A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to simplify the fees charged for registering instruments With a register of deeds in this state and to modify the instrument page requirements.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 161‑10 reads as rewritten:
"§ 161‑10.  Uniform fees of registers of deeds.
(a)	Except as otherwise provided in this Article, all fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the county general fund. While performing the duties of the office, the register of deeds shall collect the following fees which shall be uniform throughout the State:
(1)	Instruments in General. – For registering or filing any instrument for which no other provision is made by this section,  the fee shall be  twenty‑six dollars ($26.00) for the first 15 pages plus four dollars ($4.00) for each additional page or fraction thereof.
When a subsequent instrument, as defined in G.S. 161‑14.1(a)(3), is presented for registration with reference to more than one original instrument for which recording data are required to be indexed pursuant to G.S. 161‑14.1(b), the fee shall be an additional twenty‑five dollars ($25.00) for each additional reference.When a document is presented for registration that consists of multiple instruments, the fee shall be an additional ten dollars ($10.00) for each additional instrument. A document consists of multiple instruments when it contains two or more instruments with different legal consequences or intent, each of which is separately executed and acknowledged and could be recorded alone.
(1a)	Deeds of Trust, Mortgages, and Cancellation of Deeds of Trust and Mortgages. – For registering or filing any deed of trust or mortgage, whether written, printed, or typewritten, the fee shall be fifty‑six dollars ($56.00) for the first 15 pages plus four dollars ($4.00) for each additional page or fraction thereof.
When a deed of trust or mortgage is presented for registration that contains one or more additional instruments, the fee shall be ten dollars ($10.00) for each additional instrument. A deed of trust or mortgage contains one or more additional instruments if such additional instrument or instruments has or have different legal consequences or intent, each of which is separately executed and acknowledged and could be recorded alone.
For recording records of satisfaction, or the cancellation of record by any other means, of deeds of trust or mortgages, there shall be no fee.
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SECTION 2.  G.S. 161‑11.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 161‑11.3.  Automation Enhancement and Preservation Fund.
Ten percent (10%) of the fees collected pursuant to G.S. 161‑10 and retained by the county, or six dollars and twenty cents ($6.20) in the case of a fee collected pursuant to G.S. 161‑10(a)(1a) for the first page of a deed of trust or mortgage, shall be set aside annually and placed in a nonreverting Automation Enhancement and Preservation Fund, the proceeds of which shall be expended on computer or imaging technology and needs associated with the preservation and storage of public records in the office of the register of deeds. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the duty of the board of county commissioners to furnish supplies and equipment to the office of the register of deeds."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 161‑11.5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 161‑11.5.  Fees to be remitted to State Treasurer.
Six dollars and twenty cents ($6.20) of each fee collected by the register of deeds under G.S. 161‑10(a)(1) and (a)(1a) shall be remitted by the register of deeds to the county finance officer, who shall remit the funds to the State Treasurer on a monthly basis to be credited as follows:
(1)	Fifty‑five percent (55%) to the Floodplain Mapping Fund established under G.S. 143‑215.56A.
(2)	Twenty percent (20%) to the General Fund as nontax revenue.
(3)	Twenty‑five percent (25%) to the Department of Cultural Resources to be used as provided in G.S. 121‑5(e)."
SECTION 4.  G.S.  161‑11.4 and G.S. 161‑11.6 are repealed.
SECTION 5.  The Revenue Laws Study Committee must review the effect of the changes enacted by this act to determine whether they have simplified the collection and remittance of fees by the Register of Deeds for the filing of various instruments and to study the effect the fees changes have had on revenue collections in the 100 counties. The Committee must report its findings to the North Carolina General Assembly and recommend whether the provisions of this act should sunset as provided in Section 6 of this act. 
SECTION 6.  G.S. 161‑14(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	All instruments, except instruments conforming to the provisions of G.S. 25‑9‑521, presented for registration on paper shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1)	Be eight and one‑half inches by eleven inches or eight and one‑half inches by fourteen inches.
(2)	Have a blank margin of three inches at the top of the first page and blank margins of at least one‑quarter inches on the remaining sides of the first page and on all sides of subsequent pages.
(3)	Be typed or printed in black on white paper in a legible font. A font size no smaller than 9 points shall be considered legible. Blanks in an instrument may be completed in pen and corrections to an instrument may be made in pen.
(4)	Have text typed or printed on one side of a page only.
(5)	State the type of instrument at the top of the first page.
If an instrument does not meet these requirements, the register of deeds shall register the instrument after collecting the fee for nonstandard documents as required by G.S. 161‑10(a)(19) in addition to all other applicable recording fees. However, if an instrument fails to meet the requirements because it contains print in a font size smaller than 9 points, the register of deeds may register the instrument without collecting the fee for nonstandard documents if, in the discretion of the register of deeds, the instrument is legible."
SECTION 7.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2011, and applies to instruments registered on or after that date. Sections 1 through 5 of this act expire July 1, 2013.