Georgia 2015 Legislation as of May 25, 2015

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1 Georgia 2015 Legislation as of May 25, 2015 The Georgia General Assembly reconvened January 12, 2015 and adjourned April 2, Below is an end of session update on real estate related bills of importance to the default servicing community. GA House Bill 322: Amends current Georgia law requiring foreclosure deeds to be recorded within 90 days after sale so as to add a $500 penalty due upon filing for deeds that are not filed within 30 days after the 90 day time period. Under the new statute, the holder will be required to pay the $500 penalty for late filing. The bill also modifies the execution requirements of all deeds, including foreclosure deeds to require two officers and a witness to execute deeds versus the old requirement of one officer and two wtinesses. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 145 on May 6, Default Servicing Impact: Large Very simply, the servicer must have the foreclosure deeds recorded within 120 days of the foreclosure sale date or face a $500 penalty. Please keep in mind that on all foreclosure deeds, the servicer executes on behalf of the foreclosing entity. The process could be expedited if law firms are given powers of attorney to execute on behalf of the foreclosing entity. As for the new execution requirement, please be certain to follow the new execution requirements. You may be subject to the $500 penalty if the foreclosure deed is not executed properly within the 120 day time-frame. GA Senate Bill 65: Changes the monetary exemptions for purposes of bankruptcy and intestate insolvent estates from $ to $1, for aggregate interest plus any unused amount of the exemption, not to exceed $10, (as opposed to the current $5,000.00). This bill was passed by the House and Senate and the Governor signed it into law as Act 167 on May 6, The Act will take effect on July 1,

2 GA House Bill 99: Amends O.C.G.A to provide for tenancy in common when joint tenants divorce or have their marriage annulled under certain circumstances. Unless joint tenancy with the right of survivorship is disposed of in a final order of divorce or annulment, if either party to an instrument of title creating a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship files an affidavit with the clerk of superior court of the county in which the real property is located averring that the parties have been lawfully divorced or their marriage has been annulled, that the party intends to terminate the joint tenancy, identifies the book and page of recordation of the deed creating the joint tenancy with right of survivorship and attaches a copy of the final order of divorce or annulment and a legal description of the property, that party s interests will be converted into tenants in common. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and the Governor signed it into law as Act 109 on May 06, GA House Bill 153: Adds a Code section expressly prohibiting any person or voluntary association, other than an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia, to close a real estate transaction or express, render, or issue a legal opinion as to the status of the title to real or personal property. The Act also provides for a civil action for damages for violations of the unauthorized practice of law under the statute or a violation of the Supreme Court of Georgia s rules or opinions governing the unlicensed practice of law. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and the Governor signed it into law as Act 76 on May 5, It is to take effect July 1, Default Servicing Impact: Minimal. Remember, all closings in GA must be supervised by a GA-barred attorney. GA House Bill 174: Creates the Urban Redevelopment Law as to as include blighted areas, modernize terminology and provide for the use of surface transportation projects in urban redevelopment areas. The Act essentially replaces the terminology of slums with pockets of blight." This bill was passed by the House and Senate and the Governor signed it into law as Act 208 on May 12,

3 GA House Bill 184: This is the Department of Banking and Finance clean up bill and all of the changes are minor and for housekeeping purposes only. The bill makes technical revisions to many of the definitions and methods of notice regarding shareholder meetings. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 64 on May 5, It is to take effect July 1, GA House Bill 202: This bill amends Georgia s ad valorem tax laws so as to provide for comprehensive revisions relating to taxation, appraisal process for property tax assessment, qualifications for appraisers, and property tax assessment appeals process. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 193 on May 6, GA House Bill 245: Changes the amount permissible as a special assessment fee for condominium associations from an average of $200 to one-sixth of the annual common expense assessment for the unit per fiscal year without approval of the majority of the unit owners (this will apply to only those condominium instruments recorded on or after July 1, 2015). This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 128 on May 6, It is to take effect July 1, GA House Bill 253: Relates to real estate appraisers so as to require the establishment and maintenance of a real estate appraisal management company. Specifically, an appraisal management company shall not pay any fees to an appraiser to perform activity in a federally

