The state’s registers of deeds estimate that, due to staff and budget woes, millions of dollars’ worth of recording fee payments are sitting idle in batches of unopened mail. Pictured above is mail awaiting processing at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds in Boston.
Part Two of a Two-Part Series
Long lines, boxes of unopened mail and frustrated workers and customers have become routine at many of the state’s registries of deeds offices.
A proposal to increase the fees that consumers pay to record everything from a deed to a mortgage, and add a $5 surcharge to all documents recorded, would bring some relief to the registries, which have been forced to deal with budget and staff cuts.
But while registers last week praised Gov. Mitt Romney’s $5 surcharge proposal – which would pay for computer maintenance and improvements at the registries – some registry officials feel that other cost- and time-saving measures should be taken. And a group that represents real estate lawyers last week supported a competing bill that would ensure that registries see a percentage of the fee increases go directly into their operating budgets.
“This $5 fee will go a long ways to ease the plight of the registries, but in addition to that we do need staffing,” said Donald E. Ashe, register of the Hampden County Registry of Deeds in Springfield.
“If some of the money can be used to enhance the staff as well as using it for technology purposes, I’m sure that would enable the registries to get back on track – and by back on track I mean they would be able to process their documents and their fees in a timely fashion to get the money back into the state treasury,” said Ashe.
Besides funneling more money to the registries for more workers and for basic supplies, registers like Ashe pointed out that laws and practices could be changed to ease registry workloads and save money. Several Bay State registers, for example, support a bill that would allow consumers to electronically record documents – a measure that potentially could reduce the number of documents registry workers must physically handle each day.
Some registers also believe that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be saved each year if the registries were not required to print and store bound books containing all the registry records.
“We’re one of the few states left that still produces books,” said John L. O’Brien, register of the Essex Southern District Registry of Deeds in Salem.
In the meantime, registers hope that lawmakers approve the $5 surcharge. Romney filed the bill calling for the fee increases and surcharge on behalf of Secretary of State William F. Galvin.
Forced to deal with budget and staff cuts at a time when they’re dealing with bigger workloads because of a boom in home sales and mortgage refinancings, registry officials have been pushing for additional funds for more than a year.
According to registers, most of the 13 state-run registry offices can’t handle the increasing volume of documents waiting to be recorded with smaller staffs. The Springfield registry’s staff, for example, was reduced from 54 employees to 46. Ashe estimated that most registries have had their staffs reduced by one-third.
The cutbacks have had drastic effects at some registries. At some offices, three or four month’s worth of unopened mail has piled up waiting to be processed. Much of the mail contains documents that must be recorded and checks to pay for the recording fees.
“Millions of dollars are sitting in the registry of deeds offices that could be in the state treasury,” said Ashe, referring to the checks in the unopened mail.
Many officials are hoping that the proposed bill, which would increase the fees people must pay to file deeds, mortgages and homestead exemptions by March 1, will help. However, the fees that are collected would go into the state’s general fund, and not necessarily the registries themselves.
That’s why the Massachusetts Conveyancers Association, the state’s real estate bar association, is supporting a bill that would require that $20 of new income collected for each document be saved in a Registries Trust Fund. The trust fund would go to the registries to pay for services, including technological improvements. Separate funds would be set up for the county registries.
Under Romney’s bill, the $5 surcharge would be earmarked specifically for technological improvements at the registries.
According to O’Brien and Ashe, registries in other states – including New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Virginia – have surcharges that are used for technology.
And the proposed fee increases aren’t exorbitant, according to Ashe. Under the Romney bill, the fees would be increased from $45 to $100 for deeds and $10 to $30 for a homestead declaration. For mortgages, the flat fee of $40 that is now charged would be changed to $25 for the first page and $7 for each additional page. The increases could generate an estimated $200 million annually.
“The fees in Massachusetts are a lot lower than some of the other states,” said Ashe, who added that with the increases, the commonwealth would fall in line with what other states are charging.
But the MCA argues that the fee hikes are too high and is proposing more moderate increases. For example, the group is pushing for the fee for mortgages to be increased to a flat rate of $80 instead of the $155 it would cost to record a mortgage in a typical residential closing under Romney’s proposal.
“While we recognize that the new governor feels that the state’s budget crisis may require that service fees of all kinds be increased across the board, some this money must go to close the operating deficits at the registries,” said Daniel J. Ossoff, chairman of the MCA’s legislative committee, in a press release. “We appreciate the increased cost that would be incurred by the public as a result of an increase in recording fees and we have made an effort in our bill to moderate the fee increases recommended by the governor.”
Last week, however, registers mostly expressed support for the $5 surcharge that would be directly channeled to the registries for computer upgrades.
“It [the surcharge] goes a long way into solving the problems that some for the registries are facing,” said O’Brien, who estimated that the surcharge could raise an additional $14 million for the registries each year.
Setting Standards
Currently, the state’s registries of deeds operate with different computer systems. The registries are in the process of getting one streamlined and networked system, which will be paid for with bond funds. The registries in Lowell, Northampton and Greenfield already have the new computer systems in place.
O’Brien said “it’s crazy” that the registries don’t have one standardized system.
“You should be able to go the Berkshire registry and look up information the same way that you would in any other registry,” he said.
About five years ago, all of the 21 registries of deeds in the state were under the control of county commissioners, all of whom had different processes, policies and computers systems for recording documents. Those systems were, for the most part, carried over when the state took over 13 of the 21 registries, which ultimately were placed under the secretary of state’s control.
The Middlesex Southern District Registry of Deeds in Cambridge – the busiest in the state – uses a computer system that is more than two decades old, while the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds in Boston relies on an 11-year-old system.
The difference in the recording systems is the primary reason why the problems and backups at the registries vary. For example, while the lines are shorter and move more quickly and the mail piles are considerably smaller at the Suffolk County registry compared to the Middlesex Registry, there are delays elsewhere in the Boston registry.
Part of the reason that the Boston registry doesn’t have the same kind of backups at the front counters that the Cambridge registry does, is that they record fewer documents. The Boston registry is expected to record about 260,000 documents during this fiscal year which ends June 30, up from the 170,000 documents three years ago, while the Cambridge registry is projected to record as many as 420,000 documents.
Still, there are boxes packed with thousands of documents that still have to be entered into the computer system at the Boston registry. Much of the backups at the Boston registry can be attributed to the seemingly archaic process of getting documents recorded.
At the Cambridge registry, all document information is typed into a computer system at the front desk. However, at the Boston registry, several steps are required to get a deed or other document recorded. Here’s how it typically works: A document is first taken by an employee at a front counter who stamps it with the date and time and then assigns to it what is called an instrument number. The worker then collects any fees and hands the money or check to a cashier. The document then is taken to be photocopied. The copy is left on the counter for title examiners to review. The original document is taken by another set of workers who enter basic information from the document. The document is then placed on a desk, waiting to be assigned a book and page number.
Once the document gets the book and page number, it must then be microfilmed. The microfilm is mailed out to a company to be developed into pages, which will later be bound into a book. The original document makes its way to another group of data entry workers who must type into a computer more detailed information, like the book and page number and the address of the property. The registry has to hold onto the document until it receives the printed pages from the company to which it sent the microfilm. Once the pages – which will be bound into books for the public to use – are proofread and compared to the original documents, the original documents are finally placed in bins to be mailed out to a lender or attorney, who has provided a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Some of these time-consuming steps could be eliminated and the registries could generate more revenue if laws and practices were changed, according to registry officials.
According to Eugene C. Brune, register of the Middlesex Southern District Registry of Deeds, the law requires registries to make a hard copy of documents available to the public. But since the documents are on microfilm at some registries and available on disk at others, Brune said it might be time to eliminate the bound books.
Brune estimated that it costs about $30 to bind each book. The Middlesex Southern District Registry binds about 300 books a month, he said. Getting rid of the books would save the Cambridge registry at least $100,000, he said.
The mortgage companies, banks and attorneys can also help. According to Brune, if all lenders provided a uniform document that was the same size and color, employees would spend less time scanning, photocopying and microfilming the thousands of pages they handle daily.
Ashe said that another measure that would likely ease the registries’ burden is if legislators passed the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act. The bill, which has been stalled on Beacon Hill, could pave the way for electronic signatures to be used in Massachusetts. That would allow consumers to electronically record documents from the comfort of their homes or offices instead of having to go to a registry office in person.
Even if the bill were passed, most registries wouldn’t able to accommodate electronic transactions because of their outdated computer systems. But a few registries would likely be able to perform electronic transactions, according to registry officials.
