Bulletin: NY000112

Dear Associates:

The New York State Land Title Association (NYSLTA) recently sent to us a memorandum prepared by Ed Romaine, the County Clerk for the County of Suffolk. Apparently, several members of NYSLTA had instruments which were submitted for recording, rejected by the Clerk's office because they were illegible. In response to NYSLTA's inquiry on this subject, Mr. Romaine prepared a memorandum, a copy of which is attached hereto.

Citing the statutory responsibility of the County Clerk to require that documents be legible, Mr. Romaine enumerated the major reasons for document rejection in Suffolk County.

We think that it would be worthwhile to let your clients, underwriters and closers know about the items mentioned in the memorandum. By doing so, we may be able to avoid problems regarding the legibility of instruments early in a transaction, rather than at the time of closing, or worse, after title has been closed.

If you have any questions in this area, please contact Company Counsel.

MEMO

TO: All Interested Parties

FROM: Edward P. Romaine
County Clerk

DATE: January 18, 1996

RE: REJECTIONS FOR LEGIBILITY

It has come to my attention that some confusion exists regarding the rejection of documents for filing/recording as a result of poor legibility. Section 8019 of the Civil Practical Law and Rules, Section B, clearly states that the County is responsible for filing and/or recording documents that are legible for copying, i.e., microfilming. Below are the main reasons why documents are rejected due to poor legibility for microfilming.

1. The print is too light and as a result there is a poor contrast between the typing and background.

2. Documents should always be prepared with black ink as this will provide the best possible contrast. Blue ink does not give as good of a contrast and appears too light on the filmed images.

3. Often multi-generational copies of standard forms are made. As the copies of forms are continually made from other copies, the quality of the print is constantly degraded causing broken and distorted letters.

4. Dot matrix printers create a type of printing that is usually acceptable. However, care must be taken to replace the ribbon on a regular basis since the spaces between the dots will tend to make the printing seem even lighter and more broken.

5. A bleed through the paper that can be caused by either the type of paper, or by stamping information with an ink stamp on the back of the page so that the ink seeps through and blocks out images on the front of the page. If the paper is too thin, even typewritten images on the back of the page can appear through the page, obliterating the images on the front of the page.

6. Notations, check marks, and highlighting information on original documents can obliterate some of the typing and/or make it more difficult to reproduce.

7. The type shall be plainly printed, not smaller than 8 pt. type. (An example is shown below.)

Example of 8 pt. type: Every assignment made by a debtor of his estate, real or personal, or both, to an Assignee for the creditors of such debtor, shall be in writing, and shall specifically state the residence and kind of business carried on by such debtor at the time of making the assignment. It must contain the place at which such business is conducted and if the such place be in a city, the street and number thereof, and if a village or town, such apt. designation as shall reasonably identify such debtor.

If you should have any questions regarding legibility, please feel free to contact our Micrographics Department at 516-852-2018.