slithering escapee is very mobile and sighting seeing in New York City.

Below are some recent messages tweeted by the fugitive that will give you an idea of just what it has been up to. You can follow all the creature's tweets at BronxZoosCobra.

I want to thank those animals from the movie "Madagascar." They were a real inspiration.

Gonna listen to some Jazz tonight. You know I love some great flute work. Do they provide it or is it bring your own basket?

Leaving Wall Street. These guys make my skin crawl.

Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This is gonna be hilarious!

A lot of people are asking how I can tweet with no access to a computer or fingers. Ever heard of an iPhone? Duh.

Dear NYC, Apples and snakes have gone together since the beginning.

Anyone know of a good vegan restaurant near Union Square?

Making unintelligible words intelligible

Have you ever purchased tickets online and had to decipher one of those scrambled, hard-to-read words before proceeding to the check-out phase of your purchase? That funny word is called a "captcha" and it's intended to ensure you are a human and not a machine that is programed to game the system. Only a human being can recognize these words and then re-enter them from a computer keyboard.

It turns out that this process is doing more than just separating you from a machine. This article in today's New York Times explains that these catchas serve a second purpose: every one of them is a word from an old text that an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program was unable to recognize. Such words are siphoned off into this program and presented as captchas. When you type the word, your effort is funneled into a sophisticated computer program that compares the letters you type with the letters typed by others for the same word, and does a few other quality control things (like checking the word in the text before and after this unknown word to create some kind of context) and finally, the computer determines the identity of this previously unknown word. The accuracy rate of this method is higher than that of an individual typist doing purposeful verification of the words and this costs almost nothing. Millions of words are sorted out this way every day.

Pay By Cellphone

Every so often something comes along that's a game changer...especially in the technology world. And I believe one is right on the horizon...Making credit payments with a cellphone.

Let me explain further...Imagine you are checking out at a local retail store. The cashier gives you the total, and you swipe your credit card through the reader. Easy!

Shortly, this will change forever. Here is how...In the future rather than swipe a credit card, you will swipe your cellphone over a card reader. Honest, your cellphone.

Cellphone credit paying is a game changer in more ways than one. The most obvious is convenience.

But the really big question is..."Who gets the fee for the swipe?". Possible recipients...The bank that issued the "credit card"; or the credit card company itself; or how about an independent payment company like PayPal; or possibly your cellphone carrier(verizon, AT&T)...and lets not forget Apple! Apple wants in the act too angling to make iTunes the collection agency for credit payments made through the iPhone.

Cellphone credit paying is going to make billions for one of the above and that's why it is a game changer.

Indictments for First Time Home Buyer Fraud

The Globe reported today that the US Attorney's Office in Boston has announced the indictment of 14 individuals for fraudulently claiming the first time home buyer tax credit that pumped some much needed energy into the housing market last year. Several of those indicted paid for home purchases but recruited others who had never previously owned homes to become the owners of record to qualify for the tax credit. Another individual, an IRS employee, is alleged to have claimed the credit for claiming to have bought his house in 2008 when he had actually bought it in 2007. A representative of the Inspector General of the IRS acknowledged that something like $26 million in first time home buyer credits were erroneously or fraudulently claimed, but that indictments like these prove that “Congress created and modified the home buyer credit to stimulate and help taxpayers achieve the American Dream, not to line the pockets of wrongdoers."

While I'm pleased that people who improperly claimed this tax credit are being found-out, my sense of equity says that hauling a few dozen people who wrongly or erroneously claimed a maximum $8000 credit into US District Court on criminal indictments is a bit of overkill coming from a government that has so infrequently prosecuted those whose recklessness and complicity in fraudulent behavior cost the tax payers of America hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts of so many financial institutions.

"Add a name to my deed"

The email link on www.lowelldeeds.com comes directly to me, so I'm the person who answers all of our incoming customer questions. This inquiry from earlier today contains two of the most commonly held misconceptions about real estate:

Hello,
My house on Worcester, MA was paid off already but I would like to add my sister as co-owner to my deed. What will I do? Do I need or her to pay any fee or tax for add her name on deed? If have, how much for tax and fee? When will I receive original deed after I paid off mortgage? Do I need lawyer for add her name on deed? If have, how much for hire lawyer? Please help me.

---------

Here's my response:

---------

You raise a couple of issues:

(1) documents for Worcester are recorded in the Worcester Registry of Deeds, not here in Lowell. the Worcester website is http://www.worcesterdeeds.com/

(2) We do not hold your deed as security until you pay off your mortgage. That's a common misunderstanding held by many homeowners. When you bought your property, you or your lawyer would have been given back your original deed once the registry made an official copy of it. If you do not have your original deed, you can obtain a certified copy of it from the registry of deeds. The certified copy has the same legal effect as the original.

