PETOSKEY – The Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds (MARD) welcomed its new president, Roscommon County’s Michelle Stevenson, during the association’s 106th Annual Educational Conference.
Michigan’s Registers of Deeds secure our state’s real estate economy by ensuring all property transactions are accurately recorded and secured against fraud and theft. Registers are elected by voters every four years in each of Michigan’s 83 counties.
“It is my honor to serve as incoming president for MARD. On behalf of the entire 2021 Board of Directors, I want to thank everyone for their participation this year, including our 2020 Register of the Year Stewart Sanders. We will take the baton and keep moving MARD forward in the new year,” said Stevenson.
MARD also honored members who are retiring from office in 2020. Local public servants included Jeri Winton of Oscoda County.
The year 2020 proved to be a challenging one as COVID-19 closed most county government offices for an extended period, even as real estate transactions continued and even increased in many areas of the state.
Home sales boomed, especially in vacation areas, as did mortgage refinancing due to falling interest rates. Knowing that Michigan’s real estate economy would have ground to a halt otherwise, Registers of deeds offices worked overtime to develop alternative systems to keep transactions, and Michigan’s economy, moving.
