It may surprise you Post-Sandy, but in 2016 Ocean County saw an increase of over 18-percent in recorded revenue.

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Ocean County collected a total of $51,865,991.00 in recorded revenue documents last year, which is an increase of $8,000,000.00 or 18.4-percent from 2015.

"We're seeing deed and mortgage records increase and a lot of people have taken advantage of refinancing," said OC Clerk Scott Colabella.

He adds that more residents are also now able rebuild following Sandy.

"The property may have been sold and now the new owner needs to get a mortgage to build a new property after it's torn down," said Colabella.

Whether a homeowner wants to raise their home or rebuild it, any finances accrued have to be recorded.

Despite a number of areas still under construction, Colabella explains that sometimes looks are deceiving when it comes to the real progress Ocean County continues to make.

"As people start to begin to make some progress, you'll see more physical evidence of the paper transactions that have been recorded here in the Clerks Office," said Colabella.

He adds that we may see this upward trend continue in 2017.

"You might expect that should the progress continue, that the volume is going to increase even more," said Colabella.

He explains that as recorded revenue rises, the amount of abandoned properties decreases.

Of the nearly $52-million dollars the clerks office recording division took in in transaction filings last year, the state collected most of it and the county had just shy of $13-million dollars returned to them.

Colabella says their share stems from the state taking advantage of a growing Jersey realty market to raise recording fees.

"They raised it in the favor of increasing the amount that was going to the state versus the amount that goes to the County," said Colabella.

He adds that the amount he can charge locally for a recorder fee is something mandated by state law.

Other numbers being recorded by The Ocean County Clerks Office in 2016 include:

  • 25,300 deeds
  • 24,665 mortgages
  • Processed and Placed on record 85,653 other documents including assignment of mortgages, cancelled mortgages, discharges of mortgages, notice of settlements and other documents for a total of 135,618 recorded documents.

"The office recorded almost 4,000 more documents last year compared to 2015," Colabella said. "The amount of revenue returned to the County represents a return of $6.11 for every tax dollar spent."

He adds that they received a sizable recorded revenue increase in 2016 as well which only benefits the county.

"2016 is one of the first years that we've seen where our volume is really increasing," said Colabella. "As the volume increases, the revenue increases.

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Contact Reporter Vin Ebenau at 848-221-8100 or at vin.ebenau@townsquaremedia.com

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