Committee adopts SB406 with amendments to tighten identification for deed recordings

Sen. Clark presented Senate Bill 406 to a legislative committee and, after amendments and public comment, the committee approved the measure as amended to tighten identification for deed recordings in an effort to deter property-fraud schemes.

The bill matters because sellers' impersonation fraud has cost homeowners thousands of dollars and can leave elderly property owners especially vulnerable. Supporters said the bill gives clerks additional tools to trace fraudulent filings without placing private identification on recorded deeds.

Sen. Clark said the amendment package responded to questions raised when the bill was previously considered. The adopted amendments clarify who counts as the listed grantor'"that would encompass trustees of a trust, a member of an LLC, a president of a corporation, or an attorney in fact pursuant to a power of attorney," Sen. Clark said. The amendment also removed a requirement that a grantor's driver's license be recorded on the deed; instead, the license copy would be maintained by the circuit clerk under seal and not appear on the recorded instrument.

Micah Bono Sample, identified in the hearing as a Celine County circuit clerk and representative of the Circuit Clerk Association, said the bill is "actually a beginning to actually help our citizens, from the property fraud." He testified the proposal is not perfect but would deter bad actors and that some circuit clerks are already piloting software and fraud-alert programs to identify suspicious filings earlier.

Kyle Sylvester, Washington County circuit clerk and legislative chair for the Arkansas Circuit Clerk Association, told the committee the bill "will give us a head start on trying to identify those bad actors" by requiring clerks to keep identification on file for people who submit deed instruments.

Citizen Paul Hayes, who said he is not representing any organization, urged a stronger approach. Hayes proposed a registry or "freeze" system in which a homeowner could pay a fee and require that any transfer for a protected property be executed only in the clerk's office in the owner's presence. Hayes said, "My idea was that a structure be created where someone like myself, when my house is paid for, could go into the clerk's office, pay a fee, and sign a paper that says, I will only sign a transfer for my piece of property in your presence in your office." He argued the bill as amended does not prevent title theft the way the original version aimed to do.

Committee members exchanged questions about enforcement, actions by the attorney general's office, and technological safeguards. A sponsor noted the measure had been revised several times after input from clerks, title agents and others.

The committee adopted the amendment by voice vote and later approved SB406 as amended by voice vote. The record does not show a roll-call tally in the transcript; motions and approvals were recorded as voice votes.

Supporters said the bill creates a starting point to deter seller-impersonation fraud and that additional legislative work may be needed in future sessions to expand protections or implement a registry-like option.

The committee advanced SB406 as amended to the next legislative stage; the transcript shows approval by voice vote with no roll-call recorded.