Article 9 and lien-related legislation
Idaho: House Bill 227 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to amend the state’s version of UCC § 9-521 with respect to Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) forms the filing office must accept. Currently that section provides the uniform text of the 2010 Amendments to UCC Article 9, including images of the 2/10/2011 forms. This bill would delete the form images and, instead, provide that the filing office must accept a form “as prescribed by the secretary of state that is in compliance with the standards of the uniform commercial code.”
Maryland: House Bill 1416 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to provide for expedited processing of UCC financing statements and business organization documents. If enacted, the bill would allow the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to charge $1000 for one hour processing turnaround and a fee of $1500 for 30-minute turnaround.
Other uniform laws legislation (including the 2022 amendments to the UCC with UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records)
Connecticut: House Bill 6970 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and related amendments.
Florida: House Bill 515 was pre-filed on 2/10/2025 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and related amendments.
Maryland: House Bill 1353 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to add UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records as Article 10A of the Maryland UCC. The bill does not appear to include other changes from the 2022 Amendments to the UCC.
Vermont: House Bill 206 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and related amendments.
Emerging technology legislation (blockchain, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency, etc.)
Alaska: House Bill 99 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to provide for the licensing and regulation of virtual currency business activity.
Arizona: House Bill 2749 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to create a bitcoin and digital assets reserve fund, define when digital assets have been abandoned, and to require the custodian to deposit abandoned digital assets into the reserve fund.
Florida: Senate Bill 550 was pre-filed on 2/7/2025 to authorize the state’s CFO to invest in bitcoin and other digital assets for certain purposes. A similar bill, House Bill 487, was pre-filed on 2/10/2025.
Georgia: Senate Bill 178 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to authorize the state treasurer to invest in bitcoin.
Maryland: House Bill 1389 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to create the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Fund of Maryland. The bill would establish a Bitcoin reserve fund and authorize the state treasurer to invest funds obtained by the state for certain violations in bitcoin.
Michigan: House Bill 4085 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to limit the authority of local governments to restrict digital asset mining businesses.
Michigan: House Bill 4087 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to authorize the state treasurer to invest certain state funds in cryptocurrency.
North Carolina: House Bill 92 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to authorize the state treasurer to invest state funds in digital assets that meet certain qualifications.
Texas: Senate Bill 21 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to create the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as a special fund, which would be outside the treasury department and administered by the comptroller. The fund would hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for the state.
Business organization legislation
Georgia: House Bill 15, which would revise procedures regarding articles of incorporation for a credit union, passed the House on 2/12/2025.
Kansas: House Bill 2371 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to make a variety of changes to the state’s revised limited liability company act.
Maryland: Senate Bill 144, which would authorize the formation of limited worker cooperative associations, passed the Senate on 2/13/2025. The bill would also establish rules and procedures for the formation, governance, conversion, and dissolution of limited worker cooperative associations.
Maryland: Senate Bill 992 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to make various changes to business entity laws, including to establish a process for the transfer of assets subject to a security interest without approval of the shareholders and modify the requirements for articles of merger if certain entities are a party to the articles. This appears similar to House Bill 1171, which was reported last week.
Minnesota: House File 747 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to modify the Minnesota Business Corporations Act with respect to defective corporate acts, emergency powers, and other matters.
New Mexico: House Bill 363 was introduced on 2/11/2025 to adopt the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act. The bill would provide for the formation, administration and regulation of such decentralized entities.
United States: House Resolution 736, which would modify the beneficial owner reporting deadline under the CTA for companies created prior to 1/1/2024, passed the House on 2/10/2025.
United States: Senate Bill 505 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to modify the beneficial owner reporting deadline under the CTA for companies created prior to 1/1/2024.
Notary legislation
Mississippi: House Bill 1154, which would authorize and regulate the use of remote online notarization and remote ink notarization, passed the House on 2/10/2025 but was recalled for reconsideration. An amended version then passed the House on 2/12/2025. This bill would also authorize certification of a tangible copy of an electronic document.
Real estate recording-related legislation
Arizona: House Bill 2831 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to provide that a recorder may not record a deed until five business days after the recorder has provided notice to the person or entity identified in the deed as the seller. If the seller requests that the deed not be recorded, the recorder may not record the instrument.
