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.

Mid-month statistics

The number of key documents we recorded in August was down from both August of last year and from July of this year, so we're keeping close watch on the trends in September.  Thus far, there's nothing bad to report (although there's nothing all that good, either).  Here are the numbers for Lowell for the period of September 1 through September 18, for both 2012 and 2013.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 59 deeds recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 70 - an increase of 19%.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 108 mortgages recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 115 - an increase of 7%.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 9 foreclosure deeds recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 2.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 7 orders of notice recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were none.

Revenue

The registry of deeds collects a variety of recording fees, surcharges and taxes and passes them all along to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  We've always closely tracked our revenue for accounting purposes but only recently started scrutinizing these numbers as statistical indicators of the direction of the local real estate market. 

For the eight month period from January through August, our total revenue for 2013 is up 10% from 2012 ($8,505,624 vs $9,342,591).

For the same time, recording fees (which are included in the "total" above) were up 4% ($3,416,781 vs $3,538,245).

For the same time, tax stamps, which are calculated on the sales price of property, are up 17% ($3,723,022 vs $4,364,727)

Banning cell phones in courthouses

The Globe yesterday reported on a growing trend in Massachusetts of courthouses imposing outright bans on the carrying of cell phones within the building (the ban does not apply to courthouse employees or lawyers).  Most of the courts mentioned in the article were District Courts which are busier and more crowded than the typical superior court.  The stated reason for the ban is to prevent people from taking photos or videos of witnesses, police officers, and prosecutors and then posting the images online in an attempt to intimidate these people.  When reading the article, however, it's apparent that some of the judges welcome the ban because of an inability to control the use of phones within courtrooms.

Coincidentally, this building is in the second week of a temporary ban on cell phones that was imposed by one of the judges due to a high profile murder trial that is underway, Commonwealth v Shelley, a long-unsolved case from the late 1960s.  The judge's concern for this case was no so much intimidation of witnesses but of great media interest that might motivate some to inadvertently disrupt proceedings.  Because of the ubiquitousness of cell phones in American life, this ban creates frequent confrontations at the security checkpoint at the entrance to the building.  Those with cell phones cannot "check" them at the entrance.  Instead, they have to leave them somewhere outside which, if one has a car in the vicinity, is only a minor inconvenience but if someone walked or got a ride here, it presents a real dilemma of where to put the phone.

Hopefully the ban in this building will end with the current trial since it creates a major inconvenience for many individuals doing business within the building.

Electronic recording stats for August

Electronic recording continues to be a growing part of registry operations, accounting for 37% of all documents recorded in August (of 5785 documents recorded, 2136 were recorded electronically).  This is a daily average of 263 documents with 97 of them being recorded electronically.  For the year-to-date (January through August), we have recorded a total of 47,859 documents of which 18,581 were recorded electronically (39%).

For deeds, 4640 have been recorded thus far in 2013 of which 1334 or 29% were recorded electronically.  For mortgages, 9987 have been recorded thus far of which 5225 or 52% were recorded electronically.

As for which days have the highest volume of business, Fridays remain our busiest day in terms of total documents recorded.  On Friday, August 30 we recorded 357 documents; on Friday, August 23 we recorded 355 documents; and on Friday, August 2 we recorded 320 documents.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days for electronic recording.  Our three top electronic recording days in August were Thursday, August 15 with 120 efiles; Wednesday, August 14 with 115 efiles; and Thursday, August 22 with 115 efiles.  Percentage-wise, the top efile days were Wednesday, August 14 with 48% of our documents being recorded; Thursday, August 8 also with 48%; and Wednesday, August 21 with 46%.     

August recording statistics

Here are some recording statistics from the month of August and year-to-date, both compared to the same period in 2012.

For August:

The number of deeds recorded was up 5%, rising from 608 in August 2012 to 639 in August 2013.
The number of mortgages was down 31%, declining from 1572 to 1085.
The number of foreclosure deeds was down 63%, declining from 30 to 11.
The number of orders of notice was down 65%, declining from 111 to 39.
The total number of documents recorded was down 14%, declining from 6864 to 5917.

For the year to date through the end of August:

The number of deeds was up 17%, rising from 3960 in the first eight months of 2012 to 4640 in the first eight months of 2013.
The number of mortgages was up 1%, rising from 9913 to 9987.
The number of foreclosure deeds was down 60%, declining from 272 to 110.
The number of orders of notice was down 51%, declining from 550 to 267.
The total number of documents was up 4%, rising from 46,404 to 48,170.

Some Registry of Deeds history

At yesterday's meeting of the Massachusetts Registries of Deeds Modernization and Efficiency Commission meeting held in Springfield, Mary Olberding, the Register of Deeds of the Hampshire Registry of Deeds, gave the following testimony during the public hearing phase of the meeting.  Her remarks include important historical background on registries in Massachusetts.  She agreed to allow me to post them here:

Thank you to Legislators, my fellow Registers, Mr. Maresco and all members of the Commission who are generously giving their time to serve the Commonwealth. Thank you for traveling to Western Massachusetts for this public hearing.And thank you to my colleague, Register Ashe for hosting us.

I welcome the opportunity for review of the Registries of Deeds by this Commission and the Legislature, for I believe this exercise will demonstrate that the Registries are completely dedicated to continuous improvement in the areas of efficiency, technology and management.

Before there was even a United States, they were recorded documents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And before we elected our first President of the United States, we elected Registers of Deeds.