(3) As for making your sister a co-owner of the property, it's not correct to say that you will "add her name to the deed." What you have to do is convey an interest in the property to her. You do that by signing and then recording a new deed. The new deed would say something like "BROTHER grants the property to SISTER and BROTHER . . ." Creating a deed can be very complicated and given the value of the asset involved, it's always best to hire a lawyer to create the deed for you. I don't know how much a lawyer would charge but it should not be on the low end of whatever lawyers charge to do things. Once the deed is created, signed and notarized, it will have to be recorded. The recording fee payable to the registry for a deed is $125. Massachusetts also imposes a tax on the sale of real estate but that tax is based on the sales price. If this transfer is a gift - that is, your sister is not paying you anything for it - then there would be no tax.
------

I'm not sure if this is just real estate inside baseball, but I think anything that we collectively can do to raise the legal aptitude of homeowners, it's of benefit to everyone.

Elevator Update

It is obvious from the picture below that the new elevator at the Lowell Superior Courthouse, home of the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds, is close to completion. Brick work is moving along quickly inside a heated plastic enclosure on the outside of the shaft and the attractive new interior molding matches this historic building perfectly.

Statistics for March 1 -21

With the real estate market sending mixed messages about its direction, I've taken to viewing the recording statistics each week. Here they are for the first three weeks in March of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010:

The number of deeds recorded was up 7%, from 218 to 234

The number of mortgages recorded was up 14%, from 495 to 565

Orders of Notice were down430%, from 74 to 47

Foreclosure Deeds were down 30%, from 33 to 23

Twitter Turns Five Years Old

Happy Birthday Twitter!

This is a great video, be sure to play it...especially if you're a Beatles fan.

Yes, amazingly its been five years since Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the world its first tweet "just setting up my twttr". Since that time the micro-blogging site has exploded and I mean exploded.

Since March 21, 2006 literally billions of Tweets have been sent. In fact...today experts estimate that close to one billion are sent every week. These staggering numbers have increased Twitter's value significantly. In 2008 Facebook offered to purchase Twitter for $500 million. Today the company's estimated worth is between $8-10 billion.

Mistakenly, some see Twitter as a forum where people post what they ate for breakfast. But, recently, Twitter's role in reporting events during times of political unrest and natural disasters has lifted its status. During its recent elections the Iranian government banned media coverage...Twitter remained one of the only sources of information coming out of the country. Twitter became so important during this time "its role even resulted in calls among some in the Bush administration for Twitter to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize" (BBC News).

There is no doubt in my mind that Twitter will be around in five years to celebrate it 10th birthday and maybe even its 25th there-after.

Scrutinizing portions of the new Homestead Law

Interest in the new homestead law continues at peak levels and we're still trying to decipher the meaning of many of the statute's section. Below we share our thoughts on the definition of "Declared homestead exemption" found in Section 1 of the new law. Our comments are in italics:

“Declared homestead exemption”, an exemption in the amount of $500,000 created by a written declaration, executed and recorded pursuant to section 5 (the section of the law that contains the mechanics of filling out the form); provided, however, that:

(1) with respect to a home owned by joint tenants or tenants by the entirety who are benefited by an estate of homestead declared pursuant to section 3 (regular homestead), the declared homestead exemption shall remain whole and unallocated, provided that the owners together shall not be entitled to a declared homestead exemption in excess of $500,000; (joint tenants and tenants by the entirety own “an undivided interest” in the property. That means each co-tenant owns the entire property subject only to the other co-tenant’s like interest. The “whole and unallocated” language means that each co-tenant has access to the full $500,000 exemption, but that’s also the total amount they can claim cumulatively).

(2) if a home is owned by tenants in common or trust beneficiaries, the declared homestead exemption for each co-tenant and trust beneficiary who benefits by an estate of homestead declared pursuant to said section 3 (regular homestead) shall be the product of: (i) $500,000; and (ii) the co-tenant’s or trust beneficiary’s percentage ownership interest; (Tenants in common and trust beneficiaries each own a percentage share of the property. For them, the maximum homestead exemption they may claim is their ownership percentage times the full exemption. If two tenants in common each own a 50% interest, the largest homestead exemption either could claim would be $250,000).

(3) except as provided in clause (4)(which is the following paragraph), each person who owns a home and who is benefited by an estate of homestead declared pursuant to section 2 (the elderly homestead) shall be entitled to the declared homestead exemption without reduction, proration or allocation among other owners of the home; and (meaning that every co-owner who declares an elderly homestead gets the full $500,000 exemption, regardless of how many other co-owners there are).

