Rhode Island Updates Various Provisions
The state of Rhode Island has recently updated provisions regarding mediation conferences, the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, and the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts.
Rhode Island Modifies Provisions Regarding Mediation Conferences
The state of Rhode Island has recently modified its provisions regarding mediation conferences prior to mortgage foreclosures. House Bill 7385 extends certain sunset provisions, and limits the dollar amounts that a HUD-approved agency may receive for a mediation and filing fee. These provisions are effective immediately.
The new provisions extend a July 1 sunset provision in a 2013 law that requires mortgage lenders to initiate and participate in mediation efforts with homeowners facing foreclosure. The bill moves the sunset provision to July 1, 2023. This law provides critical protection for homeowners by requiring their lenders to make a good-faith effort, with the help of an independent mediator, to try to come to an agreement to help save their home from foreclosure.
The provisions also set limits on counseling agency fees. The mediation conference may take place either in person or over the phone, at a time and place deemed mutually convenient for the parties by an individual employed by a HUD- approved, independent counseling agency selected by the mortgagee to serve as a mediation coordinator. A mediation conference between the mortgagor and mortgagee conducted by a mediation coordinator is provided at no cost to the mortgagor. The provisions state that the HUD-approved counseling agency shall be compensated by the mortgagee for mediation conferences that take place at a rate not to exceed five hundred dollars per engagement mediation, and the HUD-approved agency shall be entitled to a filing fee not to exceed one hundred dollars per mediation engagement.
Rhode Island Enacts Provisions Regarding Electronic Recording Act
The state of Rhode Island has recently enacted provisions relating to its Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act. These provisions are effective on July 1, 2019.
The new provisions authorize a city or town clerk or recorder of deeds, at his or her option, to accept electronic documents for recording real property and land records and to index and store those documents.
The bill states that 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, then the requirement is satisfied by an electronic document. Further, if a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be signed, then the requirement is satisfied by an electronic signature.
The provisions add that in the case of a document or signature that must be notarized, acknowledged, verified, witnessed, or made under oath, that requirement 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 does not need to accompany an electronic signature.
A recorder of deeds is also authorized to receive, index, store, archive, and transmit electronic documents. He or she may provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of, documents and information by electronic means. A recorder of deeds may also convert paper documents accepted for recording into electronic form, including information recorded before the recorder of deeds began to record electronic documents. Finally, a recorder of deeds who accepts electronic documents for recording must continue to accept paper documents as authorized by state law, and must place entries for both types of documents in the same index.
Rhode Island Enacts Provisions Regarding Notarial Acts
The state of Rhode Island has recently enacted provisions regarding the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. These provisions are effective on January 1, 2019.
Through House Bill 7502, the state of Rhode Island has repealed its current provisions regarding notaries, and has implemented an adapted version of the “Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts.”
The Rhode Island version of the Act defines “notarial act” as including “taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a verification on oath or affirmation, witnessing or attesting a signature, certifying or attesting a copy, noting a protest of a negotiable instrument and transact, do and finish all matters and things relating to protests and protesting bills of exchange and promissory notes, and all other matters within their office required by law, take depositions as prescribed by law, and acknowledgments of deeds and other instruments.”
The bill states that in taking an acknowledgment, a notarial officer must determine either from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual, that the individual appearing before the officer and making the acknowledgment has the identity claimed and that the signature on the record is the signature of the individual.
Similarly, in taking a verification of a statement on oath or affirmation, a notarial officer must determine either from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual, that the individual appearing before the notarial officer and making the verification has the identity claimed and that the signature on the statement verified is the signature of the individual.
And likewise, in witnessing or attesting a signature, a notarial officer must determine either from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual, that the individual appearing before the notarial officer and signing the record has the identity claimed.
The bill then instructs that if a notarial act relates to a statement made in a record, or a signature executed upon a record, then the individual making the statement or executing the signature must appear personally before the notarial officer.
There are instances where a notarial officer may refuse to perform a notarial act. These include where the notarial officer is not satisfied that the individual executing the record is competent or has the capacity to execute the record, or where the notarial officer is not satisfied that the individual’s signature is knowingly and voluntarily made.
The bill allows that in the case of an individual who is physically unable to sign a record, the individual may direct an individual other than the notarial officer to sign the individual’s name on the record. In such instances, the notarial officer must insert the following (or a similar) phrase: “Signature affixed by (name of other individual) at the direction of (name of individual).”
Zachary Pearlstein, JD, is a Regulatory Compliance Director with CLA's Mortgage Advisory Division. He joined CLA on January 1, 2014, as part of its acquisition of Bankers Advisory, Inc. Zachary oversees Mortgage Advisory's regulatory compliance team, which focuses on federal and state compliance, fair lending, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). He is a graduate of Brandeis University and earned his juris doctor at Suffolk University Law School. He is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
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