Registry of Deeds Christmas Luncheon

Last week, some of the staff at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds celebrated the Christmas holiday with a delicious luncheon and Secret Santa gift exchange.  The party brought a bit of Christmas cheer to our office and helped to kickoff the holiday festivities.  Season's Greetings!

Web Changes

Last night two new updates were applied to the web.  The first update allows you to look at the abstracts previous to the one you are currently looking at.  To return to your listing, you can click the “Listing” button.  The second update allows one click viewing of your documents.  At this time you will need to close the tab to which the image is viewed in.  A close button will be added to the site by the end of this weekend. 

Wednesday night, November 12, 2014, a whole new interface will be presented to the public.  With the introduction of the new interface, the Registry will also be changing the Internet Service Provider.  As a result, bookmarks directly to the search site will no longer work and will need to be updated.  This new connection will be much faster and allow for even more information to the public.  Please use the URL www.hampdendeeds.com to obtain the latest version of our website and search site.

How-to videos will also be available at the time of the launch, and additional ones will be added as needed.      

Register of Deeds Donald E. Ashe Attends Holyoke Senior Fest

 

Yesterday, Hampden County Register of Deeds Donald E. Ashe attended the annual Holyoke Senior Fest at the John Paul II social center. The event drew in over 500 senior citizens and gave the Register an opportunity to answer questions pertaining to real estate within Hampden County, the Homestead Act, as well as the day-to-day functions of the Registry of Deeds. The event was a great success and we look forward to attending next year!

Register Ashe Releases Hampden County Real Estate Information for Fiscal Year 2014

Today, Register Ashe held his semiannual Release and Forecast for Fiscal Year 2014, in which he relayed real estate figures for Hampden County over the last fiscal year.  With the amount of total revenue collected down 6% and documents recorded down 16%, the Register gave his economic projections for Fiscal Year 2015:

 

"For a number of economists, the question is not when the national economy will recover completely; it is if the economy will completely recover.  Economic growth has never been weaker after any other recession since World War II.  During the past five years, 1.85 million low paying jobs have been created while 1.83 million medium ($13-$20 per hour) and high ($20-$32 per hour) paying jobs have been eliminated. Job growth is still more concentrated in lower paying industries making it difficult, if not impossible, for many of those individuals to purchase a home.

 Nationally, housing sales are slipping just when many of us thought it would be improving.  In Hampden County, the number of real estate documents recorded in FY 2014 decreased by 16 percent, and the amount of fees collected decreased by 6 percent from the prior fiscal year. However, an increase in property values during the past two years did cause the amount of money spent on real estate to exceed a billion dollars, a 17 percent increase over FY 2013......"

 

Click here to read the complete Release and Forecast for Fiscal Year 2014...

Registry of Deeds Attends the 2014 Senior Options Event Held by the Westfield Council on Aging

On April 22nd, Assistant Registers Donna and Caitlin attended the 2014 Senior Options event sponsored by the Westfield Council on Aging.  During this gathering, area seniors are invited to meet with local vendors and community agencies in order to collect various information.  Having an opportunity to reach the residents of Hampden County is something our office looks forward to each year.  Thank you to all those in attendance and to COA Executive Director Tina Gorman for inviting us each year!

Registry of Deeds Connects with Registry of Probate Via Terminal

Donald E. Ashe, Hampden County Register of Deeds, announced today: "The Registry of Deeds and Registry of Probate have completed an electronic connection between their respective offices, which will improve public access to information in the Registry of Probate's database".

 

A public access terminal from the Probate and Family Court system was installed in the Springfield Office of the Registry of Deeds.  The terminal will provide the same information that is available to the public in the terminals located within the Office of the Registry of Probate.  While in the Registry of Deeds, the public can now search for information on cases related to estates, divorces, name changes, guardianship and paternity in all of the counties in Massachusetts from 2000 to present.

 

Click here to read the complete Press Release...

2014 Annual Mitten Drive

Today, Register Donald E. Ashe and staff were excited to bring mittens, hats and scarves to the children of the Homer Street School in Springfield. Each year, the Register and the staff of the Hampden County Registry of Deeds donate these items in an effort to ensure that our communities' children stay warm in this cold, New England weather. We would like to thank Homer Street School Principal Kathleen Sullivan for graciously hosting us this morning and we look forward to doing this again next year!

 

 

 

Register Ashe Holds his Semiannual Release and Forecast for Calendar Year 2013

Yesterday, Register Donald E. Ashe held his semiannual Release and Forecast, which highlights information such as revenue collected and documents recorded in 2013, as well as his projections for 2014.  The Register was very pleased to share that 2013 was the first time that Hampden County has spent over $1 billion dollars on real property since 2009.  While the data is encouraging, Register Ashe finds it important to note that it will continue to take quite some time to reach pre-2007 figures.

 

"For those of you who may have missed the economic recovery, 2014 just might be the year it’s noticed. While conflicting views still exist relative to our country’s economic health, a significant amount of healing has occurred since 2009. The national economy is expected to grow in 2014 by 3%, which will be the first time annual growth has reached this mark since 2007.

 

The housing recovery is continuing, household debt is declining, job gains are gradually improving and Congress has passed a two year budget. There are reasons to be optimistic about the economy in 2014. Existing home sales are trending upward, while interest rates remain low. We should see an improvement in new home construction as population growth causes an increase in demand. There are, however, some potential concerns, such as a continuation of tight lending standards, a dramatic increase in the interest rates and slower than expected job growth...."

 

Click here to read the complete Register's complete Release and Forecast for Calendar Year 2013...

 

 

Click here to read The Republican's coverage of yesterday's press conference...

 

 

 

 

Registry Employee, Eli, Recognized for Outstanding Attendance Achievement!

 

On Monday, January 6th, Register Donald E. Ashe and staff recognized Registry employee, Eli, for his exceptional accomplishment of going six full months without requesting the use of any sick time. This was a personal goal of Eli's and we appreciate his conscientiousness and commitment to our office. Eli's willingness to help his co-workers and continual eagerness to learn has largely contributed to the stellar reputation that the Hampden County Registry of Deeds strives to maintain. Congratulations, Eli on a job well done!