Article 9 and lien-related legislation
Utah: House Bill 538 was introduced on 2/21/2025 to revise requirements for recording a judgment. This bill would require that to record a judgment, a person shall include a copy of the judgment that contains, if known, the last four digits of the judgment debtor’s social security number, the month and year of the judgment debtor’s birth, and the judgment debtor’s driver license number if a natural person.
Utah: Senate Bill 326 was introduced on 2/24/2025 to modify provisions related to renewal of judgments. The bill would (i) clarify that the statute of limitations runs from the date of renewal of judgment, not only from the original date of a judgment; (ii) provide that a renewal of judgment maintains the original priority and resets the time limitation for any action upon the judgment; and (iii) provides that a judgment can be renewed multiple times.
Other uniform laws legislation [includes the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) with UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records]
Oregon: Senate Bill 167, which would enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records and related amendments, passed the Senate on 2/18/2025.
Rhode Island: Senate Bill 374 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to make technical corrections to the transition rules for the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, which the state enacted last year.
Emerging technology legislation (blockchain, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency, etc.)
Arizona: House Bill 2749, which would create a bitcoin and digital assets reserve fund, passed the House on 2/27/2025. The bill would also define when digital assets have been abandoned and require the custodian to deposit abandoned digital assets into the reserve fund.
Ohio: House Bill 116 was introduced on 2/18/2025 to enact the Ohio Blockchain Basics Act. The bill would (i) limit the ability of state and local government to impose fees, taxes or assessments on digital assets; and (ii) restrict the ability of state and local government to prohibit digital asset mining.
Rhode Island: House Bill 5564 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to enact the Rhode Island Economic Growth Blockchain Act. This Act would establish an economic growth blockchain and would regulate virtual and digital assets and establish depository banks for these purposes.
Business organization legislation
Alabama: House Bill 200, which would revise the Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entity Code, passed the House on 2/20/2021. The bill would make technical changes and clarifications regarding approval and authorization of agreements and simplify the purchase or transfer process for the interest of a deceased or disqualified member or stockholder.
Alabama: Senate Bill 197 was introduced on 2/24/25 to revise the Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entity Code. The bill would make technical changes and clarifications regarding approval and authorization of agreements and simplify the purchase or transfer process for the interest of a deceased or disqualified member or stockholder. This appears similar to House Bill 200.
Kansas: House Bill 2117, which would make changes to the filing requirements for certain business organizations, passed the House on 2/18/2025. The bill would also make certain registered agent information public record and allow the secretary of state to set certain fees by rule.
Kansas: House Bill 2371, which would make a variety of changes to the state’s revised limited liability company act, passed the House on 2/20/2025.
South Dakota: House Bill 1024, which would increase the fees charged by the secretary of state for filing annual reports from $50 to $55 and from $25 to $30 for amended annual reports, passed the House on 2/18/2025 and the Senate on 2/27/2025. The bill also makes technical changes to the fee provisions. The bill is now awaiting delivery to the governor.
Virginia: House Bill 1796, which would enact the Virginia Decentralized Autonomous Organization Act, passed the Senate with amendments on 2/20/2025. The bill would provide for the formation, governance, and regulation of such entities. Neither the House nor Senate concurred in the other’s amendments, so the bill is still pending further action.
Notary legislation
Florida: House Bill 915 was introduced on 2/18/2025 to prohibit notaries public from using specified terms to describe themselves under certain circumstances. Prohibited terms include “notario publico,” “notario” and other terms related to immigration assistance. This is similar to Senate Bill 846, which was reported last week.
Georgia: Senate Bill 299 was introduced on 2/27/2025 to authorize an active-duty member of the armed forces to utilize online notaries public from any state for purposes of taxation, titling, and licensing of a motor vehicle.
Real estate recording-related legislation
Idaho: House Bill 321 was introduced on 2/25/2025 to create a process for the sheriff to remove a person who is unlawfully occupying real property without any right to do so. The bill would also create crimes for making a false statement to detain real property and fraudulent sale or lease of residential real property.
Maryland: House Bill 347, which would make mostly technical changes to the real estate recording laws to include electronic recording references, passed the House on 2/20/2025.
Minnesota: House File 1430 and Senate File 1769 were introduced on 2/24/2025 to modify the requirements for recording a deed. These bills would prohibit the recording of a deed unless it includes the well disclosure certificate number or certain disclosure statements regarding absence of a well on the property.
