An Act to Increase fees
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0358
Committee Amendment CA_A_S192 (Senate)
Amends: 33 MRSA §604, 33 MRSA §751, 33 MRSA §753

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 144, L.D. 358, "An Act to Increase fees 
Paid to Registers of Deeds" 
Amend the bill by insel'ting before section I the following: 
'Sec, 1. 33 MRSA §604, 3rd ,I, as enacted by PL l 979, c. 71 0, § 1, is amended to 
read: 
Registers shall ~oopy eaoh wat·ranty or quitclaim deee send an electronic 01· paper 
copy oftrnnsfers received and send tl~e copy to the assessors of the appropl'iate municipality 
in the format requested by the assessors within 30 days ofrecordation. !f-hey Registers may 
charge a reasonable fee for such sel'vioe a paper copy provided pursuant to this paragraph.' 
Amend the bill by stl'iking out all of section 1 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 33 MRSA §751, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2013, c. 370, §I, is fm1her 
amended to read: 
1. Instruments genemlly, Receiving, recording and indexing any instl'Ument that 
may be recorded and for which a specific fee is not set forth in this section or in any other 
section, the s1;1ffi of $19 for tho first record page and $2 for eaoh additional 1·eo01·d page or 
pet'-tion of an additional reco1·d page, In addition1 if ffiore than 4 names are to be indexed, 
a fee of $1 must be paid for each additional natue, counting all graators an.cl graHtees; a flat 
fee charged as follows: 
A. Twenty-five dollars per instrnment recorded at the request of the State or a 
municipality; and 
B. Thirty-five dollars per instrument recorded at the request of all other persons.' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 5 and inserting the following: 
'Sec, 5, 33 MRSA §751, sub-§14-)), as enacted by PL 2013, c. 370, §4, is amended 
to read: 
14-D. Downloads of 1,000 or mo1•e consecutive electt·onic images &l'-eleet-¥ett-ie 
nhstl'nets from a county registry of deeds, Acquiring downloads of 1,000 01· more 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A 
II to S.P. 144, L.D. 358 {S· Jq :S) 
consecutive electronic images or eleotronio abstracts from a county registry of deeds that 
lli equipped to and voluntarily agrees to provide downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive 
electronic images 01· electronic abstrnots pmsuant to a written agreement with the person 
l'equesting the downloads,&¢- 25¢ per image 0r electronic abstract;' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 6 and inse11ing the following: 
'Sec. 6. 33 MU.SA §751, sub-§14"E, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 370, §S 1 is amended 
to read: 
14-E. Electronic images; m: printed images &P-ekeh·onie abstl'aets from a county 
i◄egistry of deeds website, Acquiring electronic images; or printed images or eleotrol+i€-
abstrnets from a county registry of deeds website as follows: 
A. No charge for the first SOO 400 electrnnic images 0r eleetronio abstrnots, or a 
eombination of the first 500 images and eleetrnnio abstrnots, acquired by a person in a 
calendar year; l:l-M 
B. Fifty cents per electronic image 01· electronic abstract for each subsequent image Of 
eleotronio abstract aftei· ~ 
electronic images acquired under paragraph A in the 
same calendar year, except that a municipality may not be charged a fee under this 
paragraph for acquisition of any number of electronic images from a county registry of 
deeds website; and 
C. One dollar pet· printed image acquired, not including any applicable 12ostage rates 
set by the county: and' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 8 and insetting the following; 
1Sec. 8. 33 MRSA §753, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 370, §6, is repealed.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment requires county registe1·s of deeds to send an electronic or paper copy 
of transfers received to the assessors of the appropriate municipality in the format requested 
by the assessors within 30 days ofrecordation instead ofrequit-ing county registers of deeds 
to send a photocopy of each warranty or quitclaim deed received as provided under current 
law. The amendment also clarifies that county registers of deeds may charge a reasonable 
fee for a paper copy provided. 
The amendment also establishes a flat fee for receiving, 1·ecording and indexing any 
instrument that may be recm·ded and for which a specific fee is not set forth in current law. 
These fees are $25 per instnnnent recorded at the request of the State or a municipality and 
$35 per instrument recorded at the request of all other persons. 
The amendment removes the reference to electronic abstracts and changes from 5¢ to 
25¢ per image the cost for acquiring downloads of 1,000 01· more consecutive electronic 
images from a county regishy of deeds that is equipped to and voluntat'ily agrees to provide 
downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive electronic images pursuant to a written agreement 
with the person requesting the downloads. The amendment also 1·em.oves from the bill the 
prohibition that a person acquiring downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive electronic 
images from a county registty of deeds may not sell such images to another person. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A "toS.P.144,L.D.358 {s, 1qJ') 
The amendment also changes the number of electronic images or printed images a 
person can acquire in a calendar year for no charge from the first 100 electronic images 01· 
printed images, as in the bill, to the fit-st 400 electronic images. The amendment provides 
that the charge of 50¢ per subsequent electronic image afte1· 400 images acquired in the 
same calendar yea1· does not apply to municipalities. The amendment also introduces a 
$ 1.00 charge per p!'inted image, not including any applicable postage rates set by the 
county. 
The amendment removes from the bill the provision that makes the annual repmt 
optional from the registry of deeds for each coimty to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jmisdiction over state and local govemment matters regarding 
surcharge funds. 
The amendment also repeals the definition of "electronic abstract.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT