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Committee hears bill to ban recorded long‑term 'service agreements' that can cloud property titles
Summary
Senate Bill 164 would render certain long‑term recorded service agreements — marketed with small upfront payments and later asserted as liens — void and unenforceable; consumer, law‑enforcement and realtor witnesses urged passage while registrars asked to remove a proposed recording‑refusal duty.
A coalition of consumer and law‑enforcement witnesses supported Senate Bill 164, which would declare certain recorded long‑term “service” or listing agreements void and unenforceable and give homeowners a remedy to remove such recorded encumbrances from title.
Max Taylor, legislative aide to Senator Ricciardi, described the agreements at issue: out‑of‑state companies offer homeowners a modest upfront payment — often a few hundred to a few thousand dollars — in exchange for signing a long‑term agreement (sometimes 20–40 years) granting an exclusive right to provide future real‑estate brokerage or other services and recording that agreement at the county registry of deeds. Testimony described the agreements as a predatory practice that “clouds title,” can impose penalties (witnesses mentioned…
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