2014 -- H 7051

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LC003061

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PROPERTY - RECORDING OF INSTRUMENTS

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, and Ackerman

     Date Introduced: January 09, 2014

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 34-13-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-13 entitled "Recording

Of Instruments" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     34-13-1. Instruments eligible for recording. -- Any of the following instruments shall

be recorded or filed by the town clerk or recorder of deeds, in the manner prescribed by law, on

request of any person and on payment of the lawful fees therefor:

      (1) Letters of attorney.

      (2) All contracts for sale of land.

      (3) Bonds for title or covenants or powers concerning lands, tenements and

hereditaments.

      (4) All notices to be filed under the provisions of section 9-4-9.

      (5) All notices and process to be filed under other statutory provisions, and all decrees in

equity and judgments at law affecting the title to land.

      (6) All instruments evidencing or relating to a security interest in personal property or

fixtures that may be filed pursuant to chapter 9 of title 6A.

      (7) All instruments required by statute to be recorded, including deeds, mortgages and

transfers and discharges thereof, leases or memoranda thereof, and transfers and cancellations

thereof, and the covenants, conditions, agreements and powers therein contained.

      (8) Instruments of defeasance.

      (9) Instruments (excepting wills) creating trusts.

      (10) All instruments and notices, affecting, or purporting to affect, the title to land or any

interest therein or giving or terminating the right to sever any building or part thereof or fixture,

when signed and acknowledged as required for deeds.

      (11) All affidavits as to family facts, including dates of birth, marriage, and death, which

relate or purport to relate to title to land.

      (12) All affidavits as to bounds and monuments of land.

      (13) All certificates of the secretary of state as to change of corporate name.

      (14) All original linen and/or original mylar maps, plats, surveys, and drawings, whether

or not attached to, or a part of, another recordable instrument, Provided, however, That those

requiring the approval of any council; commission, officer, or other body by law shall not be

recorded without such approval.

      All survey plans received for recording shall be drawn on archival mylar or linen, those

of which shall not exceed a size of 24" x 36" and shall be recorded as originally drafted. Said

plans shall contain as a minimum all items set forth in the "Procedural and Technical Standards

for the practice of Land Surveying in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" as

adopted by the Rhode Island Board of Registration of Professional Land Surveyors effective

April 1, 1994 and any amendments or modifications thereof. Further, all plans must be able to be

reproduced so that the contents of said plans are legible.

      Indexes of survey plans shall be maintained indicating (a) the title of the plan; and (b)

the street(s) or road(s) on which the subject property abuts. Such plans shall include a separate

listing, in or attached to the legend on the plan, of all streets and roads on which the subject

property abuts.

      (15) All declarations of restrictions and covenants in connection with a plat of record or

to be recorded or with a tract or parcel of land which is to be subdivided.

      (16) Statements of covenants, conditions, and powers of sale which are intended to be

incorporated in mortgages by reference.

      (17) Affidavits of facts relating to title or interest in real estate.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 34-13 of the General Laws entitled "Recording Of Instruments" is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     34-13-13. Affidavit of facts relating to title or in interest in real estate. – (a) An

affidavit, which states facts relating to the matters named in subsection (b) and which may affect

the title to or any interest in real estate in this state, and which is made by any person having

knowledge of the facts or competent to testify concerning them in open court, may be recorded in

the land evidence records of the city or town in which the real estate is situated. If so recorded,

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and if the affiant is dead or otherwise not available to testify in court, then the affidavit, or a

certified copy of it, is admissible as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it, so far as those

facts affect title to real estate in any action involving the title to that real estate or any interest in

it.

     (b) The matters to which an affidavit provided for in this section may relate to include,

but are not limited to, age, sex, birth, death, capacity, relationship, family history, heirship,

names, identity of parties, marital status, possession, adverse use, residence, service in the armed

forces, conflicts and ambiguities in description of land in recorded instruments, the happening of

any condition or event which may terminate an estate or interest and the correlation of assessor's

plat and lot numbers to deed descriptions.

     (c) Every affidavit provided for in this section should include a description of the land,

title to which may be affected by facts stated in the affidavit, and should state the name of the

person appearing by record to be the owner of the land at the time of the recording of the

affidavit. The recorder of deeds shall index the affidavit in the name of the record owner.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PROPERTY - RECORDING OF INSTRUMENTS

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     This act would add an affidavit of facts relating to title or interest in real estate to the list

of those instruments eligible for recording.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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