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Senate adopts trust-deed law amendments, tightening trustee and notice requirements
Summary
Second-substitute S.B. 53 changes trustee-sale procedures by requiring trustees be active Utah-resident attorneys, requiring title insurers to be doing business in Utah, allowing trustee sales on the property for parcels one acre or smaller and updating notice and time-of-sale provisions.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Senate on Feb. 13 adopted second-substitute amendments to the Trust Deed Law (second substitute S.B. 53), a package of technical and procedural reforms the sponsor said were proposed by attorneys who handle trustee sales across Utah.
Sponsor Senator Michael Wadipes said the bill's core changes require that the trustee conducting a trustee sale be an active member of the Utah State Bar residing in Utah and that title-insurance companies involved be doing business in the state. "The purpose for these two amendments really address the whole bill ... to make sure that our consumers have someone they can reach in the state of Utah when the trust deed sales are going on," Wadipes said.
The bill also revises notice and posting rules and permits trustee sales to be held at the property being sold for parcels of one acre or less, provided the location is stated in the notice. Sponsor and supporters said allowing evening sale times (the text proposes a window from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) could let more interested parties attend. "I was convinced ... that it would be good if more of them were held in the evening," Wadipes said on the floor.
Senator Hilliard asked whether the draft had broad bar input; the sponsor said the second substitute reflects suggested changes from multiple law firms and county-level representatives. Senators adopted technical, noncontroversial amendments on the floor and passed the second substitute by recorded vote (26–1, 2 absent), sending the measure to the House for further action.
Why it matters: The bill adjusts processes for trustee sales and posting of notices and aims to make trustee-sale actors more reachable and accountable in-state. Those changes affect how foreclosures and trustee sales are administered and how consumers and local parties can access information and recourse.
Next steps: The bill will be transmitted to the House for consideration; implementation would require updates to practice by title companies, trustees and county recorder offices to follow the revised notice and posting rules.
