Fee increase for recording documents passed

Senators passed a bill April 11 that increases the fees required for recording documents – such as deeds, mortgages and wills – with the register of deeds.

LB14, introduced last session by Lexington Sen. John Wightman, increases the fee for recording documents with the register of deeds from $5 per page to $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page.

The adjustment increases by $2.50 the fee for recording the first page of a document and by 50 cents for any additional pages. One half of the additional funds generated by the increase are designated to fund the preservation, maintenance and modernization of public records in the register of deed’s office.

The increase eliminates the current 50-cent indexing fee for each lot or section for the first five indexes.

The bill also increases the uniform fee associated with recording documents pursuant to the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act, payable to the Nebraska Secretary of State, from $6 to two times the fee required for recording instruments with the register of deeds.

The uniform fee will continue to be split evenly between the secretary of state and each designated county in the filing.

LB14 becomes operative Jan. 1, 2013 and all fee increases included in the bill will sunset Jan. 1, 2018. The bill passed on a 39-9 vote.