Article 9 and lien-related legislation
Florida: Senate Bill 984, which would authorize a judgment lien to be acquired on specified personal property and in all payment intangibles and accounts of a judgment debtor whose location is in the state, passed the House on 3/6/2024 and is awaiting delivery to the governor.
Missouri: House Bill 2932 was introduced on 3/1/2024 to address “spurious liens.” The bill would (i) define “spurious lien” to mean a lien that is not provided for by a specific law, agreed to by the property owner it purports to encumber or imposed by a court; (ii) authorizes any state or local official to reject for recording or filing a document that the official in good faith believes may be a spurious lien, except for those submitted by a financial institution; (iii) provides remedies for the victims of spurious liens; and (iv) makes filing a false lien a class D felony.
Other uniform laws legislation (includes the 2022 Amendments to the UCC with UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records)
Minnesota: Senate Bill 4691 was introduced on 3/6/2024 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), including Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and conforming amendments. This appears to be identical to House Bill 3868, which was introduced in February.
Rhode Island: Senate Bill 2781 was introduced on 3/8/2024 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and conforming amendments.
Virginia House Bill 1286, which would enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12, Controllable Electronic Records, and related amendments, passed the Senate with amendments on 3/6/2024. The House concurred on 3/7/2024 and the bill is awaiting delivery to the governor.
West Virginia: House Bill 4837, which would amend the state’s version of UCC § 3-118 so the statute of limitation for actions to enforce the obligation of a note reflects a bank’s duty to retain and produce records of such note, passed the Senate as amended on 3/8/2024 and the House concurred the same day. The bill is awaiting delivery to the governor.
Emerging technology legislation (blockchain, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency, etc.)
Louisiana: House Bill 488 was pre-filed on 3/1/2024 to adopt the Blockchain Basics Act. This bill would (i) prohibit any agency or political subdivision of the state from accepting or requiring payment using a central bank digital currency; (ii) limit state and local government ability to regulate the use of digital asset storage and use as a method of payment; (iii) establish that it is legal to participate in home digital asset mining; (iv) limit the ability of state and local government to regulate digital asset mining; and (v) exempt digital asset mining services from licensing as a money transmitter and securities and investment laws.
Minnesota: House Bill 4717 was introduced on 3/7/2024 to regulate virtual currency kiosks and related transactions.
Oklahoma: House Bill 4000, which would exempt from certain taxes equipment, electricity and other assets used in the commercial mining of digital assets in a colocation facility, passed the House on 3/6/2024.
Pennsylvania: House Bill 2081 was introduced on 3/5/2024 to adopt the Digital Assets Regulation Act. This bill would regulate virtual currency lenders and establish collateral requirements, which must be held in trust for all digital consumer assets.
Rhode Island: Senate Bill 2504 was introduced on 3/1/2024 to establish guidelines for the operation of virtual currency (crypto) kiosks.
Virginia Senate Bill 339, which would provide that it shall be legal to participate in home digital asset mining and to limit local government ability to regulate digital asset mining, passed the House as amended on 3/4/2024. The Senate concurred on 3/5/2024 and the bill is awaiting delivery to the governor.
Wyoming: Senate Bill 52, which would amend the Wyoming Stable Token Act, passed the House on 3/6/2024. The amendments would (i) allow for investments in cash and government securities; (ii) authorize the Wyoming stable token commission to issue different types and amounts of stable tokens and to contract with financial service providers; and (iii) require reporting only for fully reserved stable tokens. The bill is awaiting delivery to the governor.
Business organization legislation
Alabama: Senate Bill 204 was introduced on 3/6/2024 to repeal the statute requiring corporations to provide an annual report to the Secretary of State. This appears similar to House Bill 230, which was reported last week.
Delaware: House Bill 338 was introduced on 3/7/2024 to make various updates to the statutory trust law.
Florida: Senate Bill 1198, which would address ratification of defective corporate actions, including notice requirements and filing articles of validation, passed the House on 3/5/2024 and is pending delivery to the governor.
New York: The governor signed Senate Bill 8059 on 3/1/2024 to amend the limited liability company beneficial owner disclosure requirements recently enacted by Senate Bill 995 (2023). The new law expands the reporting requirements to include reporting of applicants and other requirements. However, it also moves the effective date for existing companies to report beneficial ownership information back a year to 1/1/2026.
Rhode Island: Senate Bill 2782 was introduced on 3/8/2024 to repeal and replace the state’s Limited Liability Company Act with a newer and updated model act.
Wyoming: Senate Bill 50, which would adopt the Wyoming Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, passed the House on 3/4/2024 and was signed by the governor on 3/7/2024. The Act provides for the formation and management of decentralized unincorporated nonprofit associations. The new law takes effect on 7/1/2024.
