BRB's Public Records Blog

Document Recording Fee Increase in Colorado for 2017

In Colorado, the recording fee for the first page of each document recorded on or after January 1, 2017 in Colorado will increase by $2.00.  This means the fee will be $13.00 for the first page and $5.00 for each additional page of each recorded document on or after January 1, 2017. 

This fee increase is per passage of Senate Bill 115, viewable at http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/115_signed.pdf.

Key Recording Fee Changes For July 1, 2011

Iowa
Effective July 1, 2011, recording fees will decrease by $2.00. The fee for the first
page of all documents (standard size) will be $7.00; it was $9.00. Each additional page will still be $5.00.
 
Maryland
A $20 surcharge is imposed on all recorded instruments including Deeds, Deeds of Trust (Mortgages), and Powers of Attorney. Note the surcharge will only affect instruments executed on or after July 1, 2011. Any documents executed prior to this date will not be affected. For example the typical cost of recording a real estate sale will increase from $40 to $60.
 
New Mexico
The state is changing the its fee procedure for recording documents. Effective July 1, 2011, the cost to record a document will be $25.00; however, this will include up to a block of 10 entries in the index of the county recording district. Each addition entry group up to 10 will be an additional $25.  This new price structure will actually lower the cost of recording many documents.
 
See www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11%20Regular/final/SB0369.pdf
 
Kerns County, California
Recording fees will increase by $6.00 for all documents (except Maps and UCCs).

MA Register of Deeds Tries to Halt Non-Recording of Mortgage Assignments

According to an article in the Salem News, written by Julie Manganis, an entity known as the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems or MERS has bypassed thousands of mortgage records. When a property is sold, financed or refinanced, there must be a recording of the mortgage at the local level. But when these mortgages are sold or bundled and sold (as many as four times), MERS was bypassing the recording fees. Per the article "MERS would keep tabs on the mortgage, essentially creating a private registry and avoiding the fees."

Thus, a number of properties can not be properly tracked or searched in public records at the affected local jurisdictions. Also, home owners may not know who holds their mortgages.

Mr. John O'Brien, the Essex South Register of Deeds in Massachusetts estimates that his office has lost over $22 million in recording fees on over 148,000 recordings taken place since 1998. Mr. O'Brien has requested that the Massachusetts Attorney General take action against MERS. According to ther article "MERS has acknowledged that transfers or assignments of mortgages should have been transferred."