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Merrimack County Registry of Deeds
2004 Annual Report

The Merrimack County Registry of Deeds had a slight decrease in the volume of recordings in 2004. We saw a slight increase in the number of conveyances, but a significant decrease in the number of mortgages and refinances. The decrease in mortgages and refinancing was due to the increase in interest rates over record lows the previous year. We saw a decline in the volume of recordings and revenue generated in 2004 as compared to 2003.

Our website which allows our users to work 24/7/365 doing searches and copying documents in the comfort of their home or office, continued to bring in significant revenues.  The website offers a lot of information relative to the Registry operation as well as a Grantor and Grantee index and images from 1920 to present. Title companies, banks, and attorneys using the website can complete most of their title work in their office before coming to the Registry to update and record.

We are continuing with a number of projects that have been ongoing for the past several years and have added a few new ones. We have completed the input of over eighty years of pre computer era index into our computer system and the conversion of those indexes to optical disk. The ongoing project of scanning the older documents to disk is continuing along.  We have backtracked to the early 1940s and now have those documents available on disk. We have optically scanned all of our original plans into the imaging system going back to the early 1800's.

We have continued with the restoration and repair of the older historical volumes of records that are in need of repair by scanning the originals before sending them out for restoration. We have also continued to address some of the original historical plans that are in need of restoration and repair.

Even though the volume of records decreased compared to last year, we continued to bring in substantial revenue to the county.  In 2004, the Registry of Deeds collected $13,961,402.00 in real estate transfer tax that was paid over to the state of New Hampshire. The county received a four percent commission on the total tax which amounted to $558,053.26 in revenue to the county. The amount collected for recording fees was $1,473,736.92, copy fees $109,067.07, interest of $9,606.06 and $123,728.92 in website revenue for a total of $2,158.483.87 paid over to the County Treasurer. Total collected including the surcharge account was $ 2,255,435.77.

In 1995 we initiated through legislation, a surcharge fee on documents being recorded. The purpose of the surcharge is to ensure funding for the lease, purchase or rental of equipment in the Registry of Deeds.  This surcharge helps to eliminate the need to appropriate significant funds through the budget for equipment.  This account has saved the taxpayers of Merrimack County thousands of dollars.  In 2004 we collected $96,951.90 in surcharge fees that was used for paying the lease of optical imaging equipment.

I would like to again thank my staff for their continued outstanding job that they do in ensuring that the real estate records for Merrimack County are efficiently and accurately received and maintained.
 

Shown below is a breakdown of the conveyances, mortgages, and miscellaneous instruments recorded during the years 1984-2002. The miscellaneous category includes instruments such as discharges, liens, leases and other like documents.

Year	Convey.	Mortg.	Sub. Tot.	Misc.	Total
1984	5,322	4,890	10,212	8,083	18,295
1985	6,652	6,685	13,337	10,976	24,313
1986	9,059	10,262	19,321	16,187	35,508
1987	7,759	10,931	18,690	17,382	36,072
1988	6,266	8,420	14,686	14,267	28,953
1989	5,671	7,055	12,726	12,616	25,342
1990	4,780	5,085	9,865	11,733	21,598
1991	5,008	4,135	9,143	11,533	20,676
1992	5,305	5,816	11,121	13,645	24,766
1993	5,490	6,515	12,005	14,194	26,199
1994	5,841	5,332	13,022	11,332	24,354
1995	5,893	4,566	10,459	13,351	23,810
1996	5,831	5,521	11,352	12,751	24,103
1997	5,601	5,582	11,183	13,972	25,155
1998	6,954	9,031	15,985	17,955	33,940
1999	7,415	8,755	16,170	18,537	34,707
2000	7,098	7,457	14,555	14,384	28,939
2001	7,019	11,474	18,493	18,496	36,989
2002	7397	14,216	21,613	22,541	44,154
2003	7287	18,670	25,957	32,165	58,122
2004	7456	15,447	22,903	22,234	45,137

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