SUFFOLK REGISTRY OF DEEDS CLOSURE
As of Saturday, March 28, 2020, as the result of a COVID-19 exposure at the Edward Brooke Courthouse, the entire facility is now closed to both the public and all courthouse employees.
Click here
for the full official notice.
From Monday, March 30 to Friday, April 3, the only recording that will occur is the
electronic recording of recorded land documents
– which will be recorded by staff remotely from home.
While the Suffolk Registry of Deeds plans to reopen to the public and resume normal operations on Monday, April 6, 2020, we recommend that you monitor the website for further updates.
Please note that the Suffolk Registry of Deeds staff cannot access the facility and, therefore, cannot record either recorded land or registered land mail sent in by FedEx, UPS, or the U.S. Mail.
GAP COVERAGE
In an ongoing effort to assist our Agents in effectively responding to the disruption resulting from the pandemic (COVID-19) and in mitigating and containing its effects, CATIC takes this opportunity to reaffirm that it is providing gap coverage in its title policies,
with no limitation on the size of the policy
, for
both commercial and residential transactions
, due to the closure of a Registry of Deeds that prevents documents from being recorded immediately after the closing. If you require gap coverage for a
registered land
transaction, please contact one of our Underwriters for authorization to provide gap coverage to insure the same.
We have also prepared a
video
and a set of
FAQs
that explain how gap coverage works.
In an effort to best protect our Agents and the Company, we ask that Agents use best efforts to have both the Seller and Buyer on a sale/Borrower on a refinance execute the
attached Gap Indemnity
.
While we do not mandate that Agents include a specific requirement in their Commitments relative to gap coverage, we have had many Lenders direct Agents to do so. In the event that you are asked to include a requirement for gap coverage, the requirement would be as follows: “In order to provide gap coverage, obtain satisfactory Gap Indemnity.”
We have been asked by many Lenders to provide our “COVID-19 Policy” or confirmation that we will provide gap coverage. In the event that your lender asks for confirmation of the same, we will gladly provide them with written confirmation.
LAND COURT INTERIM PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE APPROVALS
The Land Court has announced that its Title Examiners will approve documents that constitute an emergency via electronic mail on an
interim procedure
until further notice. This process is subject to change, revision, or suspension by the Court.
PLOT PLANS
We have received a number of calls regarding the inability to obtain Plot Plans. Please see
attached reminders
regarding requirements for issuing policies.
MUNICIPAL LIEN CERTIFICATES, WATER AND SEWER, ETC.
We have received a number of calls regarding the inability to obtain Municipal Lien Certificates, final water readings, and/or other municipal charges due to City/Town closures. As each situation varies, we ask that you please contact a member of the Underwriting staff to seek guidance for your particular situation on a case-by-case basis.
REMOTE NOTARIZATION
We have also received numerous calls about the ability to conduct remote notarization in order to accomplish closings during this current health crisis. As many of you know, CATIC is actively supporting recently proposed Massachusetts legislation,
An Act relative to remote notarization during COVID-19 state of emergency
, which would (i) permit real estate closings to continue; (ii) ensure that our industry does its part to encourage social distancing to stop the spread of the virus; (iii) protect Massachusetts consumers and the integrity of the settlement process; and (iv) protect the role of the attorney in all Massachusetts real estate transactions. For more information see
Memo from our State Manager here
.
CATIC will continue to monitor the situation and may send out revisions to these guidelines as circumstances warrant. As always, our staff is ready to help you in any way that we can. Please
click here
for contact information.
