Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

FILED SENATE
                                                                                          Mar 30, 2023
                          GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                 S.B. 445
                                      SESSION 2023           PRINCIPAL CLERK
     S                                                                    D
                               SENATE BILL DRS35157-MQ-77
     Short Title:   Recording of Court-Filed Documents.                                          (Public)
     Sponsors:      Senator Daniel (Primary Sponsor).
     Referred to:
                                      A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT TO ALLOW CERTIFIED COPIES OF COURT-FILED DOCUMENTS TO BE
     RECORDED WITHOUT MEETING CERTAIN CONFORMING REQUIREMENTS OF
     THE REGISTER OF DEEDS.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
             SECTION 1. G.S. 161-14 reads as rewritten:
 "§ 161-14. Registration of instruments.
     (a)     After the register of deeds has determined that all statutory and locally adopted
 prerequisites for recording have been met, the register of deeds shall immediately register all
 written instruments presented to him for registration. When an instrument is presented for
 registration, the register of deeds shall endorse upon it the day and hour on which it was
 presented. This endorsement forms a part of the registration of the instrument. All instruments
 shall be registered in the precise order in which they were presented for registration. Immediately
 after endorsing the day and hour of presentation upon an instrument, the register of deeds shall
 index and cross-index it in its proper sequence. The register of deeds shall then proceed to register
 it on the day that it is presented unless a temporary index has been established.
     The register of deeds may establish a temporary index in which all instruments presented for
 registration shall be indexed until they are registered and entered in the permanent indexes. A
 temporary index shall operate in all respects as the permanent index. All instruments presented
 for registration shall be registered and indexed and cross-indexed on the permanent indexes not
 later than 30 days after the date of presentation.
     (b)     All instruments, except instruments conforming to the provisions of G.S. 25-9-521,
 G.S. 25-9-521 and any certified copy of a court-filed document, presented for registration on
 paper shall meet all of the following requirements:
             (1)      Be eight and one-half inches by eleven inches or eight and one-half inches by
                      fourteen inches.
             (2)      Have a blank margin of three inches at the top of the first page and blank
                      margins of at least one-half inches on the remaining sides of the first page and
                      on all sides of subsequent pages.
             (3)      Be typed or printed in black on white paper in a legible font. A font size no
                      smaller than 9 points shall be considered legible. Blanks in an instrument may
                      be completed in pen and corrections to an instrument may be made in pen.
             (4)      Have text typed or printed on one side of a page only.
             (5)      State the type of instrument at the top of the first page.
     If an instrument does not meet these requirements, the register of deeds shall register the
 instrument after collecting the fee for nonstandard documents as required by G.S. 161-10(a)(18a)
                                    *DRS35157-MQ-77*
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                   Session 2023
 in addition to all other applicable recording fees. However, if an instrument fails to meet the
 requirements because it contains print in a font size smaller than 9 points, the register of deeds
 may register the instrument without collecting the fee for nonstandard documents if, in the
 discretion of the register of deeds, the instrument is legible.
     (c)     Repealed by Session Laws 2019-35, s. 4, effective June 21, 2019.
     (d)     For the purposes of this section, the term "instrument" means all of the following for
 which a fee is collected under G.S. 161-10(a):
             (1)     Instruments in General.
             (2)     Deeds of Trust, Mortgages, and Cancellation of Deeds of Trust and
                     Mortgages.
             (3)     Uniform Commercial Code filings.
             (4)     Torrens Registrations.
             (5)     Master Forms.
     (e)     Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the register of deeds shall immediately
 register a written instrument presented to him or her for registration that meets the following
 requirements: (i) the instrument is a portion of a map of a cemetery that was divided into sections
 based upon race, (ii) the other portion of the map of a cemetery was properly registered in the
 office of the register of deeds, and (iii) the unregistered portion of the map does not have the
 surveyor's stamp or seal and original signature affixed."
             SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to instruments
 presented for registration on or after that date.
     Page 2                                                                         DRS35157-MQ-77
Statutes affected: 
Filed: 161-14
Edition 1: 161-14
Edition 2: 161-14, 7A-224, 7A-228, 42-31, 42-34, 14-127
Edition 3: 161-14, 7A-224, 7A-228, 42-31, 42-34, 14-127
Ratified: 161-14, 7A-224, 7A-228, 42-31, 42-34, 14-127
SL 2024-54: 161-14, 7A-224, 7A-228, 42-31, 42-34, 14-127