As a New Jersey Title Company it has been very frustrating to have to deal with the antiquated recordation practices in the state of New Jersey. However, the NJ Title Insurance industry has finally succeeded in setting the path towards modernizing the recording laws with the passage of Assembly Bill A2565, signed into law on January 17. This revision to the recording laws, supposedly establishes a statutory basis for the electronic recording of documents.The new law will require the implementation of a standardized cover page for indexing purposes and the adoption of regulations that will “foster state-wide uniformity” in title recordings as we move forward with the use of electronic recording technology.
The new law sets out a 5 year timetable for considering implementation of a per-document filing or recording fee instead of the current per-page fee that has existed for the recording of paper documents. DARM (NJ Division of Archives & Record Management) is charged with creating the regulations under which the county clerks and registers shall report the number, type and charge associated with recording the various document types and for providing reports including actual average per document charges.
Moreover the law has created a change to the existing Notice of Settlement (NOS) law, including extending the 45 day effective period to 60 days; providing that a second NOS may be filed for an additional 60 days of priority protection; and providing for a Discharge of a Notice of Settlement in the event a NOS must be cancelled on account of error or the noticed deed or mortgage transaction not proceeding. The statute provides a form at N.J.S.A 46:26A-11(c). Any New Jersey Title company should already require the filing of a Notice of Settlement in connection with every deed or mortgage transaction insured in New Jersey.
One change which all New Jersey Title Insurance company’s should like is a new requirement that all documents be recorded and indexed within two business days of receipt by the county recording office and that any documents that may be rejected be sent back within three days of receipt. This is especially important in that most counties in New Jersey have yet to adopt a digital recordation platform. As a NJ Title Company it sometimes takes more then a week to find out that a deed or mortgage has not been made of record after sending it in to the County’s Recorder of Deeds.
The new law comes into action as of May of 2012.
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