Galvin Swears in Registers of Deeds on New Year's Day

December 31, 2024

            This New Year’s Day, recently-elected Registers of Deeds from around Massachusetts will gather at the State House at 12 p.m., when Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin will administer their oath of office.

In November, Registers of Deeds were elected to six-year terms to run the 21 local registries in Massachusetts charged with property and land recordation. As Secretary, Galvin oversees a network of the 14 registries located in parts of Massachusetts with no county government.

As the official in charge of a majority of registries, Galvin’s office provides guidance and technological infrastructure to all Registers, and spearheads statewide efforts to provide homeowners with information and consumer alerts. Most recently, the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office organized all registries to create a statewide alert system for homeowners, in an effort to prevent deed theft and other scams.

“In several of our registries, we are seeing home sales diminish,” Galvin said today. “As the Registers of Deeds begin their new terms, I look forward to working with each of them to increase the number of Massachusetts residents who are able to achieve the goal of owning their own home.”