The first decade of the
twenty-first century was a time of rapid technological change at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. The
registry successfully navigated Y2K at the start of 2000, stopped printing
record books in 2001, installed the ACS computer system in 2002, implemented
full
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| Middlesex North Registry of Deeds |
electronic recording in 2005, made all documents and images from 1629 to
the present freely available online in 2006, and implemented while-you-wait
scanning for walk-in customers in 2007.
History tells us that new
technology does not immediately change human behavior. It takes people time to
figure out how to use new things. That was the case with the printing press,
the telephone and the computer. It was certainly the case with these technical
innovations at the registry of deeds, especially electronic recording.
Now, a dozen years
after electronic recording’s implementation, its effect on registry operations
can be fairly assessed. Electronic recording has drastically reduced the number
of people who come to the registry to record documents. Prior to electronic
recording, documents came to the registry in two ways: they were carried by
customers or delivered by the post office. The best way to illustrate how much
things have changed is to compare how documents were recorded in 2009, when
electronic recording was still novel, with recording practices in 2017, when
electronic recording has reached maturity.
In 2009 (January
through November)
·
60,756 documents were recorded
·
7,484 were e-filed (12%)
·
15,582 were mailed (26%)
·
37,690 were walk-ins (62%)
In 2017 (January
through November)
·
54,243 documents were recorded
·
29,771 were e-filed (55%)
·
8,441 were mailed (16%)
·
16,031 were walk-ins (29%)
Because registry
customers tend to record groups of related documents at the same time, the
reduction in foot traffic is best measured by comparing the number of “sets”
recorded on particular days. Here are the statistics for the last day of June,
which is historically the busiest day of the year at the registry:
On June 30, 2009
·
484 documents were recorded
·
47 were e-filed (10%)
·
66 were mailed (14%)
·
371 were walk-ins (77%)
·
The walk-ins came in 131 sets, with 2.8
documents per set
On June 30, 2017
·
541 documents were recorded
·
315 were e-filed (58%)
·
41 were mailed (8%)
·
185 were walk-ins (34%)
·
The walk-ins came in 60 sets, with 3.1
documents per set
This ongoing shift from
walk-in to electronic recording has affected the registry in many ways. As the
number of walk-in customers has decreased, the need for countertop recording
terminals, scanners, and public access computers has been reduced proportionally.
Because it takes the registry less time to process electronically recorded
documents than walk-in ones, recording wait times have also been reduced.
The growth of
electronic recording ratifies its utility and reliability, but there are still some
additional features that could improve the system. For example, today when a
customer clicks “send to the registry” on an electronic recording, the digital
document package is launched into cyberspace, beyond the control of the
submitter. The registry sometimes gets frantic calls from customers asking that
a package they just transmitted be rejected due to a late-discovered error. A
new system might include an electronic “string” attached to a submitted package
so that a customer could pull it back right up until the instant it was
recorded.
The value of this
pull-back feature would be enhanced by a virtual queue that would allow
customers to see documents that came before them in the queue. While concern over
the pre-recording run down gap has not suppressed the growth of electronic
recording, providing customers with more precise information about what is in
front of them in the recording queue would help ease lingering concerns.
A third capability that
would improve electronic recording would be a real-time communications link,
either video or text, between the submitter and the registry clerk. With
walk-in recordings, the exchange of information between the customer and the
clerk can be an important part of the recording process. Technology could bring
that same capability to electronic recording.
While these and other
features should be part of the next generation registry of deeds computer
system, the pace of future change is largely in the hands of registry users. As
more and more lenders, attorneys and homeowners migrate to fully electronic
closings – which the registry is even now ready to accept for recording - the
volume of electronic recordings will continue to rise, and the amount of mail and
walk-in documents will decline even more.
Still, not everyone who
owns real estate has a smart phone, or is comfortable using one for complex
financial transactions. Consequently, walk-in recordings, and walk-in customer
service, will always be an important part of the mission of the registry of
deeds.
Dick
Howe’s column, “From the Recording Desk...,” is a regular feature of REBA
News. Dick has served as register of
deeds in the Middlesex North Registry since 1995. He is a frequent commentator on land records
issues and real estate news. Dick can be
contacted by email at richard.howe@sec.state.ma.us.
