Home prices rising

The Northeast Association of Realtors shared the following report on rising median home prices within its are which stretches from Boxford to our east to Littleton to our west:

(MERRIMACK & NASHOBA VALLEYS) — The Northeast Association of REALTORS® (NEAR) reported today that the combined sales of single family homes sold in the 15 cities and towns from Boxford to Littleton in October had a median sales price of $321,000,  an increase of  9.2  percent compared with the median of $294,000  in October of 2012.  The median sales price for condominiums sold in October was $203,750, a 23.5 percent increase over the median of $165,000 recorded in October of 2012.  Multi-Family prices increased 22.3 percent, with a median of $269,000, compared to $220,000 in October of 2012.   This report is based on data from MLS Property Information Network in Shrewsbury. 

Commenting on the area’s home sales market, NEAR President Christopher Doherty said, “As our year-to-date home sale statistics become clear here ten months into 2013, we observe that the local housing market has vastly improved over 2012.”  Doherty added that, “Year-to-date price increases of more than ten percent for all categories of homes demonstrate that demand is outpacing supply, and many homeowners will want to take advantage of these price increases and list their homes for sale in the coming months.”  

Doherty also remarked that, “The good news does not mean we are in for completely clear sailing, as REALTORS® in our region are helping their clients solve outside-the-box challenges like flood insurance premium increases and map changes and new mortgage regulations.” 

                The Northeast Association of REALTORS® is one of 1,500 local chapters of the National Association of REALTORS®. Officially, NEAR covers 15 cities and towns from Boxford to Littleton, though it has members from more than 50 cities and towns in the Merrimack and Nashoba valleys as well as southern New Hampshire.  The term, REALTOR®, is a trademark for use exclusively by members of the National Association of REALTORS®, whose members subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics.

To see whether similar price increases are occurring within some of the towns of the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds district, I calculated the median price for deeds with consideration above $75,000 and below $750,000 for 2011, 2012 and 2013 (up until today).  Our statistics show the following with median prices shown in dollars and the number of deeds that median is based on shown in parenthesis:

Lowell: 2011 median $170,000 (904); 2012 - $175,000 (902); 2013 - $195,000 (968)

Chelmsford: 2011 median $275,250 (406); 2012 - $278,950 (464); 2013 - $296,000 (511)

Dracut: 2011 median $214,800 (327); 2012 - $226,032 (409); 2013 - $244,000 (422)

Tewksbury: 2011 median $280,000 (313); 2012 - $275,000 (456); 2013 - $281,000 (422)

Foreclosures down this fall

Even though the local real estate market has slowed considerably since the end of the summer, the number of foreclosures from September 1, 2013 through today is down when compared to the same time in 2012.  This is true both for foreclosure deeds and orders of notice.

Here are town by town numbers of foreclosure deeds recorded for the period of September 1 through November 25, first for 2013 then for 2012.

Billerica - 3 in 2013, down from 8 in 2012
Carlisle - 1 in 2013, none in 2012
Chelmsford - 4 in 2013, down from 5 in 2012
Dracut - 1 in 2013, down from 7 in 2012
Lowell - 15 in 2013, down from 20 in 2012
Tewksbury - 3 in 2013, down from 4 in 2012
Tyngsborough - 3 in 2013, up from 2 in 2012
Wilmington - 1 in 2013, up from 7 in 2012

Similar trends are apparent for orders of notice, as well.

Billerica - 6 in 2013, down from 13 in 2012
Carlisle - 1 in 2013, none in 2012
Chelmsford - 3 in 2013, down from 7 in 2012
Dracut - 11 in 2013, down from 15 in 2012
Lowell - 16 in 2013, down from 46 in 2012
Tewksbury - 6 in 2013, down from 12 in 2012
Tyngsborough - 1 in 2013, down from 6 in 2012
Westford - 3 in 2013, down from 7 in 2012
Wilmington - 0 in 2013, down from 10 in 2012

New mortgage rules from CFPB

A lawyer recording documents this morning asked about the state of real estate.  I gave my standard reply these days: the market has been lethargic since August.  In discussing the prospects for improvement, the lawyer mentioned new rules for RESPA's and other things that are being developed by the Consumer Financial Protection as possibly causing some disruption when they go into effect sometime in the future.