Notary legislation
Georgia: House Bill 1075, which would require all state agencies to accept notarial acts performed in other states if certain conditions are met, passed the House on 2/29/2024.
Georgia: Senate Bill 425, which would provide for the modernization of notary services, including in-person electronic notarization and remote notarization, passed the Senate on 2/29/2024.
Hawaii: House Bill 2480, which would require the lieutenant governor to charge a fee for each apostille or non-apostille certification issued, passed the House on 3/1/2024.
Mississippi: House Bill 1257, which would authorize the commission of qualified non-residents as notaries public, passed the House on 3/6/2024.
New York: Senate Bill 2271 (2023), which would clarify the requirements for acknowledgements, proofs oaths, and affirmations without the state, passed the House on 3/4/2023. The bill is pending delivery to the governor.
Oregon: House Bill 4020, which would require an applicant for a commission as a notary public to complete a course of study offered by the Secretary of State, passed the Senate on 3/5/2024 and is pending consideration by the governor. The requirement would apply even if the applicant already holds a commission in Oregon.
Virginia House Bill 1372, which would authorize the use of a knowledge-based authentication assessment to establish satisfactory evidence of identity if the system meets certain requirements, passed the Senate on 3/4/2024 and is pending delivery to the governor.
Real estate recording-related legislation
Florida: House Bill 621, which would abolish the doctrine of adverse possession of real property and revise provisions concerning unlawful detention of real property by a transient person, passed the House on 3/1/2024 and the Senate on 3/6/2024 and is awaiting delivery to the governor.
Georgia: House Bill 1292, which originally would have provided that a clerk of the superior court must require an individual presenting a deed or other instrument purporting to convey title to real property for recording, either in person or electronically, to produce a government issued photo identification card, was substituted to remove that requirement. Instead, the bill now provides for notaries to review certain identification documents. The bill then passed the House on 2/29/2024.
Hawaii: Senate Bill 2044, which would provide that the transfer of a controlling interest in an entity shall be considered a taxable transaction of the entity’s real property, passed the Senate on 3/5/2024.
Oklahoma: House Bill 3318, which would prohibit the recording of an unfair real estate service agreement, passed the House on 3/7/2024.
Oklahoma: Senate Bill 1763, which would prohibit the recording of an unfair real estate service agreement, passed the Senate on 3/7/2024.
Rhode Island: House Bill 7867 was introduced on 3/4/2024 to require the recording of condominium bylaws and rules of the association in the land evidence records of the city or town the condominium is located in and require amendments to the original filings to be certified by two (2) or more members of the executive board.
Utah: Senate Bill 151, which would create civil liability for an individual who records a fraudulent deed, passed the House with amendments on 3/1/2024 and the Senate concurred the same day. The bill would (i) establish a process by which an individual may nullify a fraudulent deed; (ii) direct how a court should treat a petition to nullify a fraudulent deed; and (iii) mandate court-ordered consequences for recording a fraudulent deed. The bill is pending delivery to the governor.
West Virginia: House Bill 4721, which would require land surveyors to offer to record maps and plats of measured parcels of land made by the surveyor, passed the Senate as amended on 3/7/2024. The House concurred on 3/8/2024 and the bill is awaiting delivery to the governor.
West Virginia: House Bill 5326, which would prohibit unfair real estate service agreements, passed the Senate on 3/5/2024 with amendments. The House concurred on 3/8/2024 and the bill is now pending delivery to the governor. The bill would prohibit recording of such agreements and allow a county recorder to refuse to record such unfair service agreements.
Other items and legislation of interest
Florida: Senate Bill 1616, which would require that clerks of court make certain official records available through a database searchable on the clerk’s official website, passed the House on 3/5/2024 and is pending delivery to the governor.
Louisiana: House Bill 380 was pre-filed on 2/29/2024 to require the Louisiana Clerks’ Remote Access Authority (LCRAA) to develop a statewide integrated electronic filing system and will thereafter require any document filed in connection with a civil, traffic, or criminal matter to be filed electronically with the clerk of court.
Maryland: Senate Bill 534, which would repeal the Electronic Transactions Protection Act, passed the Senate on 3/7/2024. The Act provides the attorney general with tools and enforcement authority to protect online privacy.
West Virginia: House Bill 5338, which would create the Consumer Data Protection Act, passed the Senate as amended on 3/5/2024. The House concurred on 3/9/2024 and the bill is now pending delivery to the governor.
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Note that this update provides only a short summary of the listed bills, which are often lengthy and complex. It is not intended to include all potentially relevant provisions of each bill. For full details, please review the bill on the applicable state legislative web site.