(4) separate estates of homestead may be declared pursuant to sections 2 and 3 on the same home (co-owners may file homesteads separately; they need not use the same form. Registered Land, however, may have different requirements), and in such event:

(5) (i) if the home is owned by tenants in common or trust beneficiaries, the declared homestead exemption for each co-tenant and trust beneficiary who benefits by an estate of homestead declared pursuant to section 3 (regular homestead) shall be calculated in the manner provided in clause (2)(co-owners allocate the $500,000 exemption amongst themselves based on their ownership percentage in the property), and the declared homestead exemption for each co-tenant and trust beneficiary who benefits by an estate of homestead declared pursuant to section 2 (elderly homestead) shall be calculated in the manner provided in clause (3); or (meaning that every co-owner who declares an elderly homestead gets the full $500,000 exemption, regardless of how many other co-owners there are).

(ii) if the home is owned by joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, the declared homestead exemption for the owners together shall be the sum of $500,000 multiplied by the number of declarations recorded pursuant to section 2 (elderly homestead), plus $250,000; (not sure where this comes from – perhaps the automatic $125,000 exemption doubled?)provided, however, that the homestead exemption under this subclause shall remain whole and unallocated among the owners; and provided further, that no owner who declares a homestead, acting individually, shall be entitled to claim an exemption of more than $500,000; and (what about joint tenants and tenants in common who claim an individual homestead exemption under the regular homestead? The calculation of this paragraph - $500,000 times the number of elderly homesteads – would yield zero if no elderly homesteads were involved. I’m not sure that’s the meaning or the intent, but that’s how I read it right now).

(6) the calculation of the amount of homestead exemption available to an owner shall not sever a joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety.

As you can see from the above discussion, this single definition paragraph yields numerous questions that have no clear answers. Any opinions from our readers would be most welcome.

Evacution Day

We'll take a break from our Homestead-related posts with a bit of history today:

March 17th is Evacuation Day which commemorates the evacuation of Boston by the British Army in March of 1776 during the early phases of the American Revolution. The initial battle of that war happened almost a year earlier, on April 19, 1775 in Lexington and Concord. After that, the colonial militia mobilized and ringed Boston, the garrison town the British inhabited. On June 17, 1775, the two forces fought a costly engagement that became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. That was followed by a stalemate around Boston that persisted through the winter of 1775-76. During that same winter, Henry Knox, a 25 year-old Boston book seller who read a lot of books on artillery, volunteered to retrieve 50 cannon from Fort Ticonderoga, a British fortress that had been captured early in the war. Knox's expedition dragged the cannon all the way from Ticonderoga (on the western shore of Lake Champlain) to Boston where the colonial militia secretly emplaced the guns on Dorchester Heights. When the British awoke, they found that the colonial artillery made Boston indefensible, so they boarded their ships and sailed to Nova Scotia, never to return.

It was in 1901 that the city of Boston made Evacuation Day an official holiday. While the exact date the British withdrew in 1776 was in the month of March, it wasn't the 17th. For other reasons, the Boston city administration of that time chose March 17th as the holiday. For a full account of that, check out the Mass Moments website.

Questions about new homestead

Early in my law school career, a professor declared "law school is just a course in advanced reading." The same might be said about the new homestead law. Many questions have arisen. Upon reflection, most of them are answered by the statute if one reads it closely enough. But that takes some time and reflection. In the meantime, here's a sampling of the questions that have been posed so far today, the first day of the new statute:

When spouses come in together and one is over 62 and the other is not, should they execute a single form or file separately? What should they do when the younger spouse reaches age 62?

A spouse comes in alone, but the deed that establishes title to the property shows that it is owned by “husband and wife as tenants by the entirety,” should a homestead signed only by the spouse who is present be recorded or should it be rejected pending second spouse’s signature?

One spouse already has an elderly homestead on record. The other spouse has just reached age 62 and comes in to file a new homestead. May the younger spouse file alone or do both have to file the new form

Are there any additional requirements for Registered Land? Guidance from the Land Court is expected imminently although we do understand that a Registered Land Declaration of Homestead that’s placed on a Nominee Trust must be accompanied by the Trustee’s Certificate.

If co-owners are declaring a homestead using a single form that both have signed but only one of their signatures is acknowledged, may the homestead be recorded? Section 5(a) says “each owner to be benefited by the homestead” must “sign and acknowledge” but a deed or mortgage by co-owners that’s signed by both that has only one signature acknowledged is recordable.

New Homestead Law takes effect tomorrow

The long-awaited major revision to Massachusetts General Law chapter 188 (Declaration of Homestead) takes effect tomorrow. We've posted the full version of the new law on our website. In seeking to clarify many of the ambiguities of the old law, the new statute is quite extensive and takes several readings to begin to fully digest. The Secretary of State has posted a Question and Answer pamphlet on his website and I plan to post a concise fact sheet on the new law to the lowelldeeds site in the coming days.

