Added Document Fee Will Aid Homeless Fund; Charge also Starts Feb. 1 for ‘eRecordings’

CREST HAVEN – Beginning Feb. 1, certain documents recorded in the Cape May County Clerk’s Office will have $3 added. The extra sum will be dedicated to the county’s Homelessness Trust Fund.
Freeholders established that fund by resolution Dec. 27. At the Dec. 13 meeting, the board adopted a 10-year plan to end homelessness in the county. That was the initial step necessary to enable the fee collection.
The $3 surcharge will be imposed on each “permitted” document processed by the County Clerk’s Office.
County Clerk Rita Fulginiti said her office is presently working to update its fee schedule for customers.
“That schedule will define which specific documents will have the Homelessness fee assessed,” Fulginiti said.
“The Homelessness fee is an additional recording fee assessed on most recorded land documents including deeds, mortgages and mortgage discharge documents. Notably excepted in the law are Assignments of Mortgage and Mortgage Modification Agreements.
“The fee will be assessed on electronic recordings as well as manual recordings which come over the counter and by mail and courier.
“This fee is separate from and does not affect the New Jersey Realty Transfer Fee collections,” the clerk continued.
Fulginiti said earlier in 2016 she had estimated the fee would bring in approximately $90,000 annually. “Had we been collecting the fee this year since January we would have realized a bit over $100,000 into the fund,” she added.
Convenience Fee
Also beginning Feb. 1 the County Clerk’s Office will start collecting an eRecording Convenience Fee of $2 per document eRecorded (about third of recordings are electronically transmitted).
At the Dec. 13 meeting freeholders adopted an eRecording Convenience fee assessing $2 per each document electronically recorded in the County Clerk’s Office.
That fee will fund the maintenance and upgrades to the systems which support electronic recording for customers, Fulginiti said. “This shifts the cost of eRecording from the taxpayers to the users of the service,” she added.