Document Formatting Standards

Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standards

Documents recorded after January 1, 2008 must meet the following requirements:

1. Be on white paper of sufficient weight to reproduce in registry scanners.
2. All document pages and attachments must be on paper that is no larger than 8.5 inches by 14 inches
3. Printing shall be on one side only; double-sided pages will not be accepted.
4. Documents that contain printing, writing or other markings must be sufficiently dark in appearance to be legibly reproduced on standard Registry scanners.
5. All printing and writing on a document must be of sufficient size to be legibly reproduced on standard Registry scanners.
6. Margins on all sides of all document pages must be of sufficient size to be legibly reproduced on standard Registry scanners.
7. The first page of all documents must contain sufficient blank space to permit the Registry of Deeds to affix standard recording information to the document without obscuring any information contained in the document.
8. Each Register of Deeds retains the discretion to record documents that do not fully comply with these formatting standards provided that the record created by the Registry is legible and retrievable on standard Registry computer systems.