NOTICE
Per NCGS 132-1.8(g)
Any person preparing or filing a document for recordation or filing in the official records may not include a social security, employer taxpayer identification, drivers license, state identification, passport, checking account, savings account, credit card, or debit card number, or personal identification (PIN) code or passwords in the document, unless expressly required by law or court order, adopted by the State Registrar on records of vital events, or redacted so that no more than the last four digits of the identification number is included.
Any person has a right to request a register of deeds to remove, from an image or copy of an official record placed on a register of deeds’ Internet Web site available to the general public or on an Internet Web site available to the general public used by a register of deeds to display public records, any social security, employer taxpayer identification, drivers license, state identification, passport, checking account, savings account, credit card, or debit card number, or personal identification (PIN) code or passwords contained in an official record. The request must be made in writing and delivered by mail, facsimile, or electronic transmission, or delivered in person, to the register of deeds. The request must specify the personal information to be redacted, information that identifies the document that contains the personal information and unique information that identifies the location within the document that contains the social security, employer taxpayer identification, drivers license, state identification, passport, checking account, savings account, credit card, or debit card number, or personal identification (PIN) code or passwords to be redacted. No fee will be charged for the redaction pursuant to such a request. Any person who requests a redaction without proper authority to do so shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each violation.
New Recording Fee for Deeds of Trust & Mortgages
Effective October 1, 2008, Section 29.7 of the 2008 Appropriations Act increased the fee for “filing a deed of trust or mortgage” from $12 to $22 for the first page, and $3 for each additional page. Session Law 2008-102, § 29.7. The fee applies to a deed of trust or mortgage registered on or after October 1, 2008, regardless of the date on which the instrument was executed or acknowledged. The statute makes no distinction based on whether the deed of trust or mortgage was previously recorded, so the extra fee apparently applies to a rerecording of a deed of trust or mortgage. The statute specifically refers to “a deed of trust or mortgage,” which indicates that the extra fee would not apply merely because a different kind of document is related to an lready recorded deed of trust or mortgage, such as would be the case with a satisfaction instrument or an amendment to a recorded deed of trust.
Rerecording Document Changes
Effective October 1, 2008, to rerecord an original document without verification the presenter must mark it on its first page as a“rerecording,” a representation on which the register may rely. The register checks for this mark and for recording information that shows it is a previously recorded document. The register has no responsibility to check for alterations on such pages. The statutes also have been revised to remove the confusing indication of permission to record “altered” certified copies. When a document is submitted for recording as a certified copy the register checks only to see that it is a document with a record keeper’s “certified copy” mark. The register is not responsible for looking for alterations that make the document different than what was certified by the record keeper – in other words, not truly a certified copy. See G.S. 47-31(a) & 47-36.1