The CFPB site always contains interesting information.  From what I can discern, these new rules are about improving disclosure to the consumer.  Here's some of what is said on the site:

The final rule contains new rules and forms for two disclosure forms consumers receive in the process of getting a mortgage loan: the Loan Estimate, which comes three business days after application, and the Closing Disclosure, which comes three business days before closing on the loan. These disclosures are required by the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The new forms integrate existing disclosures and implement some new disclosure requirements from the Dodd-Frank Act.

The rule also offers some more protections for consumers. For example, consumers must receive their Closing Disclosure three business days before closing on the loan so they have time to review it. The final rule also limits the circumstances in which consumers will have to pay more for settlement services than the estimate they received.

These disclosures and requirements will be effective August 1, 2015.

Grand opening of Richard P Howe Bridge

Richard P. Howe Sr. is my dad.  Yesterday the city of Lowell and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (by Mass Highway) dedicated a new bridge across the Merrimack River in his name.  The Richard P. Howe Bridge connects Merrimack Street on the south side of the river with University Ave on the north side.  It replaces the bridge commonly called the University Ave bridge which has stood for many decades.  The older bridge which has also been known as the Textile or Textile Memorial Bridge has suffered severe structural damage from the elements and was deemed to be beyond repair.  It will be torn down during the winter and should be entirely gone by spring. Richard P. Howe Sr., who was able to attend the ceremony yesterday, was elected to the Lowell City Council in 1965 and served forty consecutive years including four terms as mayor. 

Mid November statistics

Halfway through each month we look at the recording statistics for the first two weeks of the month and compare them to the same period from the prior year.  The numbers this year continue the troubling decline in mortgage activity that we first started to see in August.

In the first two weeks of November 2013 there were 266 deeds recorded, an increase of 8% from the 247 recorded during the first two weeks of November 2012.

During the past two weeks, 389 mortgages were recorded which represents a 43% decline in the number of mortgages recorded for the same time a year ago.

Two declines that are welcome come in foreclosure deeds and orders of notice.  Foreclosure deeds fell 54% from 13 in 2012 down to 6 in 2013; Orders of notice also fell 54%, dropping from 28 in 2012 to 13 in 2013.

Public records in Massachusetts

The Globe today has an editorial endorsing a bill pending in the state legislature that would update our public records law.  About once each month citing the public records law from someone requesting a particular document.  Since our records are all freely available on our website, I typically direct the person to that.  Occasionally a request will be for "all records" of land ownership which is 10 million pages worth of scanned images.  There requests I direct to the Secretary of State's office which has the technical capability of copying and transferring large quantities of electronic material.  From prior investigation, I do know that a such a request is a legitimate one under the public records law with the caveat that the public records law only applies to records in existence at the time the request is made.  Someone seeking to obtain all registry land records on an ongoing basis, therefore, would have to repeatedly request the latest records.  Since that task would be particularly burdensome on the requester, those making such requests tend to be willing to enter into some type of voluntary subscription agreement (for a reasonable fee) that would provide them with new records and a continuous basis.

More on government technology projects

Monday's Boston Globe had an Op-Ed by Melissa Threadgill, a former State House staffer and current student at the Kennedy School of Government, about the inherent flaws in the government technology acquisition process.  Based on my experience and observations, I can say that Threadgill knows what she's talking about. 

She identifies two fundamental flaws.  The first involves the funding mechanism for IT.  Rather than including adequate amounts for ongoing improvements and upgrades in annual budgets, government agencies rely on Information Technology bonds to fund major projects.  While this approach might work well for building bridges and roads, it is a poor way to acquire technology.  Having a large amount of one-time funds leads to overly complex systems that take too long to design, too long to build, and too long to deploy.  When it comes to technology and its speedy evolution, this approach to acquisition frequently renders the new application obsolete by the time it is first deployed.

