GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1130*

Short Title:  Improve Torrens Law.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Allran.

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Referred to:  Finance.

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May 28, 1998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPROVE AND MODERNIZE THE TORRENS LAND TITLE REGISTRATION PROCEDURES OF THE STATE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 43-5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-5.  Fees of officers.
The examiner provided for in G.S. 43-4 shall be compensated as provided in G.S. 1-408.  All plats required by this Chapter shall comply with G.S. 47-30 and shall be recorded in the office of the register of deeds, and the recording fee shall be that specified in G.S. 161-10 for recording plats.  The fee for recording new certificates under this Chapter shall be that specified in G.S. 161-10 for recording instruments in general.  The fee for issuing the certificate and new certificates under this Chapter shall be that specified in G.S. 161-10 for issuing certified copies.  The fee for noting the entries or memorandum required and for the entries noting the cancellation of mortgages and all other entries, if any, herein provided for shall be that specified in G.S. 161-10 for recording instruments in general.
There shall be no other fees allowed of any nature except as herein provided, and the bonds of the register and clerk shall be liable in case of any mistake, malfeasance, or misfeasance as to the duties imposed upon them by this Chapter in as full a manner as such bond is now liable by law."
Section 2.  G.S. 43-13 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-13.  Manner of registration.
(a)	The register of deeds shall register and index, as  hereinafter provided, the decree of title before mentioned and all subsequent transfers of title, and note all voluntary and involuntary transactions in any wise affecting the title to the land, authorized to be entered thereon in the real property records and indexes.  The certificate of title and the entries for voluntary and involuntary transactions shall be indexed on the grantor index in the name 'Registered estate no. ....' and on the grantee index in the name of the registered owner.  If the title be subject to trust, condition, encumbrance or the like, the words 'in trust,' 'upon condition,' 'subject to encumbrance,' 'life estate,' or like appropriate insertion shall indicate the fact and fix any person dealing with such certificate with notice of the particulars of such limitations upon the title as appears upon the registry, and no new or additional certificate number shall be issued in such circumstances.  No erasure, alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the registry after entry and issuance of a certificate of title except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b)	When a voluntary or involuntary transaction is entered on a certificate of title, the certificate with the new entry shall be copied and recorded and indexed in the real property records and indexes.  The copied certificate shall be indexed on the grantor index in the name 'Registered estate no. ....' and on the grantee index in the name of the registered owner."
Section 3.  Chapter 43 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 43-30.1.  Correction of registered title by the register of deeds upon death of spouse, life tenant, or joint tenant.
Upon the death of a life tenant in registered property, the spouse of a registered owner, or a joint tenant with right of survivorship, any surviving claimant under the registered title may apply to the register of deeds for a correction to the certificate of title.  Upon receipt of the applicable death certificate, the register of deeds may make appropriate changes, deletions, or corrections to the certificate of title.  Any interested party may appeal the register of deeds' changes to the certificate of title under this section by filing with the clerk of superior court a notice of appeal within 30 days of the register of deeds' decision.  If not appealed within 30 days, any changes by the register of deeds to the certificate of title pursuant to this section shall become final."
Section 4.  G.S. 43-31 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-31.  When whole of land conveyed.
Whenever the whole of any registered estate is transferred or conveyed the same shall be done by a transfer or conveyance attached to the certificate substantially as follows:
The owners (giving the names of the parties owning land described in the certificate) hereby, in consideration of .......... dollars, sell and convey to the purchaser (giving name of purchaser) the lot or tract of land, as the case may be, described in  the certificate of title hereto attached.  The transfer shall be indexed on the grantor and grantee indexes in the same manner as deeds are indexed.
The same shall be signed and properly acknowledged by the parties and shall have the full force and effect of a deed in fee simple: Provided, that if the sale shall be in trust, upon condition, with power to sell or other unusual form of conveyance, the same shall be set out in the deed, and shall be entered upon the registration of titles book as hereinafter provided; that upon presentation of the transfer, together with the certificate of title, to the register of deeds, the transaction shall be duly noted and registered in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, and certificate of title so presented shall be canceled and a new certificate with the same number issued to the purchaser thereof, which new certificate shall fully refer by number and also by name of holder to former certificate just canceled."
