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The Changing Face of Recording
Over the past several years the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) has issued white papers advising the nation’s Recorder of Deeds offices to adopt standard regulations for the acceptable format of recordable documents. They have done this to encourage uniformity and also to enable the industry to adopt document imaging and e-recording technologies. Their efforts are part of the reason Philadelphia County adopted new recording requirements July 1, 2000. Effective the first week of January 2005, Montgomery, Chester & Lancaster counties will be joining Philadelphia in adopting PRIA’s standards. Under the new standards, all submissions must be on a standard 8 1⁄2" X 11" piece of white paper. At the top of the first page a three-inch margin must be included. The left hand side must contain “prepared by” and “return to” party information, including name, address and telephone number. The right half must be reserved for the exclusive use of the Recorder of Deeds. All other margins on all following pages must be one inch. Also, the Tax Parcel Number (also known as TMP, BRT, UPI) must be typed on the first page of the document. If the Tax Parcel number is illegible or ambiguous, the document will be returned to secure a legible, unambiguous number. This return will also be assessed an additional fee. The fee varies by county and generally ranges from $10 to $25. To view the memos from the counties go to:
Across the State:
Sept. 1, 2004 Allegheny County increased the recording fee of mortgages to $46 for the first four pages.
Centre County now has online public access-
Details & application
Log On
Chester County recorder of deeds moved to a new building in July. This is a temporary move will the historic courthouse is being refurbished. Their new mailing address is:
Chester County Recorder of Deeds
121 N. Walnut St., Suite 100
PO Box 2748
West Chester, PA 19380-0991
Lancaster County, a national pioneer in eRecording, is holding an Electronic Recording Seminar on December 14, 2004 at 10:30am at the Eden Resort Hotel. Call Sue at 717-299-8238 or e-mail her at armers@co.lancaster.pa.us for reservations and details.
Philadelphia County has made many improvements and changes over the past several months. In July, they began only bar-coding the first page of each document to reduce processing time. On August 3, 2004, Philadelphia announced that they would begin accepting Level 3 eRecording for Mortgage Satisfaction Pieces. Level 2 eRecording for Deeds and Mortgages is still in the works. If you are interested in eRecording documents call the Records Department at 215-686-2262. Effective September 1, 2004, they no longer require (or accept) the Recording Information Summary (RIS) to be attached to the front of each document. And on October 6, 2004, Philadox online index and images became available for public use.
Schuylkill County now has a deed registration form requirement for all properties in Pottsville City.
Note: For all Concourse Subscribers, all new fee and online access links provided in this article have already been posted in Terminal D.
New Forms
Now begins the countdown. You have just three weeks to modify all your recordable documents to conform with the new recording requirements. You will not need to keep copies of the old version. All of the counties will accept documents that comply with these new regulations.
The good news is that Carnanco has done all the work for you already. We have modified forms ready for use and available to you for only $10 a piece. It would cost you more to pay someone to sit at a computer for an hour or more and fiddle with your old forms. And they are beautiful too!
Currently available are:
5 deeds (standard fee simple, trust, corporate, estate, and quit claim)
3 Powers of Attorney (buyer, seller and refinance)
Mortgage Satisfaction Piece
Mortgage Release
Mortgage Subordination
UCC Subordination
These documents can be emailed to you in PDF, Microsoft Word, or SoftPro Word Merge formats along with instructions on how to save and use them.
Need a document you don’t see listed? Give us a call and we’ll modify your existing document for the same price.
Common Level Ratios
The Department of Revenue will be publishing a revised listing of Common Level Ratios in the PA Bulletin. There have been a significant number of revisions across the entire state. Please be sure to update your records. The new ratios will go into effect January 1, 2005.
Note: For all Concourse Subscribers, the new list has been posted under Terminal C, Gate 3.
Seminar
I would like to thank Stewart Title and their agents for allowing me to speak at their three seminars this past November. I greatly enjoyed meeting all of you.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Hartzman
If you need a speaker for an event or meeting, please give me a call. I’d be happy to speak on any number of title, technology, business or marketing topics.
True Stories: Identifying Identification Cards
For anyone who has been driving since the first day they were legally allowed to, you’ve probably come to recognize that your license is always due for renewal within a few days of your birthday. Recently, a closer was examining the driver’s license of a borrower and noticed that it had been issued that very day. A bit unusual, but what struck her as being even more unusual was the fact that his birthday was still several months away. The license looked authentic with holograms and the like. Upon questioning the borrower, he claimed that he had lost his license and gotten the replacement that morning because he knew he needed a valid ID card. If you think the story is sounding a little fishy, look in the upper right hand corner of the card. If it is truly a replacement (or a really good fake), it will state “Dups: #”, where the # is the number of duplicates that have been issued. In addition, you can always ask to see additional identification.
True Stories: Identifying Documents
Not only is it important to make sure the ID cards you’re given are valid, but you also need to be wary of documents you are given. Now that real estate agents have realized they can make more money by doing conveyancing and mortgage brokers get impatient waiting for copies of payoffs, it is not uncommon for necessary title documents to be coming from all parties in a transaction.
Home Free Abstract enjoyed a good relationship with We Do Lots Of Work mortgage broker. We Do Lots Of Work mortgage broker always provided Home Free Abstract with payoffs, social security numbers, hazard insurance receipts, etc. It was a good situation for Home Free Abstract. Until recently, when We Do Lots Of Work provided Home Free Abstract with a mortgage payoff that was a little old. Home Free Abstract ordered an update which arrived during the rescission period. It was $10,000 more than the previous payoff. That is when Home Free Abstract found out that the first payoff had not been ordered by We Do Less Work Than You Think We Do. It had been given to the broker by the borrower after it had been strategically altered.
If you are accepting payoffs and other important documents from third parties, it is imperative that you know where the documents came from and that they have not been altered by ANY party who has come in contact with them. Look carefully for offset type or different fonts and do not hesitate to make a phone call verify the amounts shown.
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