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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 358S.P. 144 In Senate, February 3, 2025
An Act to Increase Fees Paid to Registers of Deeds
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 30, 2025. Referred to the Committee
on State and Local Government pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Cosponsored by Senators: BAILEY of York, LIBBY of Cumberland, MARTIN of Oxford. Page 1 - 132LR0068(01)
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2 as amended by PL 2013, c. 370, §1, is further
3 amended to read:
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5 may be recorded and for which a specific fee is not set forth in this section or in any other
6 section, the sum of $19 for the first record page and $2 for each additional record page or
7 portion of an additional record page $45 per instrument recorded. In addition, if more than
8 4 names are to be indexed, a fee of $1 must be paid for each additional name, counting all
9 grantors and grantees;
10 as amended by PL 2013, c. 370, §2, is further
11 amended to read:
12 Recording, indexing and preserving plans, the sum of $21 $45;
13 as amended by PL 2005, c. 246, §3, is
14 repealed.
15 as amended by PL 2013, c. 370, §3, is
16 further amended to read:
17 A. Five Ten dollars per page for paper copies of plans; and
18 as enacted by PL 2013, c. 370, §4, is amended
19 to read:
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22 consecutive electronic images or electronic abstracts from a county registry of deeds
23 equipped to provide downloads of images or electronic abstracts, 5¢ 50¢ per image or
24 electronic abstract. A person acquiring downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive electronic
25 images or abstracts from a county registry of deeds may not sell such images or abstracts
26 to another person;
27 as enacted by PL 2013, c. 370, §5, is amended
28 to read:
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31 abstracts from a county registry of deeds website as follows:
32 A. No charge for the first 500 100 images or electronic abstracts, or a combination of
33 the first 500 100 images and electronic abstracts, acquired by a person in a calendar
34 year; and
35 B. Fifty cents per image or electronic abstract for each subsequent image or electronic
36 abstract after 500 100 acquired in the same calendar year; and
37 as amended by PL 2017, c. 116, §1, is further
38 amended to read:
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40 collect a surcharge of $3 $5 per document for all records that are recorded in the registry
41 of deeds, except those recorded by agencies of State Government, including quasi- Page 2 - 132LR0068(01)
42 independent state entities as defined in Title 5, section 12021, subsection 5, and
43 municipalities.
3 as enacted by PL 2003, c. 294, §3, is amended to
4 read:
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6 joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local
7 government matters on the amount of surcharge funds raised and expended and the use of
8 those funds if requested to do so by the committee. The registers of deeds may jointly
9 prepare and submit the report required under this subsection, as long as the required
10 information is separately described for each county.
11This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.
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13 This bill increases fees paid to a county register of deeds for certain services. It
14 implements a flat fee of $45 for receiving, recording and indexing instruments that do not
15 already have a specific fee set forth in statute and changes the fee for recording, indexing
16 and preserving plans to $45. The bill also increases fees applicable to electronic or printed
17 images and electronic abstracts from a county registry of deeds website and increases the
18 surcharge a register of deeds may collect per document. It also increases the fees associated
19 with downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive electronic images or abstracts from a county
20 registry of deeds and prohibits the buyer from selling such images or abstracts to another
21 person. The bill also repeals a $13 fee for requests for more than one previously recorded
22 instrument. In current law, an annual report is required from the register of deeds for each
23 county to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and
24 local government matters on the amount of surcharge funds raised and expended and the
25 use of those funds; the bill makes the report required only if requested by the committee.
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