By Roberta Gubbins
Legal News
"What does the Register of Deeds do?" is a question I am asked frequently," said Curtis Hertel, Register of Deeds, speaking to the Ingham County Bar Association Probate Section on February 15th at the Michael Franck Building in Lansing.
"We are a 'Land Library.' We keep a history of the record."
"The biggest problem we have is a misunderstanding by clients and some attorneys on what our office does. We are not lawyers, we do not create documents, we don't change deeds, we can't tell people what to write on their documents. It is not our job to determine if the document does what you want it to do. My only job is: 'Is the document in recordable form?' "
The common errors frequently seen are:
* The names on the document do not match the signatures.
* We see a lot of notary errors where the names in the acknowledgement are not the same as the signatures.
* Transfer tax exemptions are forgotten.
* Fees stated are incorrect--we can't accept overpayments, even if by only a dollar.
Asked his position on legal descriptions, he said,
"If the document requires a tax stamp and the Treasurer's office can't certify it because the legal description is off, I can't record it and it is returned to you."
"Electronic recording," Hertel said, "is the wave of the future. Right now we are in the early stages and can only electronically record documents that don't require a tax stamp. Electronically filed documents are recorded immediately, mailed documents can take longer." In a state such as Michigan, which is a 'race to the courthouse' state, that could make a difference if there is a problem with ownership."
"We have an on-line presence for documents from 1960 forward," he said, "we are going through 750,000 records and making corrections. The documents on line are getting more accurate every day."
"The documents, which are a little blurry to hinder copying, are free to view on-line. It is $1.02 to print the document. We are careful with over the phone inquiries. We are not lawyers. We can give basic information, but there could be liability issues if we go further."
"We are trying to educate the public on the rights and responsibilities of home ownership. When people go to a closing, they sign numerous documents, which they don't read and often don't have any idea what they have just gotten themselves into."
"Compounding the problem" he added, "is the number of home foreclosures in Ingham County. While in a normal year, we have about 5 to 600, in the past three years we have been averaging between 1500 and 1600 a year."
"I am opposed to holding deeds for recording. First, the issue of homestead exemptions--if you put a quit claim deed in a safe and then file it upon death, you were not living in the home, you didn't have a homestead exemption, the assessor goes back for the three years prior for assessed taxes and penalties, which can be expensive."
"What the tax assessor says," he explained, "is that the deed is legal on the day it was signed, it doesn't matter when it was recorded."
"Fraud and safety are also issues. If a deed is in a safe--another, perhaps fraudulent deed can be filed. And an unrecorded deed can be lost or destroyed. Michigan is not a "shall record" state, however, a transaction must be reported to the assessor but it doesn't have to be recorded."
"Property fraud," said Hertel, "is one the fastest growing white collar crimes in America. It happens when a fraudulent document is recorded in the Register of Deeds making it look like someone else owns your home or property. They then use that land to secure loans. Michigan is one of the top five states where it is happening."
"It is fairly easy crime to commit and the elderly are the best targets--they have the most equity in their homes--and they can become confused."
"We have a property alert hotline. Once a homeowner's name and property is registered, every time a document is filed relating to their property, they get a notice of it. If it is something they expected, they don't do anything, if not, they notify the authorities."
"Title insurance is not helpful in these situations, since it insures the property up to a particular date--it insures clean title when the sale occurs, but doesn't help future actions--so it does not protect your home from fraud after the sale." The fraud alert hotline, available by phone at 1-800-728-3858 or at www.propertyfraudalert.com/inghammi, protects homeowners against fraud.
Curtis Hertel was elected Register of Deeds in 2010. He is the 31st Register of Deeds.
The next probate section meeting is March 15. Nancy Little will speak on Drafting Durable Powers of Attorney.
Published: Thu, Mar 3, 2011
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