Bulletin: NE2016005

Dear Associates: 

As of late in the week of July 18, all legislative bills which passed out of the Unicameral and were signed into law by the Governor have become effective. Some of these bills, which will be of varying degrees of interest to the title industry, are briefly described below.

Legislative Bill 465 permits registration of notary publics as “electronic notary publics” beginning in 2017, subject to regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary of State. In a number of locations, technology will have to catch up with the law, but the fact remains that the legal authorization now exists.

Legislative Bill 725 exempts all easements, except conservation easements, from a prior State requirement that all easements to be recorded be accompanied by the Form 521 – Real Estate Transfer Statement.

Legislative Bill 758 effectively prohibits a limited liability company from operating as an insurer.

As a final note, agents are reminded that Legislative Bill 253 of the 2015 session of the Unicameral provides that “A purchase agreement or contract for sale of homestead property signed by both spouses does not require acknowledgement to be enforceable.” This is yet another revision to Nebraska’s homestead statute (Sec. 40-104, Neb. Rev. Stat.) that originally required that both spouses execute any conveyance or encumbrance of homestead unless both spouses execute and acknowledge the instrument. CAVEAT: This and earlier changes do not affect the statutory requirement that all instruments presented for recording in the real estate records must be properly acknowledged.

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