In the meantime, new forms (there are two: one for property owned by individuals and another for property owned by a trust) are available on the Secretary of State's website in PDF version that can be completed on your computer and then printed. Here at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds, most of our Homestead customers just walk in and complete the form here, so we have slimmed down versions of the regular homestead and the trust homestead here at the registry and on our website.

New Homestead Law begins this Wednesday

A story in today's Globe reminds us that the new Declaration of Homestead Law enacted by the state legislature last fall takes effect this coming Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The full text of the new law is available HERE and I've previously written about it HERE and HERE.

We'll be posting additional information about the new Homestead and a revised Homestead form on the lowelldeeds website by Wednesday, so please check back for the latest news on this topic.

End suburban subsidies

In an Op-ed in Thursday's Globe, Harvard economist Ed Glaeser argues that the time has come to end public subsidies of suburban single family homes. Glaeser points to the home mortgage interest deduction and policies of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as being not only injurious to urban dwellers, but two central elements in transforming our country into a "foreclosure society" and not an ownership society.

Buyer expectations create impediment to home sales

An article by Kenneth Harney of the Washington Post News Service in the March 7, 2011 edition of Banker and Tradesman (not available free online) suggests that rising expectations of home buyers are condemning many potential home sales to failure. Anecdotally, brokers tell of buyers expecting the amenities of a $500,000 house in one selling for less than $200,000 including things such as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The author attributes these changing expectations to a couple of things. One is that down payment requirements have risen substantially ("the median down payment . . . has jumped to 20 percent compared to 'close to zero' five years ago"). With people stretching just to make the down payment, they have little money available for after-purchase renovations or fix-ups. The second factor is cultural. With the rising popularity of cable TV programs such as Home and Garden TV, more people have set their expectations of features in a home based on television programs rather than real life. Whatever the cause, if this perception is true it's too bad, because the last thing needed in this depressed market is more reasons for people not to purchase homes.

Techie Action Dolls...R U Kidding?

Honest...the world never ceases to amaze me. I couldn't make this stuff up!


















Me: This morning I read an article in the New York Times about a company called M.I.C. Gadgets that is manufacturing actions dolls for sale.

Him: Yeah, so whats the big deal? Action dolls have been around for years, Captain America, GI Joe, the Ninja Turtles...

Me: Yeah, but all those figures represented characters with super-powers.

Him: Your Point?

Me: M.I.C. Gadgets is venturing into a new area of action figures...an area where the characters do not have super-powers

Him: I'm almost afraid to ask...OK go ahead, what area?

Me: The technology area.

Him: Are you kidding? M.I.C. is making action dolls that look like techie people? Like whom?

Me: How about Steve Jobs for one. M.I.C. Gadgets is making an action doll that looks like the Apple CEO.

Him: Oh, I get it. I can just hear M.I.C.'s advertisement for the Steve Jobs doll..."Look up in the sky of Cupertino...its a nerd..its a brain...No its AppleMan. Faster that a Pentium Four processor, more powerful than a Power Mac G5, able to hawk products at a hyped event. Who disguised as Steve Jobs, mild mannered CEO for a major Silicon Valley computer company fights the unending battle against Microsoft Windows and for the American way".

Me: Well, I don't know if it will be exactly like that...but.

Him: Tell me, what other action techie dolls are they making?

Me: M.I.C. Gadgets is also producing a Mark Zukerberg action doll.

Him: What?! You mean the guy who invented Facebook and was in that movie getting sued?
Oh I can hear that Ad too...Dr Mark Zukerberg a techie geek. Searching for a way to tap into the social desires that all humans have. Then an accidental overdose of friending others alters his body chemistry. And now when Mark Zuckerberg grows angry or is unfriended a startling metamorphosis occurs. The creature becomes driven by money and is pursued by an army of lawyers.

Me: Well, that might be a little much...but.

Him: Hey, is MIC going to do a Steve Gates action doll? I can hear...

Me: Why don't we forget that for now.

Lowell Sun editorial of future of Superior Courthouse

Yesterday's Lowell Sun had an editorial urging the state's Division of Capital Asset Management to get an early start on finding a new use for the Middlesex Superior Courthouse in Lowell which is the current home of the Registry of Deeds. The state expects to break ground for the new Judicial Center in the summer of 2012 with the building taking 30 months to complete. That would mean the Superior Court operations would be ready to move in early 2015. Presumably the registry of deeds would also vacate this building at the same time. Since we have digitized all of our records, the amount of space needed for the registry is relatively modest as are the requirements of such a space. The big question will then be what to do with the vacant courthouse? The fear of many is that it will remain vacant and slowly deteriorate which is why it is important to begin and continue the conversation about it's reuse. If people are thinking and talking about the building, it increases the odds that someone will find a new use for it.

