Traps for the Unwary in Complying with New Ohio County Recorders' Format Requirements
It's been a couple of months now since Ohio's new recording law (revised Ohio Rev. Code section 317.114) regarding the required format of documents and instruments filed in county recorder's office went into effect. Such documents and instruments includes deeds, mortgages, easements, mechancs' liens, and similar items. And it appears that the new formatting requirements are being VERY strictly enforced throughout the state.
For those not yet in the know, effective July 1, 2009, it became very important to pay attention to the formatting of documents and instruments to be filed in county recorder's offices. The most important requirements now are:
- There must be a 3 inch margin on the top of the first page so that there is adequate room for county officers to affix their various filing information; 1 1/2 inch margin on the top of the remaining pages
- All other margins (side and bottom) must be at least 1 inch,
- Signatures must only be in blue or black ink.
- At least 10 point font type must be used
And what if you mess up? Well then you must pay an additional $20 recording fee.
Now while you might think these are a pain, they don't seem like they would be all that hard to do, right? Here's some things you might not have thought of that are falling afoul of the new law:
- The required margins are sacrosanct. Among other things which do NOT or may not comply are:
- Document ID numbers in the footer (at least at my office, these are automatically added)
- Signatures which bleed into the side margins or are too close to the bottom. People with long names or who have capital G, J, Y or Z or lower case f, g, j , p, q or y in their names may be particular risks in this area
- Page numbers
- "Return to" or "This Instrument prepared by" notations in the margins
- Borrower's intials often found in the lower right hand corner of form residential mortgages
- Notary's stamp encroaching on a margin
- Older file-stamped legal descriptions used as exhibits
- At least 10 point type means EVERYWHERE. Here's some things which may not have crossed your mind:
- Document ID numbers
- Older file-stamped legal descriptions used as exhibits
- "Return to" or "This Instrument prepared by" notations
Subsection (B) does have certain exceptions such as any document originating with a court or taxing authority or from a state or federal agency
Bottomline, until you get used to the new requirements, take special care to make sure your documents comply. Or I suppose you could just decide you'd rather just pay the extra $20.
