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Panel advances bill establishing process to divest property owned by foreign governments
Summary
Senate Bill 1149, advanced by the House State Affairs Committee, would give the attorney general authority to investigate alleged foreign-government ownership of Idaho property and seek receivership and sale; title companies sought the fix after uncertainty under existing law.
The House State Affairs Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1149 to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation after hearing from the bill sponsor and industry representatives who helped draft the measure.
Representative Boyle (representing Judy Boyle, District 9) described the bill as filling a gap left by earlier legislation that prohibited foreign governments from owning agricultural land, forest land, water rights or mineral rights but did not prescribe a remedy when such ownership occurred. She said the current bill “sets out the process” for dealing with those situations, including investigatory authority for the Attorney General and a receivership procedure to sell property.
Bob Rice, president of the Idaho Land Title Association, said the title industry helped draft the bill and described it as “a clean up bill to create a remedy for a situation where you have a foreign government owning land in violation of the existing statute.” Rice said title companies and closing agents have struggled to determine whether a purchasing entity is controlled by a foreign government and that the bill removes that onus from sellers and title companies.
Rice explained how the proposed receivership sale would treat lien holders and former owners: “whatever proceeds were raised from or gained from that ... receivership, would be paid to the lien holders in the order of their priority,” and acknowledged that, in a forced sale, some lien holders may receive less than the full amount of their recorded lien if the sale proceeds are insufficient.
Committee members asked technical questions. Representative Barbieri asked about a provision stating that “no claims shall be invalid or subject to divestiture due to a violation of the provisions of this section.” Rice said that language is intended “to protect former owners in the chain of title” so that a prior foreign-owner interest does not disturb later good-faith owners. Representative Crane asked whether the Attorney General’s office would use a form or online submission to receive complaints; Rice said, “to my knowledge there is no form” and that he expected a written complaint to the Attorney General’s office would suffice.
Representative Mickelson moved to send Senate Bill 1149 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The motion passed by voice vote.
