H. B. 2146
(By Delegates Hunt, Seacrist, Johnson,
Tillis, Faircloth and Thomas)
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter thirty-nine of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
two-c, relating to preventing the recordation of fraudulent
deeds; duty of notification by the clerk of the county
commission of each county; allowing collection of a fee to
cover costs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter thirty-nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
two-c, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. AUTHENTICATION AND RECORD OF WRITINGS.
§
39-1-2c. Notice of transfer to current owner.
For the purpose of effectuating the intents and purposes of the "Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act," (West Virginia code
§40-1A-1 et seq.), and of this article, the clerk of the county
commission of any county who admits to record a transfer of real
property, by deed or otherwise, must notify the current holder of
record title of the transfer within five days by United States
first class mail. A fee for this duty shall be charged to the
party recording the transfer of property in the amount of five
dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prevent the recording
of fraudulent deeds, obviating the likelihood that a property
owner will have claims against the title to real estate created
without his or her knowledge. The bill requires clerks of county
commissions to notify the current owner of record by mail
whenever a transfer of title to real property is recorded. The
bill allows the clerks to charge a fee to the recording party to
cover expenses of this duty.
This section is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.