Office statistics
2021 highlights
Once again, the Franklin County Recorder’s Office had a record-breaking year that mirrored the fervor of the Central Ohio housing market. In 2021, our office recorded 234,197 documents, shattering our previous record set in 2020 of 209,193. E-Recorded documents, the records submitted to our office virtually, made up over two-thirds of all documents processed (specifically 69.1%, or 161,885 documents). This is a 48.3% increase in e-recorded documents from 2020, when about half of all documents were submitted virtually.
Continuing the pattern of 2021 being our busiest year on record, the number of deeds, mortgages, and release of mortgage documents (the main document types we process on a daily basis) all increased from 2020. Deeds saw the most significant change with an 18.8% increase in the number recorded compared to 2020. Mortgages increased by 9.7% and release of mortgage documents by 16.7%.
We continued to make progress with our Backfile project, which is the effort to scan and index historic paper documents in our office to make them available online for public viewing. We were able to digitize 52,347 documents and make 651 books available for search online. The books scanned include mortgage books, lease books, and miscellaneous books that contain property records from the late-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Transitioning our oldest records to an online digital format makes it easier for members of the public and real estate title community to access these historic documents while preserving the physical integrity of the paper records.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 spread and the emergence of new variants throughout 2021, our office adopted a hybrid operating schedule which allowed staff members to split their time between working remotely and in the office. We also announced our vaccine requirement in August, asking all employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Labor Day (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, one dose of Johnson & Johnson by September 7, 2021) to provide admin staff with a negative COVID-19 test result twice a week in order to work in-person in the office. Recorder O’Connor was the first Franklin County leader to implement such a workplace policy and over 85% of Recorder’s Office staff reported being fully vaccinated by the deadline.
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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|
Total Recorded Documents
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179,746
|
183,205
|
175,864
|
176,139
|
209,193
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234,197
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% Change In Recordings
|
|
1.9%
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-4.0%
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0.2%
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18.8%
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12.0%
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Total e-Recorded Documents
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43,780
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46,600
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44,350
|
49,745
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109,182
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161,885
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% Of Total Documents e-Recorded
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24.4%
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25.4%
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25.2%
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28.2%
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52.2%
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69.1%
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% Change In e-Recordings
|
|
6.4%
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-4.8%
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12.2%
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119.5%
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48.3%
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Total Deeds Recorded
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36,208
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36,049
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36,784
|
37,349
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34,866
|
41,426
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% Change In Deeds
|
|
-0.4%
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2.0%
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1.5%
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-6.6%
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18.8%
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# of Deeds e-Recorded
|
|
|
|
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9,370
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27,433
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% Of Deeds e-Recorded
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|
|
|
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26.9%
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66.2%
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Total Mortgages Recorded
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45,439
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43,305
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41,980
|
46,031
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63,141
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69,256
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% Change In Mortgages
|
|
-4.7%
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-3.1%
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9.6%
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37.2%
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9.7%
|
|
Total Release of Mortgages Recorded
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47,400
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46,510
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45,070
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45,291
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65,983
|
77,006
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% Change In Release of Mortgages
|
|
-1.9%
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-3.1%
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0.5%
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45.7%
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16.7%
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# of Documents Digitized
|
50
|
38,927
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62,781
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58,363
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63,531
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52,347
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|
# of Books Scanned
|
|
|
|
650
|
852
|
651
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