DATE: February 4, 2009
TO: ALL BUSINESS PARTNERS

EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2009

The purpose of this Memo is to advise you of recently enacted legislation which affects the recording of documents in all 88 Ohio counties. Ohio Revised Code Section 317.114 has been revised to include standardized requirements for instruments or documents presented for recording. (NOTE: that the following is just a brief statement of certain requirements, for complete detail, please refer to ORC Section 317.114.) This code section requires the following:

1. Print size not smaller than a computer font size of ten;
2. Minimum paper size of eight and one-half inches by eleven inches;
3. Maximum paper size of eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches;
4. Black or blue ink only;
5. No use of highlighting;
6. margins of one-inch with on each side of each page of the instrument or document;
7. A margin of one-inch width across the bottom of each page of the instrument or document;
8. A three-inch margin of blank space across the top of the first page of each instrument or document to accommodate any certification or indorsement of the county engineer, county auditor, or county recorder, as may be required by by law, with the right half of that margin being reserved for the indorsement of the county recorder required by section 317.12 of the Revised Code; and
9. A one and one-half-inch margin across the top of each of the remaining pages of the instrument or document.

This section does provide for certain exceptions, including documents executed before the effective date of July 1, 2009, but will generally apply to all commonly recorded closing documents (Deeds, Mortgages, Riders, POAs, Affidavits.)

If a document is presented for recording that does not comply, the recorder must still accept the document, but must also charge an additional $20.00 (to the recorder and housing trust fund.)

As many of you use document preparation companies or software that does not conform to these requirements, we recommend that you begin implementing these changes to your documents and systems as soon as possible. It is also likely that certain documents will now contain more pages and this will impact your estimate of recording fees.

If you have questions relating to this memo, please contact our office so that we may better assist you.