Arizona: House Bill 2849 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to require a corporation or LLC to register with the Commerce Commission before acquiring more than 10 units of residential real property. The bill would further provide that a county recorder shall not record a deed if the buyer is a corporation or LLC unless the deed provides information about the ownership of the entity and the buyer provides the recorder with a copy of the certificate of registration issued by the corporation commission. The deed must also state that the single-family residence is not the residence of the owner.
Georgia: House Bill 403 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to provide that deeds, security deeds, or any other conveyance of single-family residential property to a real estate investment trust is void if the REIT owns more than $30 million or 12,000 rental units of single family dwellings. The bill would also make changes to lien laws with respect to property association fees and assessments.
Idaho: Senate Bill 1082 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to provide that an irrigation district assessment lien shall have priority over all other liens, mortgages or deeds of trust, whether prior in time or not.
Iowa: House File 328 was introduced on 2/11/2025 to give counties the authority to add an additional fee of up to $10 per transaction payable to the county recorder to record an instrument.
Kentucky: Senate Bill 167 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to prohibit a nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary associated with the government of certain foreign countries from the purchase, lease, or acquisition of agricultural land in the state or participation in certain agricultural programs.
Minnesota: House File 704 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to provide that within 45 days from full payment or performance of the loan secured by the mortgage, as provided in a payoff statement, a mortgagee or mortgage servicer must issue and submit a good and valid satisfaction of mortgage in recordable form to the register of titles.
Mississippi: House Bill 1200, which would enact the Real Property Owners Protection Act, passed the House on 2/10/2025. The bill would provide a process and remedies for removal of squatters. The bill includes provisions related to fraudulent documents and other tactics used by squatters.
Mississippi: Senate Bill 2328, which would authorize a property owner to have the sheriff immediately remove a person or persons unlawfully occupying residential or commercial property if certain conditions are met, passed the Senate on 2/11/2025. The bill would also provide remedies for persons removed unlawfully from property and provide criminal penalties for those who unlawfully occupy property.
Missouri: House Bill 1249 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to provide that a person may only submit a quit claim deed for recording in person at the county recorder’s office on a form designated by the recorder. There are some exceptions whereby a licensed real estate broker, title company, or attorney may submit a quit claim deed through a web portal or other electronic method.
New Hampshire: Senate Bill 42, which would require the beneficiaries of a transfer on death deed to record a notice of death affidavit within 60 days of the transferor’s death, passed the Senate on 2/13/2024.
New Mexico: House Bill 332 was introduced on 2/7/2025 to criminalize unlawful squatting and to provide a process for removal of an unlawful squatter.
North Dakota: House Bill 1305, which would provide remedies for owners to remove a person unlawfully occupying residential property under certain conditions, passed the House on 2/13/2025. The bill would also make it a felony to fraudulently sell or lease residential property or unlawfully occupy the property under certain conditions.
Ohio: House Bill 3522 was introduced on 2/11/2025 to provide a process that allows an owner of real property to evict a squatter.
Ohio: Senate Bill 88 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to ban governments, individuals, and entities classified as foreign adversaries from purchasing or acquiring protected property. The bill also requires the secretary of state to adopt and maintain a list of foreign adversaries who are ineligible to receive conveyances of protected property.
Ohio: Senate Bill 101 was introduced on 2/10/2025 to require that certain liens filed with the county recorder set forth the last known address of the lien debtor and to require a memorandum of trust or other qualifying instrument concerning real property to be recorded.
Texas: House Bill 2752 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to provide that a government entity of a designated country or certain companies and individuals associated with a designated country may not purchase or otherwise acquire title to real property in the state.
Virginia: Senate Bill 1270, which would require localities to establish a property alert notification system in the local land records office that allows a person to enroll real property owned by the person in the system, passed the House as amended on 2/12/2025. The property alert notification system would notify the enrolled owner of the recording of any document describing, affecting, or purporting to affect the enrolled property.
West Virginia: Senate Bill 102 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to modify the form of deeds, other than a transfer on death deed. The bill would require that deeds contain the notarized acknowledgement of the grantee(s) evidencing the acceptance of the conveyance of the real property being conveyed by the deed.
Other items and legislation of interest
New Hampshire: House Bill 721 was introduced on 2/13/2025 to establish gold and silver as legal tender.
New Mexico: House Bill 410 was introduced on 2/12/2025 to enact the Consumer Information and Data Privacy Act.
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 website.
