Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Get email alerts on the Real Estate topic

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Clerks back bill to treat multipurpose deeds as a single document for recording fees

Virginia House Subcommittee · January 28, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

HB 448 would allow clerks to treat multipurpose deeds of trust that include financing statements as a single recorded document for fee and indexing purposes; clerks testified the change would reduce duplicate scanning and fee assessments.

Delegate Simon said HB 448 would let a multipurpose deed of trust or mortgage that incorporates a financing statement be recorded and indexed as one document, rather than requiring clerks to treat the instrument as multiple transactions. "It really ought to be treated in taxes, 1 document," the patron said, arguing the change removes an administrative mismatch that forces redundant scanning and fees.

Lizelle Dugger, a Charlottesville clerk of court, described current practice and two attorney-general opinions that require separate clerk fees when a document is parsed as multiple transactions. "We go by what the bank puts on the title," Dugger said, and added that treating the instrument as a single document would make clerks’ administration simpler.

The subcommittee voted to report HB 448 by a vote of 6 to 0. The bill will move to the full committee.