May 15, 2018, Introduced by Senators HERTEL, MACGREGOR, MARLEAU, BOOHER, GREGORY and SCHMIDT and referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions.
A bill to amend 2010 PA 123, entitled
"Uniform real property electronic recording act,"
by amending sections 4 and 5 (MCL 565.844 and 565.845), section 5
as amended by 2014 PA 569.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 4. (1) A county register of deeds who implements any of
the functions listed in subsection (2) shall do so in compliance
with any standards established by the electronic recording
commission.
(2) A county register of deeds may do any of the following:
(a) Receive, index, store, archive, and transmit electronic
documents.
(b) Provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of,
documents and information by electronic means.
(c) Convert paper documents accepted for recording into
electronic form.
(d) Convert into electronic form information recorded before
the county register of deeds began to record electronic documents.
(e) Accept electronically any fee or tax that the county
register of deeds is authorized to collect.
(f) Agree with other officials of a state or a political
subdivision of a state, or of the United States, on procedures or
processes to facilitate the electronic satisfaction of prior
approvals and conditions precedent to recording and the electronic
payment of fees or taxes.
(3) A county register of deeds who accepts electronic
documents for recording shall continue to accept paper documents
for recording as authorized by state law. The county register of
deeds shall place entries for both types of documents in the same
index.
(4) A county register of deeds shall only accept electronic
documents for recording from a person with which the county
register of deeds has entered into an agreement establishing a
verified transactional relationship.
(5) (4)
This act does not invalidate
electronic documents
recorded under this act, the uniform electronic transactions act,
2000 PA 305, MCL 450.831 to 450.849, or the federal electronic
signatures in global and national commerce act, 15 USC 7001 to
7031, before the establishment of standards under this act by the
electronic recording commission.
Sec. 5. (1) The electronic recording commission is created
within the department of technology, management, and budget. The
commission consists of 8 members, as follows:
(a) The director of the department of technology, management,
and budget or his or her designee, who is a nonvoting member.
(b) Seven members appointed by the governor, as follows:
(i) Four individuals who are county registers of deeds.
(ii) One individual who is engaged in the land title
profession.
(iii) One individual who is engaged in the business of
banking.
(iv) One individual who is an attorney licensed to practice
law in this state and whose practice emphasizes real property
matters.
(2) The appointed members of the commission shall serve for
terms of 2 years or until a successor is appointed, whichever is
later, except that of the members first appointed 3 shall serve for
1 year, 2 shall serve for 2 years, and 2 shall serve for 3 years.
(3) If a vacancy occurs on the commission, the governor shall
make an appointment for the unexpired term in the same manner as
the original appointment.
(4) The governor may remove an appointed member of the
commission for incompetency, dereliction of duty, malfeasance,
misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or any other good cause.
(5) The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the
director of the department of technology, management, and budget.
At the first meeting, the commission shall elect from among its
members a chairperson and other officers as it considers necessary
or appropriate. After the first meeting, the commission shall meet
at least annually, or more frequently at the call of the
chairperson or if requested by 5 or more members.
(6) A majority of the members of the commission constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the
commission. A majority of the members present and serving are
required for official action of the commission.
(7) The business that the commission may perform shall be
conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance
with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
(8) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or
retained by the commission in the performance of an official
function is subject to the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442,
MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(9) Members of the commission shall serve without
compensation. However, members of the commission may be reimbursed
for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
of their official duties as members of the commission.
(10) The commission shall adopt standards to implement this
act and standards that address the acceptance and use of electronic
notarization of documents submitted to a county register of deeds
for recording. To keep the standards and practices of county
registers of deeds in this state in harmony with the standards and
practices of offices of county registers of deeds in other
jurisdictions that enact substantially this act, and to keep the
technology used by county registers of deeds in this state
compatible with technology used by offices of county registers of
deeds in other jurisdictions that enact substantially this act, the
commission, so far as is consistent with the purposes, policies,
and provisions of this act, in adopting, amending, and repealing
standards, shall consider all of the following:
(a) Standards and practices of other jurisdictions.
(b) The most recent standards promulgated by national
standard-setting
bodies, such as the property records industry
association.Property Records Industry Association.
(c) The views of interested persons and governmental officials
and entities.
(d) The needs of counties of varying size, population, and
resources.
(e) Standards requiring adequate information security
protection to ensure that electronic documents are accurate,
authentic, adequately preserved, and resistant to tampering.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless all of the following bills of the 99th Legislature are
enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No. 664.
(b) Senate Bill No. 996.
(c) Senate Bill No. 997.
(d) Senate Bill No. 998.