Article 9 and Lien-Related Legislation
No developments to report.
Other uniform laws legislation [includes the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) with UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records]
Louisiana: The governor signed Senate Bill 110 on 6/19/2024 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and conforming amendments. The new law takes effect on 8/1/2024.
Pennsylvania: Senate Bill 1084, which would enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12, Controllable Electronic Records, and related amendments, passed the House on 6/26/2024 and was signed by the governor on 7/1/2024. The new law takes effect on 8/30/2024.
Emerging technology legislation (blockchain, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency, etc.)
Louisiana: The governor signed House Bill 488 on 6/19/2024 to adopt the Blockchain Basics Act. This bill (i) prohibits any agency or political subdivision of the state from accepting or requiring payment using a central bank digital currency; (ii) limits state and local government ability to regulate the use of digital asset storage and use as a method of payment; (iii) establishes that it is legal to participate in home digital asset mining; (iv) limits the ability of state and local government to regulate digital asset mining; and (v) exempts digital asset mining services from licensing as a money transmitter and securities and investment laws. The new law takes effect on 8/1/2024.
Pennsylvania: House Bill 2481 was introduced on 7/2/2024 to prohibit state and local government restrictions on a person’s ability to use a digital asset to purchase goods or services or maintain self-custody of a digital asset using a self-hosted wallet. The bill also prohibits state and local government from imposing additional taxes based solely on the use of a digital asset as a payment method or from restricting use of nodes to participate in blockchain activities.
Business organization legislation
Florida: The governor signed Senate Bill 1198 on 6/26/2024 to address ratification of defective corporate actions, including notice requirements and filing articles of validation. The new law took effect on 7/1/2024.
Ohio: House Bill 301 (2023), which would amend non-profit corporations law regarding dissolutions, passed the Senate on 6/26/2024 with amendments and the House concurred the same day. The bill is now pending delivery to the governor.
Ohio: Senate Bill 98 (2023), which includes provisions to address fraudulent business filings with the secretary of state, passed the House as amended on 6/26/2024 and the Senate concurred the same day. The provisions prohibit (i) the use of a person’s name on a business filing without the person’s consent, including that of a statutory agent; (ii) the use of an address on a business filing without the consent of the occupant of that address; and (iii) delivery of a document to the secretary of state without the necessary consent or authority to do so. The bill further provides a complaint process for persons named or affected by a document filed in violation of the foregoing and remedies of the secretary of state determines that a document was filed in violation of the act. The bill is pending delivery to the governor.
Notary legislation
Hawaii: The governor signed House Bill 2480 on 7/1/2024 to require the lieutenant governor to charge a fee for each apostille or non-apostille certification issued. The new law took effect immediately.
Michigan: House Bill 5882 was introduced on 6/27/2024 to amend the state’s remote notary law. The amendments would expand the scope of communications technology that may be used for notarial acts.
Ohio: Senate Bill 130 (2023), which would revise the state’s notary and LLC laws, passed the Senate on 6/26/2024 and is pending in the House. The notary revisions address making satisfactory identification of the person making a verification, oath or affirmation. The bill also clarifies fees for filing certain documents with the secretary of state.
Real estate recording-related legislation
Hawaii: The governor signed Senate Bill 2861 on 7/2/2024 to prohibit the recording of unfair exclusive listing agreements. The new law takes effect on 11/1/2024.
North Carolina: Senate Bill 445 (2023), which would exempt certified copies of court-filed documents from the register of deeds document format requirements, passed the House with amendments on 6/26/2024 and the Senate concurred on 6/27/2024. However, the governor vetoed the bill on 7/8/2024 and returned it to the Senate.
Ohio: Senate Bill 94 (2023), which would address state treasurer matters but includes a provision that would require county recorders to implement electronic recording and make real estate records available online, passed the House as amended on 6/26/2024 and was returned to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate concurred on 7/2/2024 and the bill is now pending delivery to the governor. The provision states that each county recorder, county auditor, and county engineer shall make available to the public a method for electronically recording instruments related to conveyances of real property that adheres to the standards governing conveyances of real property. In addition, each county recorder shall make available to the public on the county recorder’s web site electronic indexes for, and electronic versions of, all instruments recorded on or after 1/1/1980, although there are exceptions for certain document types. The electronic recording and online indexes must be available by 6/30/2026. The House amendments generally did not impact the recording issues.
Pennsylvania: House Bill 2497 was introduced on 7/11/2024 to provide for the imposition of fees at a flat rate per uniform parcel identifier and a maximum fee for recording any single document, regardless of the number of uniform parcel identifiers, of $10,000.
Other items and legislation of interest
No developments to report.
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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.
