Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0472
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Public Act 095-0472


 

Public Act 0472 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 095-0472
 
SB0319 Enrolled LRB095 10815 AJO 31066 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.
 
    Section 2. Definitions. In this Act:
        (1) "Document" means information that is:
            (A) inscribed on a tangible medium or that is
        stored in an electronic or other medium and is
        retrievable in perceivable form; and
            (B) eligible to be recorded in the land records
        maintained by the county recorder.
        (2) "Electronic" means relating to technology having
    electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
    electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
        (3) "Electronic document" means a document that is
    received by the recorder in an electronic form.
        (4) "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound,
    symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with
    a document and executed or adopted by a person with the
    intent to sign the document.
        (5) "Person" means an individual, corporation,
    business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited
    liability company, association, joint venture, public
    corporation, government, or governmental subdivision,
    agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or
    commercial entity.
        (6) "State" means a state of the United States, the
    District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
    Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to
    the jurisdiction of the United States.
        (7) "Secretary" means the Secretary of State.
        (8) "Commission" means the Illinois Electronic
    Recording Commission.
    Any notifications required by this Act must be made in
writing and may be communicated by certified mail, return
receipt requested or electronic mail so long as receipt is
verified.
 
    Section 3. Validity of electronic documents.
    (a) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a
document be an original, be on paper or another tangible
medium, or be in writing, the requirement is satisfied by an
electronic document satisfying this Act.
    (b) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a
document be signed, the requirement is satisfied by an
electronic signature.
    (c) A requirement that a document or a signature associated
with a document be notarized, acknowledged, verified,
witnessed, or made under oath is satisfied if the electronic
signature of the person authorized to perform that act, and all
other information required to be included, is attached to or
logically associated with the document or signature. A physical
or electronic image of a stamp, impression, or seal need not
accompany an electronic signature.
 
    Section 4. Recording of documents.
    (a) In this Section, "paper document" means a document that
is received by the county recorder in a form that is not
electronic.
    (b) A county recorder:
        (1) who implements any of the functions listed in this
    Section shall do so in compliance with standards
    established by the Illinois Electronic Recording
    Commission and must follow the procedures of the Local
    Records Act before destroying any original paper records as
    part of a conversion process into an electronic or other
    format.
        (2) may receive, index, store, archive, and transmit
    electronic documents.
        (3) may provide for access to, and for search and
    retrieval of, documents and information by electronic
    means, including the Internet, and on approval by the
    county recorder of the form and amount, the county board
    may adopt a fee for document detail or image retrieval on
    the Internet.
        (4) who accepts electronic documents for recording
    shall continue to accept paper documents as authorized by
    State law and shall place entries for both types of
    documents in the same index.
        (5) may convert paper documents accepted for recording
    into electronic form.
        (6) may convert into electronic form information
    recorded before the county recorder began to record
    electronic documents.
        (7) may accept electronically any fee or tax that the
    county recorder is authorized to collect.
        (8) may agree with other officials of a state or a
    political subdivision thereof, or of the United States, on
    procedures or processes to facilitate the electronic
    satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent
    to recording and the electronic payment of fees and taxes.
 
