The Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Wednesday issued a report on the fees charged by county Recorders of Deeds that found counties often collected more revenue that would be sufficient to cover the costs to operate their offices.
Among the other findings in the report are--
-- Fees to record deeds, mortgages and other documents can be difficult to determine;
-- Recorders collect many fees that do not directly relate to the activities necessary to record documents;
-- Larger counties tend to collect more revenue per document filed than smaller counties;
-- Recorders supported a recommendation to allow Recorders to set their own base fees up to a legislatively mandated maximum; and
-- Due to changes in the federal Truth In Lending Act many states are moving toward predictable Recorder fees to avoid delays and penalties at settlement.
Click Here for a copy of the report. Click Here for a report summary.
Sen. Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery) serves as Chair of the Joint Committee.
