Enough is Enough with Increased Recording Fees in Nassau County 

The recent increase in real estate recording fees are indicative that Nassau County officials are not as concerned with attracting and retaining residents as they would lead you to believe.

These increased recording fees could potentially add hundreds or thousands of dollars to the cost of buying, selling or refinancing properties in the county.  

The young and the elderly alike are already fleeing our region by the masses because of our current high and ever soaring taxes and fees. This increase in real estate recording fees will effectively make homeownership even more difficult to obtain for first time homebuyers among others by raising closing costs in what is already one of the highest taxed municipalities in the country. 

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, Inc., in 2014 there were over 10,000 closed sales in Nassau County resulting in $5.9 billion in gross sales. 

As per Joseph Mottola, the Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Board of REALTORS®, “It's typical for municipalities to look at homeownership transactions as a cash cow. But what they fail to realize is that as per the National Association of REALTORS® - a typical real estate transaction in New York State generates over $69,000 in economic stimulation including additional expenditures on moving truck services, consumer items such as appliances and furniture, and dining at restaurants. Can the county afford to lose this additional revenue? Can local businesses afford to lose this additional income?” 

Mottola continues, “Everyone is aware that there is a deficit that needs to be addressed but this approach is short sighted. Why was a broad based tax approach that would have cost the average homeowner 44 cents a week so quickly dismissed?

Instead the officials bowed down to Nassau’s Interim Finance Authority's (NIFA) demand that fees be increased or else essential services would be cut.

As housing advocates for the public, the 21,500 members of the Long Island Board of REALTORS® are vehemently opposed to any additional costs that adversely affects the ability to buy and sell homes whether it be transfer taxes, mortgage recording fees or other inequitable charges.