AB 445

This bill makes various changes to the statutes governing the duties of a county register of deeds. Most of the changes clarify existing provisions or modernize or make minor changes to current statutory language. Most of these changes have no or very minor substantive effect. Several provisions of the bill, however, have greater substantive effect. These changes include the following:

1. Requires that a recorded document affecting real property identify the subject real property using one of several specified manners of land description.

2. Requires that a document recorded by the register include the date and time of recording. Current law requires that such a document include the date and time the document was received by the register.

3. Requires that a recorded document that references a previously recorded or filed document contain the document number of the referenced document.

4. Requires that a recorded assignment, partial release, or satisfaction relate to no more than one mortgage.

5. Includes requirements related to recording documents containing marked scrivener’s errors or corrections.

6. Prohibits recording documents that the register determines are not authorized to be recorded or that are being recorded for an unauthorized purpose.

7. Specifies certain format requirements for recorded documents, including the font size used on a document, the quality of images on a document, and the legibility of the names on a document.

8. Clarifies that a document substantially complies with recording format requirements if the document satisfies most of the format requirements specified in the statutes and recording the document will not impair the register’s ability to accurately record, reproduce, or index the document.

9. Eliminates exceptions to the format requirements for documents certified by governmental units, filed documents, and certain tax lien forms.

10. Changes the fee for recording a transportation plat from $25 to $30.

11. Allows a register to include, in a contract for copies of the register’s daily recording related to real property, a requirement that the contractor protect the identity and integrity of records obtained and a prohibition from selling or disseminating copies or images or data of the copies. Current law provides that a register may enter into these contracts but does not specify any contractual provisions.

12. Provides that any person who knowingly provides to a register for recording any false or forged document relating to a conveyance is guilty of a Class I felony.

13. Eliminates certain notices, including notice of certification of the recording of a common law trust and written notice of recording of a transportation plat.

14. Eliminates requirements related to the maintenance of specified bound volumes.

15. Defines “page” for the purpose of calculating the fees a register may charge for providing copies of documents.

16. Prohibits the recording of court documents that are not certified as the original document or a true and accurate copy of the document by the clerk of courts or register of probate of the county in which the court from which the document originated is located.

17. Allows a person to submit a copy of the most recent property tax bill for purposes of obtaining evidence of certain property interests of a decedent. Under current law, a person may obtain evidence that certain property interests of a decedent have been terminated by providing information to the register of deeds of the county in which the property is located. Currently, to obtain evidence that a decedent’s property interests in real property have been terminated, a person must submit to the register of deeds a copy of the property tax bill for the year preceding the year of the decedent’s death.

18. Requires a person to provide adequate postage as a condition of having documents left with the register of deeds returned or delivered to another person.

19. Allows the register of deeds to prohibit or otherwise limit the use of electronic devices in any area under the authority of the register of deeds.

The bill also changes requirements related to plats prepared as part of certain transportation projects. Under current law, a political subdivision or the Department of Transportation may submit certain transportation orders or resolutions in the form of a plat filed or recorded with the register of deeds. Current law specifies that such a plat must be a single sheet or a detail and a title sheet. This bill provides that such a plat may be up to four sheets of which the first must be a detail sheet and any others must be accompanying sheets.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.