Draft Deed‑Fraud Act would add notification, freeze and known‑filer tools to curb forged real‑property filings

Callie Huffman (DLS) presented a draft modular Deed‑Fraud Act (the drafters propose a broader title to reflect all covered instruments) designed to prevent forged recordings and to speed correction when fraud occurs.

The draft separates remedies and prevention into articles so jurisdictions can adopt elements separately. Article Two provides expedited judicial relief—limited civil actions with a fact‑finding expert panel to determine whether a recorded instrument resulted from fraud and to correct records without resorting to a full quiet‑title action. Article Three would require a property notification program combining mailed notice to recorded owners and an opt‑in electronic alert system. Article Four would let owners freeze new recordings affecting parcel records with in‑person or secure authentication and a five‑year automatic expiration. Article Five would create a state known‑filer registration for frequent filers (attorneys, brokers, title agents) that requires identity verification; Article Six outlines a state notarial verification key that would attach a searchable verification key to notarial certificates.

Commissioners and staff raised implementation questions: how to authenticate owners to prevent abuse of freezes, privacy controls for opt‑in electronic notices, costs and staffing for clerk offices and courts, whether mail‑in recording should be limited to known filers, and whether the notarial system should cover all notarizations or only those affecting instruments of record. Virginia has moved in this direction this session with new legislation creating a property‑alert system and new notary safeguards effective in 2027, but the ULC draft is broader and would impose obligations and potential fiscal burdens on clerks and courts if adopted wholesale.