Some names say +1 and have no name after that what do I do? Also if a name says Jr do I index it?

katherine christensen

I am indexing land records for Erie, New York. Some of the names say +1 and have no name after that. Do I ignore the +1?

Also, if a name says John J Johnson Jr. Do I index the Jr?

Susan Ann Mullen Pelton

We do not know what the +1 means but we know it is not part of the name so we do not index it. In this project there is no indexing field for suffixes so we do not index the jr. We also do not index it in the Surname field.

Thank you for asking!

John Empoliti

Hi Katherine.

You do ignore the +1 (meaning “and one other”) and other little descriptors that sometimes follow the name. From the “What to Remember” section of the Instructions:

• When typing the name of the grantor or grantee, do not include descriptive words or terms, such as "by Atty," "et al," or "and spouse," that may have been written with the name.

Also, you DO NOT index the Jr. it is a Suffix and there is no Suffix Field provided. There is a Prefix Field (for Mr. Mrs. Miss, Rev., etc.).

Also from the “What to Remember” section is the following:

• Index each unique name. Some names may be duplicated. When names are exact duplicates, meaning that all required fields are the same, index only the first instance of the name listed. Skip the other exact duplicates and then index the next unique name. Unique names include names with different middle initials and different name spellings or where the other required fields are different.

This instruction is important in this context because sometimes dropping the Jr might give you two identical Entries for the same transaction, e.g. one for Mike Smith and one for Mike Smith Jr.. But when we drop the Jr, those two Entries are identical, so we only keep the first.

Lisa Kay Horlacher

Katherine,

I am working on these records as well. Along with what Anne and John said, I have noticed other common mistakes are people are indexing terms such as "aff of Title", "agreement", "modification restrictions". These are not names of people or organizations but are types of documents. They should be marked <blank> or control B on PC or command B on apple. Also check that you are putting the date of record not the date of the instrument. This is found if you click the purple circle next to Deed Day.