For years, registers of deeds have been urging Massachusetts homeowners to file for homestead protection to keep them from losing their homes in cases of bankruptcy, illness or other financial disasters.

Now their jobs may get easier if a proposal to have automatic homestead protection gets approved.

“From what I’ve heard about the proposal, I think it’s an excellent idea,” said Richard Howe, register of deeds for the Northern District of Middlesex County in Lowell.

Sen. Cheryl A. Jacques, D-Needham, has filed a bill that would give homeowners in Massachusetts automatic homestead exemption. Currently, Bay State homeowners must file for homestead exemption with the county Registry of Deeds office by filling out a short form and paying a $10 fee.

Homestead exemption protects homeowners from losing their homes to creditors by safeguarding up to $300,000 in equity in their primary residence.

Jacques’ bill received an “extension order” from the Joint Committee on the Judiciary after a public hearing in May – basically keeping it alive and buying more time for supporters to convince lawmakers to pass the act. The committee is expected to take up the bill again in six to eight weeks.

“I think we all agree that the Homestead Protection Act is critical in protecting people’s homes when they fall on hard times,” said Jacques. “It just makes sense to me that we make this protection automatic.”

Jacques pointed out that 30 states have automatic homestead protection.

The bill – which was cosponsored by Sen. Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., D-Pittsfield, and Sen. Richard R. Tisei, R-Wakefield – may get a boost from the 21 registry offices in the Bay State. Jacques said she recently spoke at a meeting attended by registers of deeds from across the state and her proposal was “embraced.”

An association of the Massachusetts Registries of Deeds appointed a three-member committee to explore the proposal. Howe is the chairman and serves along with John Meade, register of Barnstable County in Barnstable; and Donald Ashe, register of Hampden County in Springfield.

Howe said the committee is in the early stages of examining the proposal, but he feels the bill is critical because many people don’t understand the homestead law.

The only people who might balk at the bill are professional creditors and credit card companies, Howe said.

“I think that all of my colleagues feel that making automatic would be a great benefit to homeowners across the commonwealth,” said Howe. “A tremendous amount of people are not familiar with the law and how it works.”

Getting the Word Out
Howe and many of his colleagues have done seminars and held educational meetings to inform homeowners about the importance of homestead protection.

In Berkshire County, Christopher J. Solari, the register of the county’s Northern District in Adams, has gone on public radio and television and put advertisements on cable television to encourage people to contact their attorneys or come into the registry office to fill out a homestead form.

Solari said he only recently started to review Jacques bill, but so far he likes what he sees.

“From what I know about her proposal at this point, I believe it is a very good idea,” said Solari.

Automatic homestead protection is not likely to increase registers’ workloads, Solari said.

If anything, it would eliminate the need for Solari and other registers to do the “marketing” they’ve had to do to inform homeowners about the importance of homestead protection.

“It’s good that across the board, the registers are trying uniformly to get the word out,” said Solari. “This proposal would alleviate that. It wouldn’t necessarily create more work.”

Automatic homestead protection would also be a considerable plus for homeowners, registers said.

“This should alleviate the hoops people have to go through, and it makes it easy for the homeowner,” Solari said.

Jacques is pretty optimistic that her bill will be successful. Last year, she and Sen. Robert Creedon Jr., who heads the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, sponsored a bill that increased the homestead protection amount from $100,000 to $300,000.

The increase was necessary, said Jacques, to more adequately reflect the higher real estate values in Massachusetts.

Now Jacques has been working to get the word out about automatic homestead protection.

The former criminal prosecutor said many people are unaware of the law and are vulnerable, particularly if they encounter future financial troubles.

“It just makes good common sense to do it,” she said.