Bulletin: UT2024002

Dear Associates:

The following are summaries of the bills passed during the 2024 legislative session which are of interest to the title industry:

HB24 Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act Amendments (UCA 75-6-416): The bill amends the optional forms for the Revocable Transfer on Death Deed and the Full Revocation of Transfer on Death Deed.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

HB37 Joint Tenancy Presumption Amendments (UCA 57-1-5): The bill changes the joint tenancy presumption statute and establishes that an ownership interest granted ‘…to two or more persons in their own right is presumed to be joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, unless severed, converted or expressly declared in the grant to be otherwise’. There are now three dates and circumstances regarding the presumption of joint tenancy. UCA 57-1-5(1)(a)(i), states:

(A) Beginning on May 5, 1997, and ending on May 3, 2022, an ownership interest in real estate granted to two persons in their own right who are designated as husband and wife in the granting documents is presumed to be a joint tenancy interest with rights of survivorship, unless severed, converted, or expressly declared in the grant to be otherwise.

(B) Beginning on May 4, 2022, and ending on April 30, 2024, an ownership interest in real estate granted to two persons in their own right who are designated as spouses in the granting documents is presumed to be a joint tenancy interest with rights of survivorship, unless severed, converted, or expressly declared in the grant to be otherwise.

(C) An ownership interest granted on or after May 1, 2024, to two or more persons in their own right is presumed to be a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, unless severed, converted, or expressly declared in the grant to be otherwise.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

HB399 Insurance Department Complaint Amendments (UCA 31A-23a-204): This bill broadens the Department of Insurance enforcement authority to take action against a title insurance producer if it does not have an appointment from a title insurer. The actions under the statue are:

a. suspend or revoke the title insurance producer’s license;
b.  freeze a bank account associated with the title insurance producer’s business;
c.  subpoena the title insurance producer’s records;
d.  enjoin the title producer’s business operations; or
e.  post, at the title producer’s business locations, a notice of action listed [above].
(Effective May 1, 2024)

HB516 State Land Purchase Amendments (UCA 63L-13-101, 201 and 202): This bill makes amendments to the bill passed in 2023 (HB186) creating the Restrictions on Foreign Acquisitions of Land Act. The bill addresses some of the issues in the original bill. This bill adds a definition of Land Conveyance and expands the definition of a Restricted Foreign Entity. It also reduces the required time frame for alienation of an acquired interest by a restricted foreign entity from five (5) years to one (1) year. If the restricted foreign entity fails to alienate an interest in the land, the Division of Facilities Construction and Management has the authority to sell the interest in the land.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

SB31 Insurance Amendments (UCA 31A-23a-119)

The insurance department’s bill amends the law to require all title insurance producers to have ‘sufficient capital and net worth.’ The same net worth requirement that has been in place for affiliated companies now applies to all companies. The statute includes a ramp up period running through January 2029 for existing companies.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

SB151 Fraudulent Deed Amendments (UCA 57-31-101, 201 and 202)

The bill creates a definition of a “Fraudulent Deed” as “a deed that is not executed or authorized to be executed by the record interest holder.”  The new statute provides for a process for an expedited court hearing to determine whether a deed is fraudulent or not. If the court determines a deed is fraudulent, the purported grantor is liable to the record interest holder for civil liability for the greater of $10,000 or treble actual damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

SB165 Title Recording Notice Requirements Amendments (UCA 17-21-6)

This bill requires all county recorders to maintain a system that allows a property owner to opt-in to receive “…an electronic notice when the county recorder records a deed or mortgage…on the property owner’s real property.” Many recorders already have this system in place, but it is required to be statewide by the end of the year.
(Effective January 1, 2025)

SB168 Affordable Building Amendments (UCA 57-1-46 and 47)

A portion of this bill makes additional notice requirements (in addition to 57-1-46(7)) for the continuation of existing private transfer fee obligations. The bill requires the filing of a notice on or before May 31, 2024, and to “re-file the notice no earlier than May 1 and no later than May 31, every three years thereafter” in order to have the previously recorded notice of transfer fee covenant to remain valid and effective.
(Effective May 1, 2024)

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