4 regulated transaction without complying with the rules and regulations adopted by the board to regulate such transaction. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 29 on April 29, Effective as of April 29, GA House Bill 299: Amends Chapter 1 of Title 13 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions for contracts, so as to provide for definitions; to provide for the imposition of convenience fees upon payments for certain loans or purchases when paid by electronic means; to provide for notice of the imposition of convenience fees. This bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law as Act 140 on May 6, Effective as of May 6, DEAD LEGISLATION: GA House Bill 31: This bill provides, under certain circumstances and prior to foreclosure, a statutory right for the borrower to cure a foreclosure by bringing the debt current by making all past due payments along with any late fees and charges. This bill is dead it was pre-filed on January 2, 2015, but no actions were taken on the bill since then. GA House Bill 49: Amends Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, so as to provide for electronic service of certain tax notices upon request by the tax payer. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 51: Amends current Georgia law relating to redemption of property sold for taxes so as to change provisions relating to the amount payable at redemption. Specifically, amounts paid to condominium and homeowner s associations after the tax sale would now be included in the amounts to be paid to tax sale purchaser to redeem property after a tax sale. This bills did not make it out of committee.

5 GA House Bill 68: Amends current Georgia law regarding property tax liability so as to waive liability for any taxpayer who owes property taxes in the amount of $5.00 or less. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA Senate Bill 78: Changes the provisions relating to appeals from magistrate courts and litigation costs and attorney s fees assessed for frivolous actions and defenses. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 81: Affects tax sale redemptions by requiring any creditor of the defendant in fifa who seeks to redeem the property within one year of the tax sale to seek confirmation under O.C.G.A upon application of the defendant in fifa, and when the creditor redeems, the creditor is only entitled to receive the funds equal to the amount of his or her lien if the defendant applies for confirmation. This bill is dead it was withdrawn from the general calendar and was recommitted by the House. GA Senate Bill 97: Amends Georgia s property tax section so as to require diligence in notifying tax payers that taxes have not been paid and that an execution shall be issued as well as changes the timing of the sale of tax executions. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 115: This bill provides, under certain circumstances and prior to foreclosure, a statutory right for the borrower to cure a foreclosure by bringing the debt current by making all past due payments along with any late fees and charges. This bill is dead it was withdrawn and recommitted on April 2, GA Senate Bill 117: Relates to liens for assessments for condominium owners so as to require the purchaser of a condominium at a foreclosure sale to take title subject to a lien in favor of the condominium dues for the 6 months prior to the foreclosure sale under certain circumstances. This bill did not make it out of committee.

6 GA House Bill 173: Provides for the inclusion of a conspicuous statement regarding the accrual of fines, fees, and taxes on the notice of foreclosure sale sent to the borrower. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 197: Repeals the Georgia Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act and creates the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act; Amends Chapter 12 of Title 9, Title 11 and Chapter 2 of Title 18 of the O.C.G.A., relating to verdict and judgment, the commercial code and debtor and creditor relations; Amends Titles 7, 10, 40 and 52 of the O.C.G.A. relating to banking and finance, commerce and trade and amends Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 9 and Code Section of the O.C.G.A relating to limitations on recovery for deficiencies connected with improvements to realty and resulting in injuries and fraudulent transfers. This bill was adopted by the Senate by substitute; however, the House disagreed to Senate substitute on the last day of regular session. GA House Bill 204: Changes the provisions relating to when opposing affidavits shall be served in motions for summary judgment, specifically changing the timeframe from the day prior to the hearing to seven days before the hearing. This bill passed the House on March 11, 2015; however, it did not make it out of the Senate. GA House Bill 221: Changes the definition of current use value in Georgia s ad valorem taxation of property code section to mean the amount a knowledgeable buyer would pay for property with the intention of continuing the property in its existing use and in an arm s length, bona fide sale. This bill crossed over to the Senate but didn t end up passing this year. GA House Bill 267: Changes and clarifies current Georgia law relating to witnessing requirements for deeds, mortgages, and bills of sale by changing the two witness requirement to only one witness. This bill is aimed to resolve the issues raised in the US Bank v. Gordon case. This bill is dead it was withdrawn from the general calendar and recommitted. GA House Bill 335: Amends Georgia s law on ad valorem taxation to provide for the value of property that has been fire damaged. Specifically, the assessed value of the structure will be

7 deducted from the current assessment of the real property on a pro rata basis starting with the date the fire occurred. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 364: It appears the legislature is carving out an area in the code relating to transfer taxation on real property transfers but it is unclear exactly what, if anything will be amended this session. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 381: This bill would repeal Chapter 17 of the Georgia Code Annotated relating to notaries public and would enact the Revised Georgia Law on Notarial Acts of This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 387: Enacts a new Chapter in Title 7 to regulate providers of debt settlement and debt management services providing services to consumers and repeals Chapter 5 of Title 18 relating to debt adjustments. This bill did not make it out of committee. GA House Bill 462: Establishes conditions under which sale leaseback transactions would not be considered a loan, extension of credit, sale or a security interest. This bill died in the House.