Techie Shorts

The technology world always fascinates...here are a few of the big stories of last week:

This has to be a first...a book publisher named OR Books is collecting raw tweets posted during the recent revolution in Egypt. OR Books is compiling these 140 character nuggets of information into a book titled...Tweets from Tahrir. What an interesting idea...I'll bet this is not the last time this is done.

A few weeks ago it was revealed that several retailers beat the google algorithm. These companies found a way to make themselves the top results of millions of google searches by fooling the search giant's system. When google discovered the problem they threaten to pull the retailers from all queries. Last week google announced it was changing its algorithm to prevent future manipulation.

With the release of the iPad Two this Friday the war for tablet supremacy is heating up. Right now the three big in the market are the Xoom, iPad and Galaxy. The public is rating these tablets by size, weight, speed, resolution and of course price. Apple is controlling close to 90% of the tablet market right now...the competition needs to price slash if it wants to make a run at Apple.

The space shuttle Discovery is finishing up its last mission and will arrive back on earth, Wednesday. In 27 years Discovery has traveled 39 missions and covered 150 million miles in 365 days...truly an amazing feat, especially considering most of the coffee makers I buy only last a year.

Judicial Center Construction to begin this summer

The Lowell Sun reports today that work will commence on the city's new Judicial Center this summer. Expected to cost $175 million dollars and take 30 months to construct at the end of Jackson Street, the new facility will house all court operations in Lowell including Superior, District, Juvenile, Housing and Probate. The article also reports that the city's state house delegation is arranging a meeting in the coming days with the Department of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), the state agency responsible for all state buildings, to discuss the future use of the current Superior and District Courthouses.

Finding the appropriate penalty for problematic lenders

Today's New York Times reports that federal regulators are having trouble reaching an agreement on the size and ultimate use of fines that will be imposed on lenders that short-cut foreclosure procedures. While the banks seem amenable to negotiating a dollar amount for this fine - $20 billion is the number now being floated - there is a dispute about how that money is to be used. This article claims that some want to use the funds to assist homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages in an effort to catapult the housing market into better times. Those who disagree with this strategy contend that bailing out people who might otherwise be able to stay current on their loans would provide a negative incentive - people might be less likely to keep paying in the hopes of obtaining a bailout.

How to aid the revival of the housing market is a very important issue. Right now in America, there are 2 million homes in foreclosure and another 2 million homeowners who are behind in their payments. Fully one-fifth of all home loans exceed the value of the homes. While there has been a significant decrease in the number of foreclosures initiated in the past five months, some suspect that's only caused by banks deferring foreclosures because of a variety of legal difficulties. The best remedy for this problem would be a reasonable increase in the price of housing which depends on the continuation of low interest rates and the continued growth of the economy.

iPad Two Unveiled Today

Excited!
You bet I'm excited.
Apple unveils the iPad Two today and the anticipation is incredible (at least for me anyway).

In a sneak preview CNN did this great piece on the iPad/iPad Two and its place in the technology world.

February statistics

As we do at the end of each month, here's a snapshot of recording statistics (entire registry district) for certain key documents for February 2011 compared to February 2010:

The number of deeds recorded was down 15%, from 337 in Feb 2010 to 288 in Feb 2011.

Mortgages were up 9%, from 713 in Feb 2010 to 774 in Feb 2011.

Foreclosure Deeds were down 49%, from 45 in Feb 2010 to 23 in Feb 2011.

Orders of Notice were down 62%, from 141 in Feb 2010 to 53 in Feb 2011.

Academy Awards thank Lowell

At Sunday night's Academy Awards, Christian Bale won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Lowell boxer Dickie Eklund. The Fighter short right here in Lowell, home of the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds also garnered an award for Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress.

This is a special movie for those of us at the registry of deeds...on August 10 and 11, 2009 the cast spent two days filming at our work place, the Lowell Superior Courthouse.

Below is Christian Bales' heartfelt acceptance speech in which he thanks the City of Lowell at the Academy Awards...

Reasons for optimism in real estate

Today's Lowell Sun has a front-page article about the direction of real estate. Several people interviewed (including me) see signs of a recovery while others were more pessimistic. My optimism is based on two trends I have watched since October: the number of mortgages being recorded is up from a year ago and the number of foreclosure-related documents is down. I see both of these as leading indicators of a real estate bounce-back.

Taken as a whole, 2010 was a pretty dismal year, seemingly much worse than 2009. But if you just look at the Fourth Quarters of the two years, 2010 was much better. To get the most up-to-date numbers, I compared the number of mortgages, foreclosure deeds and orders of notice recorded in the Middlesex North District from October 1, 2010 to February 24, 2011 (yesterday) with those recorded in the same period a year ago. Here's what I found:

Mortgage recordings were up 38% (6536 v 4744)
Foreclosure deeds were down 50% (218 v 109)
Orders of Notice were down 57% (602 v 246)

The significance of the drop in foreclosures is self-evident, but mortgages are important because in 2003, a dramatic rise in mortgage recordings signaled the beginning of the real estate boom. While we don't want to revert to the chaos of that period, we would welcome a rebound in home prices, something that very well might follow behind this uptick in mortgages.