Section 5.  G.S. 43-32 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-32.  Conveyance of part of registered land.
The transfer of any part of a registered estate, either of an undivided interest therein or of a separate lot or parcel thereof, shall be made by an instrument of the transfer or conveyance similar in form to that herein provided for the transfer of the whole of any registered estate, to which shall be attached the certificate of title of such registered estate. In case of the transfer of an undivided interest in a registered estate, such instrument or transfer or conveyance shall accurately specify and describe the extent and amount of the interest transferred and of the interest retained, respectively. In case of a transfer of a separate lot or parcel of a registered estate, such instrument of transfer or conveyance shall describe the lot or parcel transferred either by metes and bounds or by reference to the map or plat attached thereto, and shall in every case be accompanied by a map or plat having clearly indicated thereon the boundaries of the whole of the registered estate and of the lot or parcel to be transferred, but a new survey of the original registered estate shall not be required.  The transfer shall be indexed on the grantor and grantee indexes in the same manner as deeds are indexed."
Section 6.  G.S. 43-33 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-33.  Duty of register of deeds upon part conveyance.
Upon presentation to the register of deeds of an instrument of transfer or conveyance of an undivided interest in a registered estate, in proper form as above prescribed, it shall be his duty to cancel the certificate of title attached thereto and to issue to each  owner a new certificate of title, each bearing the same number as the  original certificate of title and accurately specifying and describing the extent and the amount of the interest retained or of the interest  transferred, as the case may be. Upon presentation to the register of  deeds of an instrument of transfer or conveyance of a separate lot or parcel of a registered estate, in proper form as above prescribed, it  shall be his duty to cancel the certificate of the title attached thereto and to issue to each owner a new certificate of title bearing a new number and describing the separate lot or parcel retained or transferred, as the case may be, either by metes and bounds or by reference to a map or plat thereto attached.  The register of deeds is responsible for determining that each new certificate of title contains a description of the property transferred or retained but not for verifying the accuracy of any description."
Section 7.  G.S. 43-45 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-45.  Docketed judgments.
Whenever any judgment of the superior court of the county in which the registered estate is situated shall be duly docketed in the office of the clerk of the superior court, or any lien or notice of lis pendens is filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court, it shall be the duty of the clerk, upon the request of any interested party, to certify the same to the register of deeds. The register of deeds shall enter upon the certificate of title, the date, and the amount of the judgment, and the same shall be a lien upon such land as fully as such docketed judgment would be a lien upon unregistered lands of the judgment debtor, and the register of deeds is authorized to recover the certificate of title pursuant to G.S. 43-40.  The register of deeds shall also enter notice of the judgment, lien, or lis pendens on the record copy of the certificate of title, and the encumbrance is valid against the registered estate from the time it is noted on the record copy."
Section 8.  G.S. 43-46 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-46.  Notice of delinquent taxes filed.
It shall be the duty of the tax collector of each taxing unit, not later than June 30 following the date the taxes became delinquent, to file an exact memorandum of the delinquency, if any, of any registered land for the nonpayment of the taxes or assessments thereon, including interest, in the office of the register of deeds for registration; and if such officer fails to perform such duty, and there shall be subsequent to such day a transfer of the land as hereinbefore provided, the grantee shall acquire a good title free from any lien for such taxes and assessments, and the collector and his sureties shall be liable for the payment of the taxes and assessments  with the interest thereon. The register of deeds shall enter the notice of delinquency on the record copy of the certificate of title, and the tax lien shall be valid against the registered estate from the time it is noted on the record copy."
Section 9.  G.S. 43-47 is repealed.
Section 10.  G.S. 43-48 reads as rewritten:
"§ 43-48.  Foreclosure of tax lien.  
The lien for ad valorem taxes may be foreclosed and the property sold pursuant to G.S. 105-375.  A note of the sale under this section shall be duly registered, and a certificate shall be entered and an owner's certificate issued in favor of the purchaser in whom title shall be thereby vested as registered owner, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect or divert the title of a tenant in reversion or remainder to any real estate which has been returned delinquent and sold on account of the default of the tenant for life in paying the taxes or assessments thereon."
Section 11.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1999.