This kind of momentous legislation deserves an eSignature on it, don’t you think?
CHAPTER 2007-233
Committee Substitute for
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 2038
An act relating to real property electronic recording; creating s.
695.27, F.S.; providing a short title; providing definitions; providing
for the validity of electronic documents relating to real property;
providing for the recording of electronic documents by the county
recorder; granting the Department of State rulemaking authority;
creating the Electronic Recording Advisory Committee; providing
the committee with certain powers and duties; providing for membership
and meetings of the committee; providing that committee
members shall serve without compensation and may not claim per
diem and travel expenses from the Secretary of State; providing
guidelines for the department, in consultation with the committee,
to consider in adopting, amending, and repealing standards; providing
for the termination of the committee; providing for uniformity of
application and construction; specifying the relation to a federal act;
amending s. 201.01, F.S.; providing that such electronic documents
are subject to the same taxes as paper documents; amending s.
201.022, F.S.; providing for the electronic filing of certain required
returns; providing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Section 695.27, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
695.27 Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.—
(1) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the “Uniform Real
Property Electronic Recording Act.”
(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
(a) “Document” means information that is:
1. Inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or
other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; and
2. Eligible to be recorded in the Official Records, as defined in s. 28.222,
and maintained by a county recorder.
(b) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital,
magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(c) “Electronic document” means a document that is received by a county
recorder in an electronic form.
(d) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process
that is executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document
and is attached to or logically associated with a document such that, when
recorded, it is assigned the same document number or a consecutive page
number immediately following such document.
(e) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate,
trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public
corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality,
or any other legal or commercial entity.
(f) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular
possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(3) VALIDITY OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS.—
(a) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be an
original, be on paper or another tangible medium, or be in writing, the
requirement is satisfied by an electronic document satisfying the requirements
of this section.
(b) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be
signed, the requirement is satisfied by an electronic signature.
(c) A requirement that a document or a signature associated with a
document be notarized, acknowledged, verified, witnessed, or made under
oath is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform
that act, and all other information required to be included, is attached
to or logically associated with the document or signature. A physical or
electronic image of a stamp, impression, or seal need not accompany an
electronic signature.
(4) RECORDING OF DOCUMENTS.—
(a) In this subsection, the term “paper document” means a document that
is received by the county recorder in a form that is not electronic.
(b) A county recorder:
1. Who implements any of the functions listed in this section shall do so
in compliance with standards established by rule by the Department of
State.
2. May receive, index, store, archive, and transmit electronic documents.
3. May provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of, documents
and information by electronic means.
4. Who accepts electronic documents for recording shall continue to accept
paper documents as authorized by state law and shall place entries for
both types of documents in the same index.
5. May convert paper documents accepted for recording into electronic
form.
6. May convert into electronic form information recorded before the
county recorder began to record electronic documents.
7. May agree with other officials of a state or a political subdivision
thereof, or of the United States, on procedures or processes to facilitate the
electronic satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent to recording.
(5) ADMINISTRATION AND STANDARDS.—
(a) The Department of State, by rule pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and
120.54, shall prescribe standards to implement this section in consultation
with the Electronic Recording Advisory Committee, which is hereby created.
The Florida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers shall provide
administrative support to the committee and technical support to the Department
of State and the committee at no charge. The committee shall
consist of nine members, as follows:
1. Five members appointed by the Florida Association of Court Clerks
and Comptrollers, one of whom must be an official from a large urban
charter county where the duty to maintain official records exists in a county
office other than the clerk of court or comptroller.
2. One attorney appointed by the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law
Section of The Florida Bar Association.
3. Two members appointed by the Florida Land Title Association.
4. One member appointed by the Florida Bankers Association.
(b) Appointed members shall serve a 1-year term. All initial terms shall
commence on the effective date of this act. Members shall serve until their
successors are appointed. An appointing authority may reappoint a member
for successive terms. A vacancy on the committee shall be filled in the same
manner in which the original appointment was made, and the term shall be
for the balance of the unexpired term.
(c) The first meeting of the committee shall be within 60 days of the
effective date of this act. Thereafter, the committee shall meet at the call of
the chair, but at least annually.
(d) The members of the committee shall serve without compensation and
shall not claim per diem and travel expenses from the Secretary of State.
