Monroe County Clerk Adam Bello says he’s changing his office’s policy on refunding miscalculated deed and mortgage recording fees.
These payments are usually calculated by your attorney or abstract company when you buy or sell a house, and they’re paid on your behalf. They’re frequently overcalculated because they want to be on the safe side. Bello says thousands of such transactions were overpaid over the last six years.
Until now, the clerk’s office has capped refunds at $5 and kept the rest as revenue, usually about $15,000 a year. Bello says he found this out last year and doesn’t believe it’s right for the office to keep that money.
Refunds will now be paid in full.