SIDNEY — The Shelby County Recorder’s office has seen a decrease in revenue in 2018.
“Revenue which is generated from recording fees for real estate transactions including, but not limited to, deeds, mortgages, lease agreements and easements is down 11.5 percent from 2017,” said Recorder Jodi Siegel. “This is partially due to the number of mortgages recorded in 2018 being down 10 percent from 2017. Due to rising interest rates, it could be assumed that the recording revenue may continue to decrease, but reports of a strong real estate market could also mean an increase in revenue for 2019.”
Siegel’s report continues:
When comparing correlating document types from 2017 to 2018, we would expect to find the number of all processed document types decreasing in 2018. One document type which is an exception is military discharges. Although discharges have nothing to do with real estate, they are recorded in the Recorder’s office. The increased number of discharges being recorded is due to the popularity of the Veteran ID card which the Shelby County Veterans Services office has been issuing to veterans.
One of the requirements for a card to be issued is for the military discharge record to be recorded in the county recorder’s office. There is no fee to record veteran military discharge records, but the Recorder’s office does ask that veteran’s bring their original discharge in for recording. Discharges with poor legibility are often presented for recording and in some situations; it is the only documentation a veteran has ever been issued. It is the Recorder’s responsibility to require original documents which must be legible.
We have found that the Shelby County Veteran’s Service office has been very willing to assist veterans in an attempt to obtain a legible document when the veteran does not already possess one.
I am pleased to report on the passage of positive legislation affecting recorder’s offices. Amended House Bill 52, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Rezabek, unanimously passed the House and Senate Chambers in 2018. As a county recorder, I am very pleased with the passage of the bill and very thankful to Rep. Rezabek for his leadership on this issue and his ability to shepherd this commonsense bill through the legislative process in a timely manner.
Citizens across Ohio will benefit from Amended HB 52. HB 52 will help protect Ohio’s seniors and other unsuspecting populations against deceptive marketing practices. Amended House Bill 52 comes in response to deed solicitation scams plaguing many Ohioans including elderly and first time homeowners, whereby companies outside of Ohio will send official looking notifications to homeowners informing them that they need a copy of their property deed which they could provide for a charge of $80 – $90. Typically, unbeknownst to the property owner, a copy of their deed may be obtained from the county recorder’s office for a minimal fee.
Also, if the property is located in Shelby County, the property owner will most likely be able to obtain a copy of their deed from uslandrecords.com for no fee. The provisions under Amended House Bill 52 require that specific disclosures be made to consumers when they are solicited a fee for real property deeds, including the cost to obtain the deed from the county recorder, the contact information for the county recorder, and the name and address of the person soliciting the fee. The bill also prohibits charging a fee of more than four times the cost to obtain a copy of a deed from the county recorder.
