Register's Blog

On Wednesday, June 15th, the East Bridgewater Council on Aging hosted a discussion of the new Homestead Act. The new Homestead Act recently passed by the legislature and signed by the governor makes many positive changes to the statute and expands coverage in several situations. (See Secretary of State Galvin’s summary on this website).

The members of the COA had many questions about how the changes in the law affected their individual circumstances.  A description of the Registry of Deeds and how to get access to their land records followed. Pictures of the event are provided.

The new East Bridgewater Council on Aging facility is underway and is being built on town owned land near Sachem Rock (Route 106).  It is expected to be opened sometime in the fall of 2012.

The Register’s Report for the month of May shows a continuing upward trend in the sale of properties in 2011.  While our recordings of deeds remain 18% behind 2010 deeds recorded, at this time last year the federal tax incentives for first time home buyers were still available.

Mortgages recorded remain only slightly higher despite historically low interest rates. The number of mortgages recorded in 2011 are 35 higher that those filed in 2010.

The number fof foreclosure deeds and foreclosure notices both remain over 40% behind last year at this time.  We  have a community by community listing of foreclosure notices and deeds attached to this report.

Close to two hundred residents gathered for a presentation on the new homestead law recently enacted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Saturday morning program was organized by State Representative Thomas Calter and Oak Point resident Kathy Tougas, through the Women’s Club of Oak Point. Oak Point is Plymouth County’s largest 55+ active adult community.

The new homestead act expands coverage in many different areas, including the ability to file a homestead declaration for manufactured housing at the Registry of Deeds.  As Register of Deeds, I conduct many Senior Issues Forums throughout Plymouth County on a regular basis.  Many are in conjunction with Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s Office, through Plymouth County’s Councils on Aging centers. 

Saturday’s program included a presentation about the homestead, a question and answer period and the opportunity to complete new homestead documents,  which were then notarized and recorded on Monday morning.  Carolyn Lacey, our Brockton satellite office manager, along with two volunteer notaries from Oak Point assisted with the preparation of the homestead recordings.

It was great to be a part of the beautiful active adult community in the heart of Plymouth County on one of our few sunny days!

The Register’s Report, our monthly newsletter on real estate activity at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds is now available for the month of April, 2011. Our numbers for deeds recorded have been increasing slightly from February through April, although the volume continues to demonstrate that the Plymouth County real estate market is still in the doldrums.

Of particular concern is the increase we are seeing in foreclosure notices–a filing that is often a step towards ultimate foreclosure by the lender on someone’s home. As mentioned in our past blogs and newsletters, this trend back to a higher level of foreclosures has been expected by many, in responce to the national lenders having worked out their problems regarding robo-signing of documents and the filing of missing assignments, therefore re-establing their right to foreclose.

Our report also has a community by community lisiting of foreclosure deeds and foreclosure notices.

Please click on the Register’s Monthly Report on our home page to see April’s statistics as well as any other previous month for comparison.

On April 12, 1861, 150 years ago today, Confederate forces opened fire on Federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. This action followed a series of aggressive actions taken over the prior week by South Carolina’s state government. The decision to bomb the fort and the expected response by President Lincoln led to a long and bloody war which divided many states, communities and even individual families.

In Plymouth County, however, there was strong support for the Union cause. For decades prior to the beginning of the Civil War, there were significant outpourings of anti-slavery interests led by the Abolitionists Movement. Island Grove Park in Abington was the site of many of these meetings.

Even now, 150 years after the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter, there remains evidence of that strong local support and the celebration of the eventual Union victory. Throughout our communities, there are plaques, statues and monuments honoring those soldiers and sailors who served the Union cause, including those who died on a far away battlefield.

Over the course of this anniversary year, we will bring forward through our historical records many examples of Plymouth County’s commitment to honoring those heroes.

One of the entries in our Notable Land Records Collecion is Brockton City Hall. This beautiful municipal building was built, in part, as a tribute to the veterans of the Civil War. I encourage anyone who has not viewed the magnificant paintings of Civil War battle scenes in the main lobby to do so.

We know that we’ve really turned the corner into spring when it is Opening Day at Fenway Park and the Masters Golf Tournament is underway.  Red Sox Nation is certainly on edge–facing the Yankees in the home opener with a 0-for-6 start.  There is always hope, however, for the next game or next series, and we still have a long way to go in this season.  It’s probably a good time to look back at some other successes to remind us of what this year should bring.