The other flaw in the governmental process is that the complexity of purchasing procedures creates a preference for large established firms that have the contacts, bureaucratic experience, and overhead to navigate the system.  The actual product often takes a back seat to the process and the governmental entity and its users are left with an application that struggles with critical tasks while being burdened with unneeded functionality.

Whatever complaints may exist about the registry of deeds computer system, at least it works unlike so many new governmental applications that are being rolled out these days.  One reason for that is that the registry system has in many ways been a bottom up process that incorporates necessary functions.  As we begin contemplating our next computer system, hopefully we will be able to pursue a flexible path that provides us with the system we need and the ability to adapt it to rapid changes in technology.

Lowell Assessor site links to Registry website

For many years we've explored ways to link the record for a particular property on the local assessor's website to the corresponding deed on the registry of deeds website.  For a variety of reasons, it has been a difficult connection to make.  The city of Lowell, however, recently inserted a button on its website that allows users to go directly to the searchable Middlesex North section of MassLandRecords.com.

If you go to the city of Lowell assessor's site (http://www.lowellma.gov/mis/Pages/General/GIS.aspx
and click on the blue "Access Property Info" box.  That will display the search field where you can retrieve a parcel map and property info by address, street name or by owner name.  Once you've retrieved the parcel info, a map will display in the center of your screen and data about the parcel will appear in a smaller window to the right.  Towards the bottom of that data is a line that gives the registry book and page number of the deed into the assessed owner.  Below that it says "Access Deed Info".  Clicking that (now) brings you to the MassLandRecords site, ready to search.  In the not too distant future, we hope to use the book and page link shown on the assessor's record as a link to the corresponding document on our website.  Hopefully we'll be able to reverse the process as well so that viewing the deed on the registry website will offer a button that says "View Assessor Info" that will take you right to the corresponding page on the assessor website.

Veteran's Day and administrative info

We've received a few calls regarding our status for this coming Monday which is Veteran's Day, a state and national holiday and so the Registry of Deeds will be closed for the entire day on Monday, November 11.

As for other holidays remaining in 2013, we will be closed on Thursday, November 28 for Thanksgiving, on Wednesday, December 25 for Christmas, and on Wednesday, January 1, 2014 for New Years Day.  We will be open on all other days including the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve day and New Years Eve day for our normal hours which are 8:30 am until 4:30 pm (with recording ceasing at 4:15 pm).

As much as I dislike mentioning it, inclement weather can always affect registry operations.  For overnight snow or ice storms, check the Trial Court website http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/trialcourt.html which provides the most up to date information on weather-related closures.  (Because the registry of deeds is located within the Lowell Superior Courthouse, our ability to open is dependent on the Trial Court keeping the courthouse open).

When coming to the registry, all documents presented for recording are immediately scanned and returned to the customer (except registered land documents which we retain).  Recording fees must be paid by cash or check; we do not take credit or debit cards.  Documents sent to us by mail are recorded the day they arrive and are typically mailed out in the same day's mail (assuming the customer includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope).  About one out of every three documents we record now come to us electronically.  In these cases, the original document never leaves the possession of the person doing the recording.

To research our records, we provide several public access computer terminals here at the registry, however, all documents are also freely available on our website, www.lowelldeeds.com. 

The Federal government and housing policy

In a column in today's New York Times, Jesse Eisinger, a reporter for ProPublica, argues that Congress is about to do to the housing market what the Affordable Care Act did to health insurance.  By that he means that rather than completely overhaul health insurance and create a single-payer "Medicare for all" system, Congress and the President accepted the political reality that you could not so completely disrupt the insurance industry and so settled on a more complex hybrid arrangement.  Eisinger asserts that there is surprising consensus in Congress that the Federal government must pull back from underwriting private home ownership, perhaps not getting completely out of the picture but certainly becoming less involved with private capital bearing more of the risk.  Eisinger disagrees with this incremental approach, arguing that the Feds would have to underwrite any collapse of the market so why not be directly and transparently involved from the start.  Here's a link to the column.

Assigning book and page numbers to documents

Yesterday a customer brought to our attention the unusual spacing of the page numbers of a first and second mortgage on the same property that were recorded sequentially back in 2004.  The first mortgage was assigned Book xxxxx, Page 109 and the second mortgage was assigned Book xxxxx, Page 111.  What made this odd was the fact that the first mortgage was 22 pages long.  The images of all 22 pages are present in our computer system so there's nothing missing. It's just unusual for the document that follows a 22 page document be only 2 pages further along in the numbering system.

The explanation is simple, but it also serves to illustrate an important distinction between traditional books and those that exist in electronic form only. 

To understand what happened in this case, you must first understand our sequence of work when recording a document.  This was a walk-in customer and the two mortgages were part of a larger set that had to be recorded together.  The registry of deeds clerk who first encountered the customer would have reviewed each document to ensure it was signed and acknowledged and then would count the pages of the document, writing the number of pages counted in the upper left corner.  The next registry clerk (back in the hectic days of 2004 we were almost always working in teams at the recording counter; today it is more an individual task) would key certain information from the document into our computer system.  Included in that information would be the number of pages in the document.  With a set of multiple documents, all data for each document is entered and the cashiering transaction is "completed" (i.e.,  fees are collected and a book and page number is assigned to each document by the computer) before any of the documents in that set are scanned.

In this case, when the person counting the document wrote the number of pages - 22 - on the front of the document, the second "2" was smudged and so when the second clerk entered the data into the computer, the "number of pages" field got a "2".  This caused the computer to jump just two pages, not twenty-two, when assigning the next number.  The label on the first mortgage has "Page: 1 of 2" on it.

When we discovered this discrepancy at the scanning station, we simply crossed out the "2" in "1 of 2" and wrote "22" in its place.  When we scanned the document, the system would have alerted us that the number of pages we scanned for that document exceeded the number of pages entered into the computer and asked us if we wanted to proceed (this is a guard against inadvertently scanning two documents together).  When we answered "yes" to override the page numbers, all 22 pages were scanned and all are available when the document at book xxxxx, page 109 is retrieved. 

In the old days when physical books were created, this would have been a problem because all of these extra pages would have to be added.  Back then, we would assign letters to each of the extra pages so that they would be page 109A, 109B, 109C and so on.  Because our paperless system does not have physical pages, we can put as many pages as we want between two "book and page" numbers and not have a problem which is what happened here.

Electronic recording in October

The percentage of documents being recorded electronically dropped slightly in October from previous months.  In previous months, we had often 39% of our documents come to us electronically.  In October, the electronic volume had slipped to 35%.

There were a total of 4947 documents recorded in October of which 1728 were recorded electronically.  Those numbers yield a daily average of 225 documents with 79 coming in electronically.  Of the 4947 documents there were 510 discharges, 145 deeds, 450 mortgages and 560 documents of other types.

Over the course of ten months, a total of 57,895 documents have been recorded of which 22,267 have been recorded electronically. 

October recording statistics

The October recording statistics show a definite slow down in real estate overall.  The number of deeds recorded is stable, but the number of mortgages recorded is down significantly both from October of last year and from prior months this year.  Here are the numbers:

The number of deeds recorded in October 2013 (503) is up 3% from the number recorded in October 2012 (489).

The number of mortgage in October 2013 (809) is down 47% from the October 2012 number (1529).

The number of foreclosure deeds in October 2013 (17) is up 55% from October 2012 (11)

The number of orders of notice in October 2013 (17) is down 58% from October 2012 (40)

The total number of documents recorded in October 2013 (4947) is down 25% from October 2012 (6585).

While the percentage increase in foreclosure deeds is big (55%) the number involved are not particularly worrisome, especially with the drop in orders of notice.

More problematic is the drop in mortgages.  The 809 in this October is also part of a continuous downward trend during the past few months.  In September 2013 there were 964 mortgages; in August there were 1085; in July there were 1279.  The July number is about average for the preceding months of 2013.  My experience through the years is that mortgage volume tends to be a leading indicator of deeds activity, so this does not bode well for the real estate market in the coming months.

World Champion Boston Red Sox

For the third time during my tenure as register of deeds I've been able to say "World Champion Boston Red Sox."  That's a privilege that only one of my predecessors has had.  William Purcell was elected Register of Deeds of the Middlesex North District in 1909 and served until 1934 during which time the Red Sox won the World Series four times - in 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918.  (They won their first in 1903). 

For the record, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series at 11:23 last night with the final out of game six in which the Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 6 to 1.  That was the fourth victory against two defeats in this series for the Red Sox so now they are world champions who will be honored by a Duck Boat parade this Saturday. 

While those living a century ago may have experienced an extra World Series victory, there can be no argument that we are living in the golden age of Boston sports.  Consider this:

1. February 3, 2002: Patriots beat St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI
2. February 1, 2004: Patriots beat Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII
3. October 27, 2004: Red Sox beat St. Louis Cardinals to win World Series
4. February 6, 2005: Patriots beat Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl XXXIX
5. October 28, 2007: Red Sox beat Colorado Rockies to win World Series
6. June 17, 2008: Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers to win NBA title
7. June 15, 2011: Bruins beat Vancouver Canucks to win Stanley Cup
8. October 30, 2013: Red Sox beat St. Louis Cardinals to win World Series

Add to these accomplishments these near-misses:

1.  February 3, 2008: Patriots lose to New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII
2. April 14, 2010: Celtics lose to Los Angeles Lakers in NBA finals
3. February 5, 2012: Patriots lose to New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI

 And you have a pretty good run.

Big computer contracts, big computer glitches

The Globe today reports on hearings held yesterday by the state legislature on problems that exist in a new online system for submitting unemployment claims.  Similar problems have occurred with major new computer systems for the Department of Revenue and for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  Then there is healthcare.gov, the web-based portal for those seeking health insurance coverage which is all part of the Affordable Care Act.  These state projects, at least, each cost tens of millions of dollars yet they are beset by performance issues, cost overruns, and delays in deployment.  What's going on?

Part of the problem, in my view, is something that's not unique to government.  It's that many of the top decision makers, be they in government or corporate America, are deficient in their technological aptitude.  The CEO of a company or the Director of a governmental agency are used to being (or to being treated like) the smartest and most powerful person in the world.  When the talk turns to technology, however, the leader who lacks a solid foundation of technological literacy is soon adrift and uncomfortable.  Since it's usually the organization's own IT people who create that unease (partly because they're technicians, not salesmen), they are soon banished to the computer room and the chief comes under the spell of the consultants who are salesmen.  They give the chief a warm, fuzzy feeling at least until the contract is signed.  The problem that typically arises is that the people designing the new computer system and the people who best understand how the business operates, don't communicate very well. This is the critical factor because the computer is just another tool that is used to operate the business.  If the people controlling the design of the computer system don't understand how the business works and if the people who understand the workings of the business don't understand what the computer designers are proposing, the result is usually unsatisfactory.  I think that's what we're seeing now.

Selling property that straddles state boundaries

An attorney here today on an unrelated transaction shared an interesting situation.  He represents the seller of a property that lies partly in a Massachusetts community and partly in a New Hampshire community.  He understands that he must record the deed in the Middlesex North Registry for the Massachusetts portion and also in the Hillsborough Registry for the New Hampshire portion, but what of the tax stamps?  In Massachusetts, the seller pays the entire tax while in New Hampshire the tax is equally divided between the buyer and the seller.  The challenge is how to apportion the purchase price to calculate the amount of tax due to each state. 

The attorney worked with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and the New Hampshire Division of Taxation and together they found a solution acceptable to all.  He was to take the assessed value of the New Hampshire property (it was in a town with 100% valuation) and the assessed value of the Massachusetts property, combine them together, and then calculate the percentage of the whole applicable to each state.  He was then to apply that percentage to the sales price and the resulting amounts would be the basis for the tax liability in each state. 

To illustrate, let's say that the New Hampshire property was assessed at $180,000 while the Massachusetts property was assessed at $70,000.  Together they total $250,000.  The New Hampshire property accounts for 72% of the total while the Massachusetts property is 28%.  Let's assume further that the purchase price on this sale is $325,000.  The New Hampshire tax liability would be based on 72% of $325,000 which equals $234,000 while the Massachusetts tax liability would be based on 28% of $325,000 which equals $91,000. 

This is not a situation that occurs frequently, but it's good to know how it is to be handled, just in case.

Bank of America found liable for bad mortgages

The New York Times reports today that a jury in a US District Court in Manhattan found Bank of America liable for bad mortgages that were originated by Countrywide and then sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which sustained more than $1 billion in losses on the mortgages.  Bank of America purchased Countrywide in 2008 for $4 billion and has already paid $50 billion in fines, penalties and settlements for Countrywide-related claims.  In this case, the evidence was that Countrywide created a system of bonuses for its brokers that were based on how quickly they originated loans without regard to the credit-worthiness of the borrowers.  Despite representations by Countrywide to the contrary, a large percentage of these mortgages defaulted which lead to the big losses by Fannie and Freddie.  Today's article indicates that while the potential losses to Bank of America in the case will not be particularly onerous (the trial judge will set the damages but they are expected to be less than $1 billion), the government's success in this case could open the floodgates for additional litigation against Bank of America.

Observations on home sales from Northeast Association of Realtors

Yesterday afternoon I received the following press release from the Northeast Association of Realtors.  The topic is recent trends in home sales and since it includes the communities in the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds district, I decided to share it with our readers:

Local Housing Numbers Show Improvement in All Categories

Prices and Volume are Up for Single-Family, Condominium, and Multi-Family Homes

(MERRIMACK & NASHOBA VALLEYS) — The Northeast Association of REALTORS® (NEAR) reported today that the combined sales of single family homes sold in the 15 cities and towns from Boxford to Littleton in September had a median sales price of $332,960  an increase of  5.7  percent compared with the median of $315,000  in September of 2012.  The median sales price for condominiums sold in September was $185,000, a 10.1 percent increase over the median of $168,000 recorded in September of 2013.  Multi-Family prices increased 5 percent, with a median of $252,500, compared to $240,450 in September of 2012.   This report is based on data from MLS Property Information Network in Shrewsbury. 

Commenting on the area’s home sales market, NEAR President Christopher Doherty said, “One story that shows through in our numbers this month is that the market is improving at many different price points, as 34 percent more condos were sold this September when compared with the previous September. ”  Doherty added that, “The improving numbers in terms of sales volume and prices in every home category provides real cause for optimism in our local housing market.” 

Doherty also remarked that, “Our rapidly increasing prices show that low inventory is a problem and sellers are in a good position right now, yet it is heartening that the volume of single family homes sold this September was 15.7 percent higher than September of last year, so we can see that the market is improving on all fronts.” 

                The Northeast Association of REALTORS® is one of 1,500 local chapters of the National Association of REALTORS®. Officially, NEAR covers 15 cities and towns from Boxford to Littleton, though it has members from more than 50 cities and towns in the Merrimack and Nashoba valleys as well as southern New Hampshire.  The term, REALTOR®, is a trademark for use exclusively by members of the National Association of REALTORS®, whose members subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics.

Revenue

Besides maintaining official copies of land records for land located in the registry district, the registry of deeds also collects revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, mostly in the form of recording fees and documentary stamps.  The total amount collected here at Middlesex North was $13,475,328 which averaged $1,122,944 per month.  Through September of 2013, our average monthly collection is $1,198,533 which is ahead of last year's average.  Gains have occurred in both recording fees (a monthly average of $443,593 in 2012 and $463,542 in 2013) and in documentary stamps (a monthly average of $501,427 in 2012 and $558,363 in 2013).  The highest monthly total for recording fees for both 2012 and 2013 was in September 2013 with $633,130 collected and the highest monthly total of tax stamps was in August 2013 when $832,556 was collected.  So even though the volume of recordings seems to be down for the past two months, the revenue generated during those two months is a positive indicator.

Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

An attorney who was recording documents this afternoon volunteered that new flood insurance rules and policies that are just now going into effect are having a detrimental effect on the real estate market.  The problem is that lenders require anyone whose property is in a flood plain to have flood insurance and the premiums for that are rising significantly, so much so that some applicants are becoming dis-qualified for mortgages they previously could obtain.

Last week at meetings of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) and of the Northeast Association of Realtors, similar concerns were expressed so this is likely a widespread and detrimental issue.

More information about the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 is available on the FEMA website which also offers the following explanation for these changes:

In July 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) which calls on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other agencies, to make a number of changes to the way the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is run. Some of these changes already have occurred, and others will be implemented in the coming months. Key provisions of the legislation will require the NFIP to raise rates to reflect true flood risk, make the program more financially stable, and change how Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) updates impact policyholders. The changes will mean premium rate increases for some—but not all—policyholders over time. Homeowners and business owners are encouraged to learn their flood risk and talk to their insurance agent to determine if their policy will be affected by BW-12.

Northeast Association of Realtors annual meeting

Yesterday I was the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Northeast Association of Realtors at their Westford headquarters.  Advertisements for the event suggested the main topic of my remarks would be the workings of the Registry of Deeds Modernization and Efficiency Commission of which I am a member, and I certainly did talk about that, but a more accurate title for my talk might be "everything you want to know about registries of deeds but were (previously) afraid to ask."

Besides the makeup and work of the Commission, I devoted time to registry computer systems, both how the ones currently in use came to be and the characteristics of a future system; electronic recording including its basic operation, the business models currently in use, and the manner in which that technology might affect their profession.  The distinction between recorded land and registered land was another topic.  Most have some understanding of the two systems but it always helps to be reminded.  There were many questions on a wide range of topics and it was an enjoyable and useful discussion.   

Northern Middlesex Council of Governments celebrates 50 years

Last night the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Westford Regency Hotel.  Consisting of the city of Lowell and the towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford, NMCOG is one of thirteen regional planning agencies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  These agencies were an outgrowth of the move towards centralized government planning in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  In many parts of the country where county government was (and is) more far-reaching in its bureaucratic responsibilities, regional planning was a more natural fit.  In Massachusetts, however, almost all bureaucratic authority resides with the individual communities so making regional operations a success required more innovation and negotiation.  Through the years, NMCOG has been successful in doing that, especially since adding local elected officials such as city councilors and town selectmen to the council along with local planners.  One added benefit of this evolution was that it provided a forum for town-to-town communications at the elected official level that would not otherwise exist.  Since the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds nearly overlaps the NMCOG region (they have Pepperell; we have Carlisle and Wilmington), the registry has worked very closely with NMCOG on a number of projects particularly in the GIS area.  So congratulations to NMCOG for 50 years of outstanding service.

News about planned Lowell Judicial Center

Yesterday afternoon Harry Spence, the Court Administrator of the Massachusetts Trial Court, visited Lowell tour the Superior and District Court.  He was accompanied by State Senator Eileen Donoghue and State Representatives Tom Golden, Kevin Murphy and Dave Nangle.  I joined them during the visit to Superior Court which also houses the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.

While Spence lamented the relative state of disrepair of the entire building (while acknowledging its stunning interior architecture), he seemed mostly concerned with the day-to-day safety of the Probation Office which is located on the third floor of the front part of the building.  The office has only one means of egress, a narrow iron stairway, and is not accessible to people with mobility limitations.  In case of a fire that blocked that stairway, the Probation Department has a chain-link emergency ladder that can be tossed over the balcony, but such a method of escape is filled with its own risks.

Spence and the city's state house delegation hope to convince Governor Patrick to include money in the next capital plan for the new judicial center which is to be constructed on a vacant site alongside the Lord Overpass.  The city has long hoped that the judicial center would serve as an anchor of the Hamilton Canal redevelopment project.  Fortunately, other aspects of that project are proceeding at their own pace.

