Senate committee advances bill creating new deed-fraud offenses, requires photo ID for in-person filings

The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce on Wednesday voted to report a committee substitute for Senate Bill 15 to the full Senate, advancing a package of changes that would create new criminal offenses for real‑property fraud and require county clerks to collect and log photo identification for in‑person property filings.

Senator West, the bill sponsor, said the substitute combines the civil and criminal deed‑fraud measures the Legislature had considered earlier and “the requirement that all over the counter in person filers of property transaction documents at a county clerk's office must present a photo ID.” The committee adopted the substitute and reported it favorably to the Senate by a 10–0 tally.

The bill would require county clerks to record the identity information shown on a presented ID and make that logged information available to district attorneys when a filing is later flagged as fraudulent. The substitute also creates offenses labeled in the hearing as real property theft and real property fraud, establishes a…