In the Plymouth County Notable Land Records Collection, we have two entries that will bring us the necessary confidence to brave this challenging start.  Ted Williams ran a baseball camp in Lakeville for many years, and Ken Coleman, the voice of the 1967 “Impossible Dream” team lived in Plymouth.  Their stories are part of our collection.

In addition, as the Masters finalists makes the turn onto the back nine at Augusta National Golf Course on Sunday afternoon, there will certainly be a mention of “Amen Corner” –a name coined by Brockton’s native son, Herbert Warren Wind, the world’s most famous golf writer,  while covering the 1958 Masters for Sports Illustrated.

We hope these great events don’t detract too much from the many people who are taking advantage of the improved weather conditions to look at purchasing a new home;  but, after you’ve done that, relax and enjoy some great traditions.  For these and many other historical and interesting achievements that have a Plymouth County connection, reflected in our land records, go the Plymouth County Notable Land Records Collection on this website.

March 2011 recording figures showed an increase in the numbers of both mortgages and deeds recorded.  We are slowly coming out of the winter doldrums that annually affect the housing market.  While there hasn’t been a spark igniting a boost in sales like last year’s federal stimulus program for first time home buyers, our traditional seasonal response to better weather ahead looks somewhat promising.

Mortgages, specifically refinances,  continue to move forward despite increases in mortgage rates.  There are still a lot of people in Plymouth County benefiting from current rates.  For the first quarter of 2011, we have seen a 16% rise in the number of mortgages recorded as compared to the first quarter of 2010.

The whole question of what is happening with national lenders and the processing of mortgage defaults remains a primary concern.  We saw increases in both foreclosure deeds and foreclosure notices in March. The impact of that very serious continuing problem on the spring real estate market remains an open question.

Go to our full March Register’s Report for further details and a community by community report on foreclosure deeds and notices.

Today, April 1st, is noteworthy for a variety of reasons.

By now, some people would have had an April Fool’s Day trick played on them.  Many people in Red Sox Nation are looking forward to this afternoon’s first regular season game of the Boston Red Sox which is, lucky for them, being played in Texas.

It is also a noteworthy day in the Registry’s three offices –in Plymouth, Brockton and Rockland.  We are recognizing the accomplishments of our Green Building Committee’s Second Annual “Holiday Season Cleanout” with a special green dress down day , to thank Registry employees and the many others who brought in paper recyclables to our Paper Retrieval bin from the holidays.

This project, as of last count for this year alone, has generated 3.19 Tons of recycled paper– saving 9.57 yards of landfill and 13,085.38 KWH (kilowatt hours) of energy saved.  This initiative brought forward and sustained by our employees also includes paper recycled by the Commissioners’ office and the Treasurer’s office. 

Through the recycling of paper, we have reduced our waste stream by 75% which will result in cost savings  in waste removal.

Our Green Building Committee is working with the County Maintenance Department on additional initatives.

Over this past week, we lost our longest serving registry employee to retirement. Vija Berzins of our Land Court Department retired after 52 years as an employee of the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds. Vija emigrated to the United States with her family from Latvia when she was a young girl. Two days after her graduation from high school, she began working for the registry, at our former building on Russell Street in Downtown Plymouth.

Vija served under four different Registers of Deeds.  Since arriving in the United States, she has lived in Duxbury. Vija will be remembered for her work ethic, her loyalty to her co-workers, friends and family, and above all else, her great sense of humor.

Vija’s years of service were recognized by her co-workers on her last day of work, Monday, February 28, 2011; first at the Registry of Deeds, and later that evening at dinner in a downtown Plymouth restaurant.  For pictures of Vija’s retirement, please click on Photo Gallery.

Laimigs Gadijums, Vija, from all your friends at the Registry!

The month of January brought a significant amount of snow–school closings and delayed openings to many businesses, and to the Registry’s operations on several occasions.  What was expected, however, was that real estate activity in Plymouth County entered the doldrums as shown in “The Registers Report” for January, 2011. 

Our normal slowdown in recordings did have several bright spots.  The number of January mortgages, based on continuing low interest rates, exceeded mortgage filings for January, 2010 by 34%.  In addition, for a variety of reasons, including, we suspect, the recent Massachusetts Supreme Judical Court’s Ibanez decision, the number of foreclosure deeds and foreclosure notices filed in Plymouth County as compared with January, 2010 dropped 50% and 76% respectively.

Please refer to the January version of the Monthly Register’s Report for January 2011 for more detailed information and a community by community report of foreclosure deeds and notices.