Initially the judicial center was to be built by 2012 but its timetable has been continuously slid back so that now the earliest it could be operational would be in 2017.  

Development in downtown Worcester

Today's Globe has a story about the challenges facing the city of Worcester as it tries to revive its downtown.  Much of the activity in Worcester involves large scale commercial developments but the city's downtown still seems lacking.  One city planner quoted in the article says that Worcester needs "the interesting and eclectic mix that will draw people downtown, interest office workers, and eventually get full-time residences there."

It's interesting to compare Worcester as described in the article to Lowell.  It seems that Lowell has taken a different approach by converting downtown buildings to residences and shaping many policy decisions to attract artists and other participants in the "creative economy."  What Lowell seems to lack is a major employer in the downtown.  The presence of office workers during the day would provide additional support to restaurants and retailers who have a tough time making it when relying solely on downtown residents, many of whom depart the city or at least the downtown during the day since their work brings them elsewhere.

Electronic recording since 2005

Year	# of efiles	% of all docs	Total Recordings
2005	1057	1%	87866
2006	1871	3%	72830
2007	3491	5%	66192
2008	3956	7%	56011
2009	8168	12%	65838
2010	9013	14%	63247
2011	14736	25%	59173
2012	24507	34%	013 based on 9 month projection 71473
2013*	27385	39%	70597

Columbus Day and remaining 2013 holidays

This coming Monday, October 14, 2013, is Columbus Day so the registry of deeds will be closed. 

The office will also be closed on Monday, November 11 for Veteran's Day; on Thursday, November 28 for Thanksgiving; and on Wednesday, December 25 for Christmas.  We will remain open all day on Friday, November 29 (the day after Thanksgiving); on Tuesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve day); and on Tuesday, December 31 (New Year's Day).

E-filing stats for September

Electronic recording continues to be a big part of our overall volume of document recording.  In September, we recorded a total of 5089 documents including 1958 that were recorded electronically (38%).  For the year through the end of September, we have recorded 52,948 documents of which 20,539 were electronic (39%).  The monthly average based on those nine months is 5883 documents overall with 2282 being electronic.  Using this nine month average to project over the course of the full year, that would give us a total of 70,597 documents for 2013 which would be slightly less than the 71,423 recorded in 2012.

Homestead seminar in Billerica this morning

Today I traveled to the Billerica Council on Aging to talk about the homestead.  More than 30 people attended and we had a lively discussion about the Massachusetts homestead and related real estate issues.  Quite a few of the attendees had previously recorded homesteads and were curious to learn if they had to record new ones since the law changed in March of 2011 (the answer to that is no in almost all cases since the new law grandfathers in existing declarations).  Because this event took place at the Senior Center on a weekday it was predictable that the crowd would tend to be on the older side, so there were several questions about homesteads and the payment for stays in nursing homes (liens for money owed to the government are exempt from homestead protection).  Still other questions involved transferring an interest in real estate to adult children or into trust.

For more information about the Declaration of Homestead check out the Massachusetts Law Library website. 

September recording statistics

Here are the recording statistics for September 2013 compared to September 2012:

There was a 24% increase in the number of deeds recorded, up from 462 to 575.

There was a 28% decline in mortgages, down from 1332 to 964.

There was a 72% decrease in foreclosure deeds, down from 25 to 7.

There was a 52% decrease in orders of notice, down from 31 to 15.

There was a 13% decrease in the number of documents recorded, down from 5877 to 5090.

Here are the year-to-date statistics through the end of September:

There was a 18% increase in the number of deeds recorded, up from 4422 to 5215.

There was a 3% decline in mortgages, down from 11245 to 10951.

There was a 61% decrease in foreclosure deeds, down from 297 to 117.

There was a 51% decrease in orders of notice, down from 581 to 282.

There was a 2% increase in the number of documents recorded, up from 52281 to 53260.