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S.B. No. 461
AN ACT
relating to the confidentiality of and access to certain personal
information in instruments recorded with a county clerk.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f), Section
11.008, Property Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "instrument" means a deed[, mortgage,]
or deed of trust.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 191.007(c), Local Government
Code, an [An] instrument [executed on or after January 1, 2004,]
transferring an interest in real property to or from an individual
and disclosing that individual's social security number or driver's
license number must include [may not be recorded unless] a notice
that appears on the top of the first page of the instrument in
12-point boldfaced type or 12-point uppercase letters and reads
substantially as follows:
NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS: IF YOU ARE A NATURAL
PERSON, YOU MAY REMOVE OR STRIKE ANY OR ALL OF THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION FROM THIS INSTRUMENT BEFORE IT
IS FILED FOR RECORD IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS: YOUR SOCIAL
SECURITY NUMBER OR YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBER.
(d) The county clerk may not under any circumstance reject
an instrument presented for recording solely because the instrument
[contains or] fails to comply with this section [contain a social
security number or driver's license number. If the county clerk
accepts an instrument for recording, the recording of the
instrument creates a conclusive presumption that the requirements
of this section have been met].
(e) The county clerk shall post a notice in the county
clerk's office stating that instruments recorded in the real
property or official public records or the equivalent of the real
property or official public records of the county [and executed on
or after January 1, 2004]:
(1) are not required to contain a social security
number or driver's license number; and
(2) are public records available for review by the
public.
(f) All instruments described by this section [recorded
under this section] are subject to inspection by the public.
SECTION 2. Subsections (c) and (h), Section 191.007, Local
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Except as provided by Section 11.008(b), Property Code,
a [A] clearly identifying heading, similar to the headings on most
commercially supplied printed forms, must be placed at the top of
the first page to identify the type or kind of legal paper.
(h) The filing fee or recording fee for each page of a legal
paper that is presented for filing or recording to a county clerk
and fails to meet one or more of the requirements prescribed by
Subsections (b) through (g) is equal to twice the regular filing fee
or recording fee provided by statute for that page. However, the
failure of a page to meet the following requirements [requirement
prescribed by Subsection (b)(3) relating to type size] does not
result in a fee increase under this subsection:
(1) the requirement prescribed by Subsection (b)(3)
relating to type size; and
(2) provided that the legal paper complies with
Section 11.008(b), Property Code, the requirement prescribed by
Subsection (c) that a legal paper have a clearly identifying
heading.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a deed or deed of trust executed on or after the effective date of
this Act. A deed, mortgage, or deed of trust executed before the
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect at the
time the deed, mortgage, or deed of trust is executed, and that law
remains in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 461 passed the Senate on
April 7, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 461 passed the House on
May 4, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, two present
not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor