1. The Suffolk Registry of Deeds requires that when a Condominium is created under MGL c. 183A – at the time of the recording of the
Master Deed and Condominium Trust/Association By-laws both a set of Floor plans and a Site plan are recorded. After recording, the most commonly requested recording by unit owners is the Site Plan.
2.
The
Suffolk Registry of Deeds records 83% of Recorded Land documents
electronically. It is important to remember that documents assigning or
releasing more than one previously recorded document cannot be recorded electronically
– a multi-fee document must be walked in or mailed in.
3.
The
Suffolk Registry of Deeds offers a Consumer Notification Service. You can monitor any recordings under your
name or property address at the Registry by signing up for the service at www.sufolkdeeds.com – at the
top or the page click on Consumer Notification Service located on the right-hand
side of the webpage. Upon signing up,
the individual will receive an email notifying them when a document is recorded
under their name or address. Upon
receiving the email, the individual may contact the Suffolk Registry of Deeds
for assistance in locating the document in question. Receiving an email does
not always mean you are the victim of fraud - many times documents are recorded
by the IRS, DOR and municipalities regarding income taxes and property taxes.
4.
In
order to electronically record, an account must be established with an
electronic records vendor; the documents are then submitted through the vendor.
Suffolk currently accepts electronically recorded document from CSC, ePN and
Simplifile. Contact information for each of these vendors is available at www.suffolkdeeds.com.
5.
The
Suffolk Registry of Deeds will begin accepting Registered Land documents for
electronic recording in the spring of 2025!
6.
On
occasion, a deed is submitted for recording conveying property into a trust
referencing a trust recorded in another county in Massachusetts. The indefinite reference statute (MGL c. 184,
§25), the good faith purchaser of interests in real estate from trustees statute
(MGL c. 184, §34), and the trustee’s certificate statute (MGL c. 184, §35) all make
reference to instruments recorded in the Registry of Deeds for the county in
which the land lies. As a result, the Suffolk Registry of Deeds requires that
the trust or a trustee’s certificate under MGL c. 184, §35 are to be recorded
with the deed conveying the property into the trust.
7.
The
story of the Suffolk Registry of Deeds begins with the founding of the town of
Boston. In 1629, the Cambridge Agreement
was signed in England by the Puritan shareholders of the Massachusetts Bay
Company. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous residents
– the Massachusett. The name can be
segmented as follows: mass is
“large”, adchu is “hill”, s is a suffix meaning “small” and ett is a locative suffix meaning
“place”. The place of the large, small
hill to which it refers is the Great Blue Hill, commonly known as Big Blue. The first broadcasting tower for Boston’s
public television station – Channel 2 – was at the top of the Great Blue Hill,
as a result, the station’s call sign was WGBH.
8.
On
September, 1630, John Winthrop announced the foundation of the settlement at
Boston. In his famous sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” Winthrop described
the new colony as “a City upon a Hill.”
Shortly thereafter, the inhabitants’ behavior became anything but
“Christian” as they began to fight about “who owned what” land.
9.
Before
there was police, fire or public education, the basis of an orderly, civil
society required our government to become actively involved in land recording:
On April 1, 1634,
the General Court ordered that a survey be undertaken of all the improved and
enclosed lands owned by every free inhabitant, the findings of that survey were
then to be entered into a book. From
time to time, when such lots and homes were sold, the record of such sale was
to be entered into this book for a fee of six pence. It was in compliance with this order that the
Boston Book of Possessions was compiled.
Mass. Bay Rec. Vol. 1 p. 116.
On August 6, 1637, the General Court ordered that some course be taken to cause men to record their lands, or to fine them that neglected. Mass. Bay Rec. Vol. 1 p. 201.
On September 9,
1639, the General Court issued an order to record all men’s houses and lands
certified by an individual who was deputized for the ordering of their
affaires. The charge for recording was 2
shillings and six pennies. Mass. Bay
Rec. Vol. 1 p. 276. In one of the
first acts of nepotism in North America, the first recorder for Boston, Steven
Winthrop, was none other than the Governor’s brother.
On March 7, 1640, the General Court ordered: “For avoiding all fraudulent conveyances, and that every man may know what estate or interest other men may have in any houses, lands, or other hereditaments they are to deal in, it is therefore ordered, that after the end of this month no mortgage, bargain, sale or grant hereafter to be made of any houses, lands, rents or other hereditaments, shall be of force against any other person except the grantor and his heirs, unless the same be entered and recorded.” Mass. Bay Rec. Vol. 1 p. 306. The statutory justification for the modern-day Registry of Deeds finds its origins in this order. The order’s language for all intents and purposes mirrors the present statute’s language requiring the recording of land conveyances in order to provide public notice and protect good faith purchasers. Mass. Gen. Law c. 183, §4.
10.
In 1643, the General Court divided the Massachusetts Bay
Colony into four counties; the decree read as follows:
“The
whole plantation within this jurisdiction is divided into four shires, to wit:
Essex - Salem, Linn, Enon
(Wenham), Ipswich, Rowley, Newberry, Glocester and Cochichawick (Andover).
Middlesex – Charlestowne,
Cambridge, Watertowne, Sudberry, Concord, Wooborne, Meadford, and Linn Village
(Reading).
Norfolk – Salsberry,
Hampton, Haverill, Excetter, Dover, and Strawberry Banck (Portsmouth, NH).
Suffolk – Boston,
Roxberry, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymoth, Hingham and Nantaskot
(Hull).”
The size of Suffolk County has expanded and contracted
over the centuries. The county is
currently comprised of the City of Boston, the City of Chelsea, the City of
Revere and the Town of Winthrop. In
1999, the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds was placed under the general superintendence
of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, thus changing its name
to the Suffolk Registry of Deeds. Mass Acts of 1999, Ch. 127, p. 53. Today, the County of Suffolk stands simply as
a geographical boundary and is comprised of a total of 120 square miles: 58
square miles of land and 62 square miles of open water. It is the second
smallest county in Massachusetts in terms of land area (Nantucket County having
less land area) and the smallest county in terms of overall size (Nantucket
County being comprised of more open ocean).
