Post Script: 2023 MS-1 Report Information

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Josh

A few days ago we posted some information regarding the 2023 MS-1 and evidently one item in particular caused some confusion. Let me try to rectify that.

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2023 MS-1 Report Information

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Josh

For the second year in a row, there are no changes for 2023 to the MS-1 Report file specification. See below for what this means for you with respect to generating your 2023 MS-1 Report and submitting it to the DRA:

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How to Use the Query Tab in Collect

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Michelle B

We have received several phone calls recently regarding how to use the Query Data Access tab in Collect and wanted to send out a short blog post with some quick tips.

The Query Data Access tab allows you to create a record set of invoices or receipts meeting specific user-defined criteria, and allows you to search for invoices that share common attributes. With enough planning and thought any record set can be created based on the parameters you enter. Continue reading →

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Survivorship Transfers: Requirements & Processes

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Michelle B

The customer sitting in front of you recently lost their spouse. That information might send you right into panic mode where you find your brain is completely blank. Take a couple breaths. We have been in your clerk shoes and understand the stress of survivorship transactions, for all parties involved. This blog post is to get you a little more prepared for when this situation sneaks up on you.

We get many calls regarding processing survivorship titles and registrations: New, Renewal, and Transfer. There are many ways a Survivorship Title/Registration can be processed. You need to be sure you gather enough information, in order to begin using the correct process.

First: Does your customer qualify for a Survivorship Transfer? The Requirements to qualify for Survivorship Title/Registration (per page 42 of the State of NH, Procedure Manual for Municipal Agents a/k/a MA Manual, latest edition 2019), are as follows:

  • The owner must be deceased.
  • The new owner must be the Surviving Partner and be listed on the Death Certificate pursuant to RSA 261:17.
  • No additional owners added.
  • Application is made within 13 months of Decedent’s date of death pursuant to RSA 261:20.
  • No change of vehicle is involved (If the surviving spouse purchases a new vehicle to replace the old, they do not qualify for a survivorship transfer).

Second: Some investigation of the current/registration title is required:

  • Is it in the registration renewal MONTH?
  • Is the Surviving Spouse currently on the existing title/registration?
  • If the Surviving Spouse is on the existing title/registration, are they the first or second owner?

Third: It is now time to figure out where to start… Follow the link below to view a few of the procedural beginning points:

There are many variables to Survivorship titles/registrations, if you do not see a clear place to start (in the link provided above), please give us a call.

Lastly, an important note: As of the date of this blog post, you can only process the town portion of a Lease Transfer Survivorship registration. Your customer will need to complete the State portion of the registration at the State level. To begin the process:

  • Select Transfers | Lease Survivorship – (AP, PS, EX, Title App on File, or Existing Title) | Town portion only

For more information on Survivorship Transfers, and step-by-step instructions, please see our online documentation: Survivorship Registrations.

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Assessing Internet Kiosk – Assessment Card PDFs

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Amy

We are pleased to announce a new add-on feature for the Assessing Internet Kiosk which gives your municipality the ability to upload PDF copies of individual assessment cards to the Assessing Internet Kiosk for online users to print and/or download actual assessment cards in PDF format.  Keep reading for more details on the features and requirements for implementation.

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Civil Forfeitures: Timeline & RSAs

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Michelle B

Dog Licensing season is currently upon us, and the dreaded Civil Forfeiture process for all dog owners who have failed to renew/license their dog(s) for the year is right around the corner. Let’s get prepared.

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Updating the Tax Kiosk

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Michelle B

The Avitar Tax Collect Internet Kiosk allows you to easily make invoice and transaction records available on the Internet for taxpayers, mortgagees, banks, and title companies to view and pay at any time of day without having to contact you. Therefore, you should get in the habit of regularly (or, at the very least, periodically) updating your Tax Kiosk data online.

To update your tax information online:

  • Select Utilities | Internet Kiosk | Upload Data to Kiosk
  • Click the Update Kiosk Data tab
  • Select Close once the progress bars are complete.

Please note that changes you upload are not immediately visible online. Previously, our updater ran every two hours, but the number of municipalities now using the service, as well as the number of services that need to run for each municipality (e.g., update invoices, import PDFs, email paperless recipients, etc.), prevents us from running the update process as frequently. Even though the message that displays on your screen after updating still indicates that changes will be reflected online in two hours, the Tax Kiosk online update process now runs nightly between 8:00PM and 2:00AM.

Important: Keep this schedule in mind after you have executed your lien, as the absolute earliest the new 20xxL01 will show online will be after 8:00PM, and until that time, the old 20xxP01s and 20xxP02s will still show. Therefore, if you have turned off the ability for taxpayers to pay invoices online, you will want to turn on the ability to pay invoices online the DAY AFTER you have executed your lien.

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Online Workshop – 2023 New Clerk Training

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Patty

We have scheduled an online workshop for all our new clerks. This session is open to new clerks, whether you are new to the position, new to the Avitar Clerk system, or just need a refresher.

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Online Workshop – 2023 New Tax Collector Training

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Patty

We have scheduled an online workshop for all our new tax collectors. We will cover topics such as paying invoices, creating prepayments, making corrections, liening, deeding, the billing process and balancing. This session is open to new collectors, whether you are new to the position, new to the Avitar Collect system, or just need a refresher.

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Online Help Improvements & FAQ Shortcut

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Michelle B

We have been working incredibly hard to update and streamline the Avitar online documentation. We’ve been adding step-by-step instructions for most processes to compliment the explainers that were there already. For example, on the Lien Notice topic, there is a link to the RSA, there is a section you can expand for “Understanding The Process”, and there is a step-by-step set of guidelines you can expand for “Show Me How To Do It.” It’s a really nice improvement and we recommend you take a look at it whenever you need a little assist.

To access through the program:

  • Select Help | Help Topics on the program’s main screen.
  • Within a particular dialog box, click on any blue question mark icon to directly access context specific help for that dialog box.
  • Add a bookmark for the site in your browser at collect.avitarassociates.com

We also added an FAQs button on the toolbar, which gives you easy access to the most frequently asked questions. To access this functionality, simply click this FAQs button to view the list in your internet browser.

Please take a moment to review these, as well as other Frequently Asked Questions… and check back often as we are updating periodically.

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