Website Prices Reduced to 25 cents per page.
John Simpson, General Manager, MacImage of Maine LLC
207-846-0921, jsimpson@maine.rr.com
Cumberland, Maine (September 9, 2009) – Today MacImage of Maine LLC announced plans to expand its www.RegistryofDeeds.com website to provide access to all land records (deeds, mortgages, liens etc.) in the State of Maine. Ten years ago, MacImage of Maine built the first website in Maine to provide Internet access to documents filed in a registry of deeds. For several years, the website MacImage hosted for Hancock County was the only Maine registry of deeds website. Title researchers, real estate professionals, bankers and others who needed copies of deeds from other counties had to go to their county courthouse and search for those documents in registry books.
A statewide registry of deeds website will be another first for MacImage of Maine. In recent years, all Maine counties have made land records available on websites. However, there is no one website which provides fast and efficient access to all land records in the State. According to MacImage of Maine's general manager, John Simpson, this is a problem for those who perform statewide property searches or need copies of land records from several counties. Those persons could have to set up accounts with as many as 16 separate registry websites, each of which has its own fee structure. And, since five different companies currently host registry websites for Maine counties, there are five different computer systems to master.
Attorney Sigmund Schutz, whose law firm Preti Flaherty represents MacImage, said a decision in Maine's Superior Court just recently made it possible for MacImage to obtain copies of all the electronic records needed for a statewide registry website. The Superior Court ruled on September 1, 2009 in MacImage of Maine v. Hancock County, that documents in Maine registries of deeds are public records within the meaning of the Freedom of Access Law and, therefore, Maine counties may not prevent MacImage of Maine from obtaining copies of those documents at a reasonable cost.
Prior to the MacImage v. Hancock County decision, registry of deeds offices in Maine refused to provide bulk access to electronic copies of their documents. Copies of documents had to be purchased one at a time for prices as high as $3.00 per page. The court decision did not address whether a price of $1.50 per page for copies purchased individually was reasonable, but did find that charging $240,000 for a bulk purchase of copies of all documents filed during 2007 and 2008 was not reasonable and constituted constructive denial of access to public records and thus violated Maine's Freedom of Access law.
MacImage of Maine intends to acquire copies of recorded documents from all Maine Registry of Deeds offices and then provide access to those documents on the company's www.RegistryofDeeds.com website. There will be no fee to search for and view documents on the website. Website users will pay a fee for purchasing printable copies, but that fee will likely be lower than the fees charged on county websites. MacImage currently charges 75 cents per page to print documents recorded in Hancock County (half of what that County charges on its website).
Despite clear benefits, not everyone is happy with the planned statewide registry website. Each year Maine counties collect tens of thousands of dollars from the sale of copies of deeds and other land records. County officials across the state are very concerned that their counties may lose a significant amount revenue if people purchase copies from a statewide website instead of individual county websites.
According to Simpson, county officials need not be so concerned. Simpson expects revenue from individual county websites to decline substantially after implementation of a statewide website. However, his company intends to share income from the statewide website with counties and provide other ways to offset lost copy revenue.
John Simpson intends to meet with county officials as soon as possible to discuss his company’s plans and the many benefits of a statewide website. "My goal is to create a win-win situation for all involved," says Simpson. "One website that provides efficient access to land records statewide will be a great benefit to several thousand people whose work includes researching property records. There are definitely ways to accomplish this goal which protect or improve the financial bottom line for Maine Counties."
Pdf Version of Press Release
The price charged for printable copies of documents on this website has been reduced to 25 cents per page for regular recorded documents. The price for printable copies of plans has also been reduced and is now $0.50 per page. Website visitors should be aware that these prices may change without notice in the future.