New York: Assembly Bill 5886 was introduced on 2/24/2025 to prohibit the recording of unfair residential real estate service agreements.
New York: Assembly Bill 6154 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to prohibit certain noncitizens, foreign governments, and foreign entities from taking any real property that is zoned as industrial, light industrial, heavy industrial, residential agricultural, agricultural, or rural agricultural.
New York: Senate Bill 5651 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to prohibit the acquisition of real property by foreign countries and entities of particular concern as well as citizens, companies, entities, and members of such countries and entities.
North Carolina: House Bill 235 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to make it a felony for a person to present for filing or recording a deed or transfer of real property knowing or having reason to know that the document is false or contains a materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation. The bill would also establish a process to enable a victim to remove the fraudulent document from the record.
Rhode Island: House Bill 5662 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to establish the criminal offense of real estate title fraud. The bill would also require that municipalities that allow remote filing of electronic instruments obtain sufficient documentation to positively identify the filer. An instrument submitted remotely without the required identification information is null and void, even if recorded. The act would also create a private cause of action for victims of real estate title fraud.
Rhode Island: House Bill 5756 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to allow a municipality to set its own conveyance tax rate for residential properties sold in excess of $900,000 at $10 per $500.
Texas: Two similar measures, House Bill 3273 and House Bill 3274, were introduced on 2/25/2025 to make it a crime to present to another person a false, fraudulent, or fictitious document purporting to be a lease, deed, or other instrument conveying real property or an interest in real property with the intent to enter or remain on the real property. The bill also provides an expedited process to have the sheriff remove an unauthorized occupant. Several similar bills have been introduced in both chambers this session.
Utah: House Bill 295, which would provide that a municipality may hold a political subdivision lien for unpaid amounts owed for services provided by the municipality or a third-party to a customer in the municipality, passed the House on 2/25/2025.
Utah: House Bill 430, which would address foreign ownership of real property, passed the House on 2/25/2025. The bill would require that (i) a county recorder make a form available for an individual to disclose the individual’s connection with a restricted foreign entity; (ii) require the county recorder to send such completed forms to the Department of Public Safety; and (iii) create a criminal offense for a person purchasing land on behalf of a restricted foreign entity and failure to disclose the individual’s connection with the restricted foreign entity to the county recorder.
Utah: Senate Bill 55, which would provide remedies for homeowners to immediately recover their property against unlawful trespassers, passed the House on 2/19/2025 and is awaiting delivery to the governor. The bill would also impose criminal penalties for any person who knowingly and willfully presents a false document purporting to be a valid lease agreement, deed, or other instrument conveying real property rights; and for fraudulently listing or advertising for sale, or renting or leasing, residential real property under certain circumstances.
Utah: Senate Bill 104, which would clarify the recording requirements for boundary adjustments, passed the Senate on 2/19/2025.
West Virginia: House Bill 2806 was introduced on 2/21/2025 to require that a sales listing form to be attached to and recorded with a deed for the transfer of real property.
West Virginia: House Bill 2950 was introduced on 2/25/2025 to permit either a husband or wife to acknowledge a deed or other writing that conveys real estate that has a value of $12,000 or less.
Wyoming: Senate Bill 6, which would prohibit the use of false property documents and provide for removal of unauthorized occupants with law enforcement assistance, passed the House as amended on 2/19/2025. The Senate concurred the next day. The bill became law without the governor’s signature on 2/24/2025 and it takes effect on 7/1/2025.
Other items and legislation of interest
Arizona: Senate Bill 1062, which would define “legal tender” to include specie and cryptocurrency, passed the Senate on 2/26/2025. “Specie” is defined as coins having precious metal content.
Florida: House Bill 999 was introduced on 2/24/2025 to make gold and silver specie legal tender in the state.
New York: Senate Bill 5434 was introduced on 2/21/2025 to (i) establish the Office of Consumer Data Protection; (ii) require data controllers and data processors to register with the office; and (iii) impose a tax on data controllers and data processors.
West Virginia: House Bill 2987 was introduced on 2/26/2025 to enact the Consumer Data Protection Act.
Wisconsin: Assembly Bill 73 was introduced on 2/24/2025 to create a specialty commercial court docket in the county courts that will hear cases involving business governance, UCC, and similar commercial matters.
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.
