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Housing & Community Development committee advances bill to criminalize deed fraud, 26-0
Summary
The committee voted to report House Bill 1406, which would create a new criminal offense for deed fraud; sponsors and members said the measure responds to growing incidents of title-related schemes and aims to close a legal gap that has left victims without recourse.
House Bill 1406, which would create a new criminal offense for deed fraud, was reported out of the Housing & Community Development Committee by a 26-0 vote.
The measure, described to the committee by staff member Jim as creating "a new criminal offense of deed fraud," drew bipartisan support from sponsors and committee members who said the change fills a statutory gap that has left some homeowners vulnerable. Representative Raab, a prime sponsor, told the committee a neighbor came to his office "confused and bewildered because she was on the precipice of losing her home through no fault of her own," and said that constituent case inspired the bill.
Representative Bonner, the bill's co-prime sponsor, cited national data during his remarks: "The FBI indicates that real estate fraud affects approximately 12,000 people annually with reported losses exceeding $1,300,000,000," and he said estimates put total victims of real estate fraud between 2019 and 2023 at about 60,000. Both sponsors said other states have enacted similar statutes and the bill had been refined in conversation with stakeholders.
Chairman Irvin told the committee he supported putting a specific law on the books to address title theft, saying the committee had supported similar language in a prior session. Jim, the committee staff member, provided the bill summary at the outset of the discussion.
The committee recorded no negative votes and the clerk announced the bill would be "reported as committed, 26 to 0." No amendments or motions altering the text were recorded in the committee discussion available in the transcript.
