| 1 | The Justice Council recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to real property electronic recording; |
| 7 | creating s. 695.27, F.S.; providing a short title; |
| 8 | providing definitions; providing for the validity of |
| 9 | electronic documents relating to real property; providing |
| 10 | for the recording of electronic documents by the county |
| 11 | recorder; granting the Department of State rulemaking |
| 12 | authority; creating the Electronic Recording Council; |
| 13 | requiring the department to make specific written findings |
| 14 | if any of the council's recommendations are rejected; |
| 15 | providing for membership and meetings of the council; |
| 16 | providing that council members shall serve without |
| 17 | compensation and may not claim per diem and travel |
| 18 | expenses from the Secretary of State; providing guidelines |
| 19 | for the department, in consultation with the council, to |
| 20 | consider in adopting, amending, and repealing standards; |
| 21 | providing for uniformity of application and construction; |
| 22 | specifying the relation to a federal act; providing an |
| 23 | effective date. |
| 24 |
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| 25 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 26 |
|
| 27 | Section 1. Section 695.27, Florida Statutes, is created to |
| 28 | read: |
| 29 | 695.27 Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.-- |
| 30 | (1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the |
| 31 | "Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act." |
| 32 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section: |
| 33 | (a) "Document" means information that is: |
| 34 | 1. Inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an |
| 35 | electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable |
| 36 | form; and |
| 37 | 2. Eligible to be recorded in the land records maintained |
| 38 | by a county recorder pursuant to s. 28.222. |
| 39 | (b) "Electronic" means relating to technology having |
| 40 | electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, |
| 41 | electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. |
| 42 | (c) "Electronic document" means a document that is |
| 43 | received by a county recorder in an electronic form. |
| 44 | (d) "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, |
| 45 | symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a |
| 46 | document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to |
| 47 | sign the document. |
| 48 | (e) "Logically associated" means information recorded |
| 49 | simultaneously with the document to which it pertains and |
| 50 | assigned the same document number or a consecutive page number |
| 51 | immediately following such document. |
| 52 | (f) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business |
| 53 | trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, |
| 54 | association, joint venture, public corporation, or government; |
| 55 | governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or any |
| 56 | other legal or commercial entity. |
| 57 | (g) "State" means a state of the United States, the |
| 58 | District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin |
| 59 | Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the |
| 60 | jurisdiction of the United States. |
| 61 | (3) VALIDITY OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS.-- |
| 62 | (a) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that |
| 63 | a document be an original, be on paper or another tangible |
| 64 | medium, or be in writing, the requirement is satisfied by an |
| 65 | electronic document satisfying the requirements of this section. |
| 66 | (b) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that |
| 67 | a document be signed, the requirement is satisfied by an |
| 68 | electronic signature. |
| 69 | (c) A requirement that a document or a signature |
| 70 | associated with a document be notarized, acknowledged, verified, |
| 71 | witnessed, or made under oath is satisfied if the electronic |
| 72 | signature of the person authorized to perform that act, and all |
| 73 | other information required to be included, is attached to or |
| 74 | logically associated with the document or signature. A physical |
| 75 | or electronic image of a stamp, impression, or seal need not |
| 76 | accompany an electronic signature. |
| 77 | (4) RECORDING OF DOCUMENTS.-- |
| 78 | (a) In this subsection, the term "paper document" means a |
| 79 | document that is received by the county recorder in a form that |
| 80 | is not electronic. |
| 81 | (b) A county recorder: |
| 82 | 1. Who implements any of the functions listed in this |
| 83 | section shall do so in compliance with standards established by |
| 84 | rule by the Department of State. |
| 85 | 2. May receive, index, store, archive, and transmit |
| 86 | electronic documents. |
| 87 | 3. May provide for access to, and for search and retrieval |
| 88 | of, documents and information by electronic means. |
| 89 | 4. Who accepts electronic documents for recording shall |
| 90 | continue to accept paper documents as authorized by state law |
| 91 | and shall place entries for both types of documents in the same |
| 92 | index. |
| 93 | 5. May convert paper documents accepted for recording into |
| 94 | electronic form. |
| 95 | 6. May convert into electronic form information recorded |
| 96 | before the county recorder began to record electronic documents. |
| 97 | 7. May agree with other officials of a state or a |
| 98 | political subdivision thereof, or of the United States, on |
| 99 | procedures or processes to facilitate the electronic |
| 100 | satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent to |
| 101 | recording. |
| 102 | (5) ADMINISTRATION AND STANDARDS.-- |
| 103 | (a) The Department of State, by rule pursuant to ss. |
| 104 | 120.536(1) and 120.54, shall prescribe standards to implement |
| 105 | this section in consultation with the Electronic Recording |
| 106 | Council, which is hereby created. The Secretary of State shall |
| 107 | provide administrative support to the council, appoint the |
| 108 | members of the council, and appoint the chair of the council. |
| 109 | The Department of State shall make specific written findings if |
| 110 | any of the council's recommendations are rejected. The council |
| 111 | shall consist of nine members, as follows: |
| 112 | 1. Five clerks of circuit court or county recorders. |
| 113 | 2. Two persons working in the title insurance industry who |
| 114 | are members of the Florida Land Title Association. |
| 115 | 3. One banker who is a member of the Florida Bankers |
| 116 | Association. |
| 117 | 4. One attorney who is a member of the Real Property, |
| 118 | Probate and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar. |
| 119 | (b) The first meeting of the council shall be held on or |
| 120 | before July 30, 2006. Thereafter, the council shall meet at the |
| 121 | call of the chair. |
| 122 | (c) The members of the council shall serve without |
| 123 | compensation and shall not claim per diem and travel expenses |
| 124 | from the Secretary of State. |
| 125 | (d) To keep the standards and practices of county |
| 126 | recorders in this state in harmony with the standards and |
| 127 | practices of recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact |
| 128 | substantially this section and to keep the technology used by |
| 129 | county recorders in this state compatible with technology used |
| 130 | by recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact |
| 131 | substantially this section, the Department of State, in |
| 132 | consultation with the council, so far as is consistent with the |
| 133 | purposes, policies, and provisions of this section, in adopting, |
| 134 | amending, and repealing standards, shall consider: |
| 135 | 1. Standards and practices of other jurisdictions. |
| 136 | 2. The most recent standards adopted by national standard- |
| 137 | setting bodies, such as the Property Records Industry |
| 138 | Association. |
| 139 | 3. The views of interested persons and governmental |
| 140 | officials and entities. |
| 141 | 4. The needs of counties of varying size, population, and |
| 142 | resources. |
| 143 | 5. Standards requiring adequate information security |
| 144 | protection to ensure that electronic documents are accurate, |
| 145 | authentic, adequately preserved, and resistant to tampering. |
| 146 | (6) UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION.--In |
| 147 | applying and construing this section, consideration must be |
| 148 | given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect |
| 149 | to its subject matter among states that enact it. |
| 150 | (7) RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND |
| 151 | NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT.--This section modifies, limits, and |
| 152 | supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and |
| 153 | National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 7001 et seq., but this |
| 154 | section does not modify, limit, or supersede s. 101(c) of that |
| 155 | act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of |
| 156 | any of the notices described in s. 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. |
| 157 | s. 7003(b). |
| 158 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |