A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish additional requirements that must be satisfied to secure a criminal appearance bond with real property.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 58‑74‑5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58‑74‑5.  Mortgage in lieu of security for appearance, costs, or fine.
(a)	Any person required to give a bond or undertaking, or required to enter into a recognizance for his appearance at any court, in any criminal proceeding, or for the security of any costs or fine in any criminal action, may also execute a mortgage on personal property of the value of such bond or recognizance, payable to the State of North Carolina, conditioned as such bond or recognizance would be required, with power of sale, which power shall be executed by the clerk in whose court said mortgage is executed, upon a breach of any of the conditions of said mortgage.
(b)	Any person required to give a bond or undertaking, or required to enter into a recognizance for the person's appearance at any court, in any criminal proceeding, or for the security of any costs or fine in any criminal action, may also execute a mortgage on real property of the value of the bond or recognizance. The clerk of the court shall accept a bond on real property only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)	An attorney's preliminary certificate of title is presented with the bond:
a.	If the bond is for less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), the title search may be limited to the period of time since the last deed of trust of the owner to a trustee for a regulated lender.
b.	If the bond is for five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more, the surety must provide title insurance payable to the State of North Carolina as mortgagee in the amount of the bond and in a form acceptable to the clerk.
(2)	A copy of the valuation of the subject property from the county tax office is presented with the bond.
(3)	A letter from the lienholder on the lienholder's official stationery indicating the balance of the indebtedness for which the property stands as collateral is provided to the clerk of court. Only first mortgages made by the owners of the property to regulated lending institutions shall be allowed to have priority over the bond lien.
(4)	A written computation indicating the tax valuation less any amounts due on any prior judgments or indebtedness resulting from a first mortgage shall be provided with the bond. The amount of equity for which the real property may be used to secure an appearance bond is the tax valuation less any amounts due on any prior judgments or indebtedness resulting from a first mortgage.
(5)	A promissory note and deed of trust to the clerk of court as trustee for the State of North Carolina and is written to comply with the requirements of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.
(6)	If there is a first mortgage, a Request for Notice of Sale is required.
(7)	A final certificate of title at the time of the filing of the deed of trust is required.
(8)	If the owner/surety is married, the spouse of the owner/surety must appear in person and sign the note and deed of trust. If the owner/surety is married and has a property settlement that is in accordance with Chapter 50 of the General Statutes and the property settlement includes the nonowner/surety spouse's waiver of all rights in the property of the owner/surety, then the owner/surety's spouse need not sign the note and deed of trust and a copy of the duly recorded property settlement shall be placed in the court file.
(9)	If there are multiple deeds of trust, they shall be recorded when all necessary deeds of trust have been obtained, signed, and approved by the clerk of court.
(10)	At the time of recording of the deed or deeds of trust and any notices, the surety shall pay all filing fees.
(c)	No mortgage on real property executed for the security for costs or fine shall allow a longer time for payment of the costs or fine than six months from the execution thereof, and no mortgage on personal property a longer time than three months, except in cases of appeal, when the time allowed shall be counted from the date of the final decision in the cause.
All legitimate expenses of sale, which shall only be made after due advertisement according to law, shall be paid out of the proceeds of the sale."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2003, and applies to criminal appearance bonds posted on or after that date.