Each Registry district has unique characteristics; the types of property, the geography, the topography. The formation of their boundaries is based on a history that predates the formation of all of the counties in the Commonwealth.

The Registries of Deeds, as they exist today, were established under the First Modern Recording Act of 1640. For most of the Colonial period, the Clerks of the County Courts maintained the public record but in 1715, a law was enacted calling for the election of Registers; to represent the people of their district; so there would be an elected representative of the people, accountable to them, who would know the land and know the landowners. This is as true today as it was then.

The Legislature, the Courts and the Registries have partnered for centuries to protect property and the rights of ownership.

Each Registry operates independently, but they coordinate efforts and share best practices through meetings of the Registers Association.

There is no statutory requirement to record an instrument to transfer title. The Registry’s purpose is to provide an accurate, reliable recording of all documents related to property, and, make them available for immediate public notice thus protecting from possible future claims on that property. This service is delivered by a well-trained staff with the latest technology that makes it possible.  

The land record management system is the cornerstone of the orderly transfer of property in the Commonwealth. Maintaining that system is the job of the Registers of Deeds.
 

And they do so with great efficiency.

Efficiency is delivering a service in the manner that the customer wants it. That delivery of service is different depending on the Registry.  How, then, would you measure efficiency of the Registries?  The volume of business at each Registry is subject to the economic forces that govern the real-estate industry.  

It is not possible for any Register to exert any influence over these forces; no marketing strategy will increase recordings, no investment will increase earnings.

A measure of our success is not the number of documents recorded, or a ratio of documents per capita.  It is not possible to measure efficiency based on statistics of use, because use is driven by the market economy. No uniform standard or statistic can measure our efficiency.

Rather, it is the users who decide if the Registers deliver their service efficiently; with a balance of speed and accuracy.

The Registers, as elected officials, have modernized as necessary throughout the history of the Commonwealth. When you think that deeds and documents have been recorded for over three hundred years, it is easy to see the evolution of technology used from the early days when documents were transcribed and attested, to documents retyped, then microfilmed and now scanned and digitized.

Electronic recording is the next phase of delivering efficient customer service. It is another example of the ways Registries are responsive to the needs of our users. The efficiency of e-recording is the customers. E-recording, like service provided at the counter, requires an element of human judgment by the staff to ensure documents are recordable. And, with e-recording comes the additional responsibilities for the staff to train and enlist new users.

For over three centuries, the job of the Registry remains the same: to record documents, verify they meet the Deed Indexing Standards and ensure the orderly transfer of property within our district.

The true measure of efficiency for the Registers doing this job, as with any elected official,  is whether or not the taxpayers and users of the Registry are getting the service they need.

Restrictions on electronic devices in courthouse next week

Because of a high profile case (Commonwealth v Walter Shelley) that is to be tried in the Middlesex Superior Courthouse in Lowell next week, the trial judge Hon Janet Kenton-Walker) has issued an order banning "cell phones, laptops, notepads, tablets, cameras and electronic recording devices" from the courthouse during the trial.  The order specifically exempts "court employees, title examiners, law enforcement officers and jurors."  Members of the news media who are registered with the Supreme Judicial Court's public affairs office and who receive prior approval of the trial judge may be permitted to cover the trial.  Copies of this order are posted prominently at the entrance of the courthouse.

Median sales price in Lowell: 2000 to 2012

The documents recorded here at the Registry of Deeds don't identify the use of the property (residential, retail, industrial, etc) but deeds recorded here do tell us how much was paid for the property.  I recently queried our database to determine the median price of deeds recorded in Lowell each year from 2000 through 2012.  To eliminate really high or really low prices, I restricted this analysis to deeds with consideration greater than $75,000 and less than $750,000.  Using that method, here's the median price of properties in Lowell for the years indicated. 

• 2000 - $140,000
• 2001 - $162,000
• 2002 - $187,375
• 2003 - $217,000
• 2004 - $238,600
• 2005 - $254,900
• 2006 - $247,000
• 2007 - $225,000
• 2008 - $184,900
• 2009 - $178,500
• 2010 - $180,000
• 2011 - $170,000
• 2012 - $175,000

Blackberry and Wang

New York Times columnist wrote yesterday about the troubles of Blackberry, comparing the communications device manufacture formerly known as Research in Motion (RIM) to Wang.  Not too long ago, Blackberry was the almost exclusive device of corporate America and the Federal government.  Just watch a Washington-based drama produced five or ten years ago and everyone important is constantly pulling out a Blackberry to check the latest news.  Devices like iPhones were seen as toys that were not appropriate accessories for serious people.  But even though iPhones and equivalent devices like the Android still aren't as good as a Blackberry for email and messaging (I've owned both and have that opinion), the touchscreen smartphones do so many other things well that customers are tolerant of the lesser typing technology and have almost universally switched to Apple and Android leaving Blackberry in tough financial straits. 

Nocera suggests that it was Blackberry's dominance that made it arrogant, or at least blind to the threat to its standing, thereby allowing competitors with different products to surpass the standing-pat leader.  The columnist asserts that this is not unusual in business and points to Wang as a further example.  Before the advent of the PC, nearly every major business and office in America had a Wang word processor.  Wang was very slow to pick up on the desktop revolution and once it did, it didn't do it very well and was left behind, filing bankruptcy in 1992 and being mentioned most often these days in answer to trivia questions.