AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN ELECTRONIC RECORDING COMMISSION

This bill establishes an 11-member Electronic Recording Commission to recommend standards to be used in the development, implementation, and operation of a state real property electronic recording system. Under the bill, this is a statewide system that consists of information, databases, hardware, software, and all of the components of each town’s electronic recording systems.

By February 1, 2006, the bill requires the commission to submit proposed legislation to implement the standards to the Judiciary and Insurance and Real Estate committees.

The bill establishes an Electronic Recording Commission in the State Library for administrative purposes only. The commission consists of the following members:

1. the secretary of the state, or her designee;

2. the chief information officer of the Department of Information Technology, or his designee;

3. the public records administrator, or her designee;

4. a member of the real property section of the Connecticut Bar Association and representative of the banking industry in the state, each appointed by the House speaker;

5. a town clerk who records less than 10,000 documents annually and a commissioner of the court who is a title agent, each appointed by the Senate president pro tempore;

6. a representative of a title insurance company, appointed by the House minority leader;

7. an attorney who represents the mortgage banking industry, appointed by the Senate minority leader;

8. a town clerk who records more than 10,000 documents annually, appointed by the House majority leader; and

9. a member of the executive committee of the real property section of the Connecticut Bar Association, appointed by the Senate majority leader.

Most appointed members serve staggered terms. The banking members and member of the bar association’s real property section are initially appointed to two-year terms from July 1, 2005, and then for three-year terms from July 1 in the year of their subsequent appointment. The low-volume town clerk, commissioner of the court, and title insurance representative serve three-year terms beginning July 1, 2005. The bill does not specify the term of office for the majority leaders’ appointees. Initial appointments, other than those by the majority leaders, must be made within 60 days after the bill is enacted.

The commission must elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members. Members must serve without compensation but must, within available funds, be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.

The bill requires the commission to submit recommendations to the legislature for standards to be used in the development, implementation, and operation of the state real property electronic recording system.

1. the manner and format in which an electronic document must be submitted, received, returned, stored, and retrieved and specifications for the systems established for these purposes;

2. the type of electronic signature required and the manner, format, and technological processes for (a) affixing it to an electronic document and (b) certifying authorities for such signature;

3. the identity of, or criteria that must be met, by any third party town clerks use to facilitate the process of affixing electronic signatures and filing electronic documents;

4. formats and technological processes capable of assuring that (a) the party indicated to have signed an electronic document is one who actually signed it and (b) the electronic document and its electronic signature have been electronically sealed to protect them from being changed after execution;

5. processes and procedures to ensure (a) adequate preservation, disposition, integrity, security, and confidentiality of electronic documents and (b) the ability to adequately audit electronic documents;

6. any other attributes for electronic documents legally required for corresponding paper documents or reasonably necessary for filing such electronic documents;

7. the manner and format in which an electronic version of a paper document must be created;

8. qualifications for town clerks and other authorized persons entering information into the recording system and procedures for the commission to determine whether the qualifications are met;

9. the procedure for paying recording fees, and fees and conveyance taxes on an electronically recorded document;

10. the procedure for searching for real estate information in the state real property electronic recording system;

11. a fee schedule for remote access searches of the system and procedures to collect and allocate those fees by and among town clerks; and

12. any other requirements or procedures necessary to develop, implement, or operate the state real property electronic recording system.

The bill defines “electronic” to mean relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, or electromagnetic capabilities or similar capabilities. It defines “electronic document” as a document received for recording an electronic form. And it defines an “electronic signature” as an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic document that meets the standards the commission adopts.