National Home Sales up slightly

Yesterday's New York Times reported that national home sales were up slightly from December, and that one-third of the sales were of foreclosed properties and that one-third were cash only deals (which is indicative of investors being active). Here in the Middlesex North District, the number of deeds recorded in January 2011 was up 13% from the number from January 2010 (384 v 339) while the median amount of consideration stated on those deeds was up 16%, from $217,900 to $252,250.

Apple Introducing iPad 2 on March 2

On March 2 Apple will introduce the "iPad 2" to the world. Interestingly enough, some techie sites are jokingly calling the new device the "iPad too". LOL, I guess.

But here is the serious question...Is there really any major difference between the first iPad and iPad 2(or too)?

Reports say yes...

To begin with iPad 2 is lighter and more powerful and has a front-facing camera. The front-facing camera is used for video calling or what Apple calls face-time (I never use face-time. It makes my head look too big).

Apple will unveil the new iPad in San Francisco at an invitation only event. And, yes the invitations are in the mail (no, I haven't got one yet).

Here is what the cover of the invite looks like. I love it. It is so appleish...

Obama Dines with the Tech World

Last Thursday President Obama met with some really big, big-wigs in the technology industry...I am talking game changers. Here is list of some of guests:

Apple's Steve Jobs
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison
Google honcho Eric Schmidt.
Carol Bartz, president and chief executive officer, Yahoo
Dick Costolo, C.E.O, Twitter
Reed Hastings, C.E.O., Netflix



Check out this picture...I think that's Steve Jobs sitting on the presidents left and Mark Zuckerberg on his right.



These giants of the computer world all dined with the President in a sort of techie summit.

But one of the most interesting "facts" about the meeting is the lack of "facts" that have been released about it.




Even this picture of the arrival of Obama's motorcade projects the meeting's secrecy.



And I'm disappointed...There is so much I want to know.

Update on Judicial Center

Last night at a forum sponsored by the local non-partisan political action committee Move Lowell Forward, Lowell's Assistant City Manager for Planning and Development Adam Baacke spoke for 90 minutes about various development projects underway within the city. One project relevant to the registry of deeds is the new judicial center which is to be built in the city's Hamilton Canal District.

Already underway is site remediation. Formerly the home of a gas station, a substantial amount of petroleum contaminants the were in the ground had to be removed. Most of this has been done. The second phase which will begin shortly is the relocation of a number of utilities such as water and sewer pipes that pass through the site.

More distant is construction of the building. The plan is to begin work in 2013 with the building opening in 2015. There is some ambiguity about this schedule, however, because the state's division of Administration and Finance has not yet released full bonding authority to the Division of Capital Asset Management, the agency that owns (and constructs) all state buildings. DCAM cannot begin design of the building until the money for the project is all in place so this is a potential trouble spot. Adam emphasized that the city's legislative delegation is on top of this issue and it's one of their top priorities.

Mid-month statistics for February

The second month of 2011 is more than half gone, so let's take a look at the first two weeks of February recording stats compared to the same time next year. From February 1st through the 16th, there were 171 deeds recorded in 2010 and 154 recorded in 2011, a drop of 10%. In 2010 there were 414 mortgages, in 2011 there were 473 mortgages, an increase of 14%. In 2010 there were 28 foreclosure deeds, in 2011 there were 14, a decrease of 50%. In 2010, there were 80 orders of notice, in 2011 there were 25, a decrease of 69%.

Overall, these statistics are good news, especially when the difficult weather of the past two weeks is factored in. While the decrease in deeds being recorded is a negative, all other signs are positive, especially the significant drop in the number of foreclosure-related filings.

Take on Watson

Do you like Jeopardy? Well, here is your chance to play the ultimate game.

On Monday I wrote about the three day battle between an IBM super-computer named Watson against two former Jeopardy champions. Well, after two nights of "Man Vs Machine"...machine is winning, big time.

Here's where they stand...
Brad Rutters (Human) $10,400
Ken Jennings (Human too) $4,800
Watson (Machine) $35,734

Yes, Watson is cruising along after two nights of competition earning three times the winnings as Jennings and Rutters...but you've got to give Jennings and Rutters credit...its not easy battling a machine with 21.6 terabytes of memory...

OK, so you think you'd like to take on Watson...well, here's your chance courtesy of the New York Times...click on the picture below to begin your game of Jeopardy against Watson.

How many orders of notice result in foreclosure deeds?

Two documents form the bookends of every foreclosure: the Order of Notice which comes at the beginning and the Foreclosure Deed which comes at the end. But every Order of Notice does not necessarily result in a Foreclosure Deed. A borrower who is the recipient of an Order of Notice might avoid foreclosure by (1) negotiating a modification of the mortgage with the lender; (2) obtaining sufficient funds from other sources to bring the mortgage current; (3) refinancing the mortgage; (4) selling the property; (5) conveying the property to the lender with a deed in lieu of foreclosure; or (6) some other option.

To try to determine what percentage of Orders of Notice ripen into Foreclosure Deeds, I generated a list of all Orders of Notice recorded for property in Lowell from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2010 and then a list of all Foreclosure Deeds recorded for property in Lowell from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. The six month offset was to account for the approximately six month gap between the recording of the Order of Notice and of the Foreclosure Deed for the same property that is shown in Figure 8 above. The two lists were then combined and sorted by address and date. Every Order of Notice on that list was then categorized as (1) having a corresponding foreclosure deed; (2) having no corresponding foreclosure deed; and (3) being a duplicate of another Order of Notice.

There were a total of 2053 Orders of Notice on the list and only 1305 Foreclosure Deeds. The number of Orders of Notice that matched Foreclosure Deeds was 1284 (63%); the number that had no corresponding Foreclosure Deeds was 645 (31%); and the number of Orders of Notice that were duplicates was 124 (6%). So fewer only two out of every three Orders of Notice result in a foreclosure.

What is Man vs Machine?

Tonight is the night...
What is February 14?, Alex

Tonight the battle begins to answer the big question.
What is "can a computer out smart a human"?, Alex

Tonight Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter face off against an IBM Supercomputer.
What is Watson?, Alex

IBM developed Watson rating the game show as "the ultimate example of displaying knowledge that requires more than just a basic formula or playbook".
What is Jeopardy?, Alex

And this will be a marathon of a contest. Jennings, Rutter and Watson will battle each other for three consecutive nights. Unlike most Jeopardy events the scores of these contestants will roll from show to show.
What is the format?, Alex

IBM was so eager for Watson to compete, it built an entire Jeopardy set at one of its corporate headquarters and brought Alex Trebek and company to Watson.
Where is upper-state New York?, Alex

The battle should make great TV viewing and as contestant Ken Jenning said..."This time, I'm not just playing to pay my mortgage or something, or to feed my kid's college fund, I'm actually sort of representing 7 billion human beings against our new machine tyrants".
What is exaggeration?, Alex

The Daily

Last week Rupert Murdoch's News Corp released its much anticipated all digital newspaper called The Daily. Murdoch brags that The Daily features "stunning photography, 360 degree photos and HD video". The media giant spent close to $30 million to develop his digital newspaper but the cost to "distribute" the periodical is negligible. The media world is closely watching the public's reaction to The Daily.

Is it The Daily the future of journalism? Time will tell.

Preparing for the new Homestead Law

The new Homestead law goes into effect next month - March 16, I believe. An agent for Old Republic National Title Insurance showed me a bulletin the title insurer prepared regarding the new law. Hoping Old Republic will forgive me for appropriating its work, here's the content of the bulletin:

In 1980, the Supreme Judicial Court issued its opinion in Atlantic Savings Bank v. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., 9 Mass.App.Ct.286, 400 N.E.2d 1290, (1980), which for conveyancers, was a seminal case in the law of Homesteads in Massachusetts. The Atlantic Court held that a mortgage executed by a homeowner and his spouse was superior to a prior-recorded Declaration of Homestead. Atlantic Savings Bank at 1291. Unfortunately, the case left many other questions unanswered and those issues have been the basis of a great deal of debate and uncertainty in the intervening period. With the passage of the new Homestead Law (2010 Mass. Acts Chapter 395), the legislature has rewritten M.G.L. c. 188 and answered those questions giving conveyancers a clear protocol that had been lacking until now. Effective March 16, 2011, the statute not only codifies the holding in Atlantic Savings Bank, it expands the scope of homesteads generally and does away with some of the prior law’s more anachronistic provisions.

What follows is a brief overview of some of the new provisions of chapter 188 with a view toward alerting our agents to those provisions of the statute which most impact conveyancing practice. Section numbers are references to the new sections. As always, agents are encouraged to review the statute and contact the Underwriting Department with any questions or concerns.

Automatic Subordination of Prior Homestead (Section 9): As mentioned above, the new statute codifies the holding in Atlantic Savings Bank. Specifically, section 9 provides that a when a mortgage is signed by all the owners of the property, a prior-recorded Declaration of Homestead will automatically be subordinate to that mortgage. However, the statute changes prior practice in that it no longer requires a non-titled spouse to sign the mortgage in order to subordinate the homestead to the new mortgage. Further, the mortgage no longer needs to contain subordination language which was a prerequisite to subordination for the SJC in Atlantic Savings Bank. Finally, section 9 prohibits a lender from requiring a release of Homestead prior to recording a mortgage.

Automatic Homestead (Section 4): The statute now provides for an automatic homestead without any action required of the owner. The automatic homestead under section four provides for $125,000.00 protection for the owner and her family. It should be noted, however, that while this is an improvement upon the old statute where no coverage was provided on an automatic basis, the protection provided is still significantly less than the $500,000 protection provided under the declared homestead option under section five.

Declared Homestead (Section 5): The new statute provides $500,000.00 protection on the recording of a written Declaration of Homestead. Section 5 provides several requirements for the form of declaration to be recorded, notable among these:

1. Non-title spouse must be identified (§ 5(a)(1)). This is a codification of prior practice and the dictates of Atlantic Savings Bank.

2. The homestead declaration cannot be made in a deed (§ 5(c)).

3. Homesteads may now be declared where the home is owned by a trust, and it is anticipated that the trustees would execute the declaration (§ 5(a)(1)). Further, the beneficiaries of the trust should be identified in the declaration (§ 5(a)(1)) and § 1).

4. If the homestead is declared while the owner is single, and the owner is subsequently married, the homestead shall accrue to the benefit of the new spouse, and that benefit shall accrue as of the date of the original filing (§ 5(d)).

Termination (Section 10): Agents will recall many situations where certain inter-family transfers resulted in a homestead’s inadvertent termination creating in some cases an undue hardship in contravention of the purposes of the statute. The new statute provides very clear parameters for termination and, as importantly, to prevent inadvertent termination. Under this section, termination must be evidenced by an intent to terminate and be in very specific form:

1. Deed to a non-family member signed by the owner and the non-titled spouse;

2. Release signed by owner and non-owner spouse;

3. By abandonment of the home by the owner, owner’s spouse and family;

4. In the case of trusts, a deed or release signed by the trustee or by the release or abandonment by the beneficiary named in the declaration;

Significantly, section 10 provides a safety net for those transactions which are not meant to affect a termination. Consequently, the following conveyances will not affect the homestead:

1. Deeds between spouses or co-owners who individually or jointly hold a homestead;

2. Deeds between a trustee and beneficiary;

3. Deeds between a life tenant and a remainderman, unless in all of the above cases, there is an express release in the deed.

Further, section 10(d) provides that nothing contained in a mortgage will act to terminate a homestead.

Multiple Owners: In a departure from prior practice, the new statute anticipates that a homestead may be declared by multiple owners (§ 5(a) and § 3(a)). That is, each co-tenant, joint owner or tenant by the entirety may declare their own homestead.

Notice (Section 14): The statute requires that the closing attorney provide the mortgagor with a notice of the right to declare a homestead under c. 188. The notice should be signed by the mortgagor to acknowledge receipt and should include inter alia:

1. a summary of the differences between the automatic homestead protections and the declared homestead protections;

2. the enhanced benefits of the declared homestead protections.

Old Homesteads remain in effect under the new c. 188: Finally, the new statute provides that all homesteads currently in effect will remain in full force notwithstanding their failure to comply with provisions of the new statute.

Elevator Update

There has been much progress since the last time I took pictures of the elevator construction here at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds...the elevator doors are in, a large part of the ramp is done, much of the finish trim has been installed and the support railings along the walls are in place.

Housing Bubbles

Robert Shiller, the co-founder of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, wrote a column in the Sunday business section of the New York Times about housing bubbles. He says that while there have been many localized bubbles through the years, a nationwide real estate slump has been very rare and when they do occur, they are not repeated for decades. He says that bubbles are impossible without extreme public enthusiasm and that surveys that still show many Americans consider housing to be an "investment" are disturbing (a house is not an investment; it's a place to live that depreciates in value over time) and that such an attitude, if it strengthens, would create a hospitable environment for another bubble. Shiller does believe, however, that a very active Federal reserve plus some of the reforms created by the Dodd-Franks law will make the return of a housing bubble even less likely anytime soon.

Super Bowl XLV

Another Super Bowl is part of history. Before the start of the game I hoped for three things: (1)a Green Bay victory; (2) an exciting game; and (3) entertaining commercials. With the Packers beating Pittsburgh, 31-25 in a game in which the outcome was in doubt until the final moments, the first two were met. For the most part, I found the commercials very entertaining. My favorite was a commercial for the Chevy Cruze Eco that was set in a nursing home. Some were offended saying it poked fun at the elderly, but my attitude was we're all going to be elderly some day, so it really applied to everyone.