Fees going up for certain deeds & contracts

MARQUETTE — New state legislation will lead to increased costs for tax certifications starting July 1st.

Marquette County Treasurer Anne Giroux and Register of Deeds Carla L’Huillier want citizens and submitters of land documents to be aware of the changes enacted by Public Act 39, which was signed into law yesterday by Governor Rick Snyder. The fee for tax certifications for documents such as warranty deeds, land contracts, and condominium master deeds will increase from $1 to $5.

“Anytime that someone buys or sells a home, they’re usually going to do a warranty deed,” said L’Huillier. “It doesn’t take long. We’re pretty familiar with the legal descriptions on the property, so the certification just takes a few minutes unless it’s a real hard description.”

“We want to get the word out to the community that folks who are used to coming in recording documents that are used to paying a dollar to have those documents certified, that they are that it is going up to five dollars,” said Giroux. “Most of the people that are doing that work are title companies and attorneys. We have already notified all of those folks.”

These fees are collected on behalf of the County Treasurer when recording the documents with the Register of Deeds. People submitting documents that require a tax certificate are advised to plan accordingly to ensure their documents are not rejected due to lack of sufficient funds.