Top Ten events of past years

Every December I publish a list of the Top Ten events at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds for that year.  The 2011 list will be done this Friday, December 30.  In the meantime, I've listed below the Number One item from Top Ten lists of years past, with links to each year's full list:

2010: Electronic recording continues to become a major point of entry into the registry for new documents. From January to June, electronic recordings constituted 15% of our average daily recordings; from July to December, electronic recordings accounted for 23% of our daily recordings.

2009:  The state’s financial crisis caused mid-year cuts and a reduced budget for FY10, curbing our ability to implement new technology and registry-related applications.

2008: The Paperless Registry – On April 1, 2008, we closed off the Lower Record Hall to public access and thereby made all record books and indexes available only on our computer system.

2007: On August 20, 2007, we fully implemented our “scan and return” operation. From that day forward, all recorded documents were scanned at the time of recording and immediately returned to the customer.

2006: To reduce the risk of identity theft, registry employees redacted thousands of social security numbers from previously recorded documents.

2005: Electronic Recording became a daily event during 2005 with nearly 1,000 documents recorded in this manner. There are many details that must still be resolved, but the technology has proven to be useful and reliable.