2024 Register of Deeds Berkshire Middle District
Massachusetts is divided into 21 registry districts, each with an elected Register of Deeds who serves for a six-year term. Each registry records all documents about real estate ownership within its district. The register of deeds helps facilitate the process of transferring registered land property ownership.
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Patsy Harris
(Dem)
What are the principal challenges facing the Register of Deeds?
What are your priorities, if elected?
How would you ensure that records are accessible to people for whom English is not their primary language and to people without reliable access to the internet?
What changes, if any, would you make at the Registry of Deeds?
What do you most want the voters to know about you as a candidate?
Campaign Phone
4138224937
Although the Berkshire Middle District Registry of Deeds contributes, on average, $4.8 million dollars annually to the Commonwealth's coffers, it operates on a very small percentage of its revenue. Therefore, I'd say that working within the budgeted allowance is one of my biggest challenges. The two line items that are always increasing are technology and payroll. Keeping pace with technology and the costs associated with maintaining a software program that adequately provides a recording platform as well as public access while avoiding security breaches is an ongoing challenge that requires constant updating and monitoring. A knowledgeable staff is mandatory to assist in vetting, processing, and recording documents presented daily.
My priorities will remain the same as they’ve always been from the first day I took office in 2013. This includes excellent customer service, providing the most efficient method of recording as well as full access to all of our records. Always focusing on innovative ways to modernize my office without jeopardizing the integrity of the documents we record, I implemented rules and regulations for electronic recording and will do the same when the remote online notarization law comes into effect in Massachusetts.
For people who speak languages other than English, our website, www.Berkshiremiddledeeds.com, provides an option to choose four additional languages that are just a click away: Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese. For onsite assistance, I would encourage everyone who requires assistance to bring with them a trusted friend or family member who could translate for them. As always, my staff and I will do everything in our power to ensure everyone comprehends the information they require. Currently, no document written in a language other than English can be recorded unless it is accompanied by a certified translation into English.
As of 2022, approximately 5.3 percent of the population in Pittsfield are Hispanic. In light of this statistic, I believe it would be useful to provide a Spanish-speaking staff member to assist our customers whose primary language is Spanish. Although budgetary constraints would not allow this type of hiring at this time, it would be a priority if funding was made available.
Voters should know that my experience within the registry of deeds encompasses over 23 years. I have worked my way up from a Junior Clerk to the Register of Deeds; becoming familiar with every aspect of the registry. I have proudly served as President of the Massachusetts Registers and Assistant Registers Association for a term that was extended until the end of the pandemic. I am committed to serving all of the members in each of the communities that make up the Berkshire Middle District.
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