    Section 5. Administration and standards.
    (a) To adopt standards to implement this Act, there is
established, within the Office of the Secretary of State, the
Illinois Electronic Recording Commission consisting of 15
commissioners as follows:
        (1) The Secretary of State or the Secretary's designee
    shall be a permanent commissioner.
        (2) The Secretary of State shall appoint the following
    additional 14 commissioners:
            (A) Three who are from the land title profession.
            (B) Three who are from lending institutions.
            (C) One who is an attorney.
            (D) Seven who are county recorders, no more than 4
        of whom are from one political party, representative of
        counties of varying size, geography, population, and
        resources.
        (3) On the effective date of this Act, the Secretary of
    State or the Secretary's designee shall become the Acting
    Chairperson of the Commission. The Secretary shall appoint
    the initial commissioners within 60 days and hold the first
    meeting of the Commission within 120 days, notifying
    commissioners of the time and place of the first meeting
    with at least 14 days' notice. At its first meeting the
    Commission shall adopt, by a majority vote, such rules and
    structure that it deems necessary to govern its operations,
    including the title, responsibilities, and election of
    officers. Once adopted, the rules and structure may be
    altered or amended by the Commission by majority vote. Upon
    the election of officers and adoption of rules or bylaws,
    the duties of the Acting Chairperson shall cease.
        (4) The Commission shall meet at least once every year
    within the State of Illinois. The time and place of
    meetings to be determined by the Chairperson and approved
    by a majority of the Commission.
        (5) Eight commissioners shall constitute a quorum.
        (6) Commissioners shall receive no compensation for
    their services but may be reimbursed for reasonable
    expenses at current rates in effect at the Office of the
    Secretary of State, directly related to their duties as
    commissioners and participation at Commission meetings or
    while on business or at meetings which have been authorized
    by the Commission.
        (7) Appointed commissioners shall serve terms of 3
    years, which shall expire on December 1st. Five of the
    initially appointed commissioners, including at least 2
    county recorders, shall serve terms of one year, 5 of the
    initially appointed commissioners, including at least 2
    county recorders, shall serve terms of 2 years, and 4 of
    the initially appointed commissioners shall serve terms of
    3 years, to be determined by lot. The calculation of the
    terms in office of the initially appointed commissioners
    shall begin on the first December 1st after the
    commissioners have served at least 6 months in office.
        (8) The Chairperson shall declare a commissioner's
    office vacant immediately after receipt of a written
    resignation, death, a recorder commissioner no longer
    holding the public office, or under other circumstances
    specified within the rules adopted by the Commission, which
    shall also by rule specify how and by what deadlines a
    replacement is to be appointed.
    (c) The Commission shall adopt and transmit to the
Secretary of State standards to implement this Act and shall be
the exclusive entity to set standards for counties to engage in
electronic recording in the State of Illinois.
    (d) To keep the standards and practices of county recorders
in this State in harmony with the standards and practices of
recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact
substantially this Act and to keep the technology used by
county recorders in this State compatible with technology used
by recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact
substantially this Act, the Commission, so far as is consistent
with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this Act, in
adopting, amending, and repealing standards shall consider:
        (1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
        (2) the most recent standards promulgated by national
    standard-setting bodies, such as the Property Records
    Industry Association;
        (3) the views of interested persons and governmental
    officials and entities;
        (4) the needs of counties of varying size, population,
    and resources; and
        (5) standards requiring adequate information security
    protection to ensure that electronic documents are
    accurate, authentic, adequately preserved, and resistant
    to tampering.
    (e) The Commission shall review the statutes related to
real property and the statutes related to recording real
property documents and shall recommend to the General Assembly
any changes in the statutes that the Commission deems necessary
or advisable.
    (f) Funding. The Secretary of State may accept for the
Commission, for any of its purposes and functions, donations,
gifts, grants, and appropriations of money, equipment,
supplies, materials, and services from the federal government,
the State or any of its departments or agencies, a county or
municipality, or from any institution, person, firm, or
corporation. The Commission may authorize a fee payable by
counties engaged in electronic recording to fund its expenses.
Any fee shall be proportional based on county population or
number of documents recorded annually. On approval by a county
recorder of the form and amount, a county board may authorize
payment of any fee out of the special fund it has created to
fund document storage and electronic retrieval, as authorized
in Section 3-5018 of the Counties Code. Any funds received by
the Office of the Secretary of State for the Commission shall
be used entirely for expenses approved by and for the use of
the Commission.
    (g) The Secretary of State shall provide administrative
support to the Commission, including the preparation of the
agenda and minutes for Commission meetings, distribution of
notices and proposed rules to commissioners, payment of bills
and reimbursement for expenses of commissioners.
    (h) Standards and rules adopted by the Commission shall be
delivered to the Secretary of State. Within 60 days, the
Secretary shall either promulgate by rule the standards
adopted, amended, or repealed or return them to the Commission,
with findings, for changes. The Commission may override the
Secretary by a three-fifths vote, in which case the Secretary
shall publish the Commission's standards.
 
    Section 6. (Blank).
 
    Section 7. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act. This Act modifies, limits, and
supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Section 7001, et seq.) but
does not modify, limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that Act
(15 U.S.C. Section 7001(c)) or authorize electronic delivery of
any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that Act (15
U.S.C. Section 7003(b)).
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/27/2007