(e) To keep the standards and practices of county recorders in this state
in harmony with the standards and practices of recording offices in other
jurisdictions that enact substantially this section and to keep the technology
used by county recorders in this state compatible with technology used by
recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact substantially this section,
the Department of State, in consultation with the committee, so far as is
consistent with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this section, in
adopting, amending, and repealing standards, shall consider:
1. Standards and practices of other jurisdictions.
2. The most recent standards adopted by national standard-setting bodies,
such as the Property Records Industry Association.
3. The views of interested persons and governmental officials and entities.
4. The needs of counties of varying size, population, and resources.
5. Standards requiring adequate information security protection to ensure
that electronic documents are accurate, authentic, adequately preserved,
and resistant to tampering.
(f) The committee shall terminate on July 1, 2010.
(6) UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION.—In applying
and construing this section, consideration must be given to the need
to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among
states that enact it.
(7) RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND
NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT.—This section modifies, limits, and supersedes
the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce
Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 7001 et seq., but this section does not modify, limit, or
supersede s. 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7001(c), or authorize electronic
delivery of any of the notices described in s. 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. s.
7003(b).
Section 2. Section 201.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
201.01 Documents taxable, generally.—There shall be levied, collected,
and paid the taxes specified in this chapter, for and in respect to the several
documents, bonds, debentures or certificates of stock and indebtedness, and
other documents, instruments, matters, writings, and things described in
the following sections, or for or in respect of the vellum, parchment, or paper,
or any other medium whether tangible, electronic, or otherwise, upon which
such document, instrument, matter, writing, or thing, or any of them, is
written, or printed, or created electronically or otherwise, by any person who
makes, signs, executes, issues, sells, removes, consigns, assigns, records, or
ships the same, or for whose benefit or use the same are made, signed,
executed, issued, sold, removed, consigned, assigned, recorded, or shipped
in the state. Unless exempt under s. 201.24 or under any state or federal law,
if the United States, the state, or any political subdivision of the state is a
party to a document taxable under this chapter, any tax specified in this
chapter shall be paid by a nonexempt party to the document. The documentary
stamp taxes shall be paid on all recordable instruments requiring
documentary stamp tax according to law, prior to recordation. With respect
to mortgages or trust deeds which do not incorporate the certificate of indebtedness,
a notation shall be made on the note or certificate that the tax
has been paid on the mortgage or trust deed.
Section 3. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 201.022, Florida Statutes, are
amended to read:
201.022 Consideration for realty; filing of return condition precedent to
recordation; penalty; compensation of clerks; failure to file does not impair
validity.—
(1) As a condition precedent to the recordation of any deed transferring
an interest in real property, the grantor or the grantee or agent for grantee
shall execute and file a return with the clerk of the circuit court, who may
accept the return electronically. The return shall state the actual consideration
paid for the interest in real property. The return shall state the parcel
identification number maintained by the county property appraiser in a
manner prescribed by the department. If the parcel is a split or cutout
parcel, the return shall state the parent parcel identification number if the
parcel identification number has not been assigned. The return shall not be
recorded or otherwise become a public record and shall be confidential as
provided by s. 193.074, and shall be exempt from the provisions of s.
119.07(1), except that the Department of Environmental Protection or,
through the Department of Environmental Protection, its contract appraiser,
shall have access to the return to verify the consideration paid in
any transfer of an interest in real property, when such transfer is considered
as part of an appraisal for a proposed land acquisition project conducted
pursuant to any Department of Environmental Protection land acquisition
program. The Department of Environmental Protection or its contract appraiser
shall not disclose the contents of the return to any other public or
private entity. The original return shall be forwarded to the Department of
Revenue, and a copy shall be forwarded to the property appraiser.
(3) If the return required by this section is not executed and filed, the
clerk of the circuit court is required to execute and file the return, on paper
or electronically, with the department. The clerk shall be compensated 1.0
percent of the tax paid on deeds as the cost of processing the return required
by this section in the form of a deduction from the amount of the tax due and
remitted by the clerk, and the department shall allow the deduction to the
clerk paying and remitting the tax in the manner provided by the department.
However, no deduction or allowance shall be granted when there is
a manifest failure to maintain proper records or make proper reports. The
compensation provided herein shall be in addition to that provided in s.
201.11(2).
Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
Approved by the Governor June 27, 2007.
Filed in Office Secretary of State June 27, 2007.
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