SB955.DOC

SECTION 1. Section 501-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

(1) By adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Endorsement" means a written or electronic notation that is made upon, attached to, or logically associated with an instrument."

(2) By amending the definitions of "record", "recorded", or "recording" and "signature" to read as follows:

""Record", "recorded", or "recording" means [~~to make an entire literal copy of all instruments required to be recorded.~~] the act of entering into the public records the written instruments affecting title to real property.

"Signature" means the name of a person as written by the individual [or], the affixing of a mark or finger or toe print[.], or electronic signature as that term is defined in chapter 489E."

SECTION 2. Section 501-107, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§501-107 Entry record; duplicates and certified copies. The assistant registrar shall keep a record in which shall be entered all deeds and other voluntary instruments, and all copies of writs or other process filed or recorded with the assistant registrar relating to registered land. The assistant registrar shall note in the record the date of reception of all instruments. The instruments shall be stamped [~~with~~], have attached to, or have logically associated with the instrument the date, hour, and minute of reception and shall be regarded as registered from the date and time so noted, and the memorandum of each instrument when made on the certificate of title to which it refers shall bear the same date.

Every deed or other instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, so filed or recorded with the registrar or assistant registrar shall be numbered and indexed, and indorsed with a reference to the proper certificate of title. All records relating to registered land in the office of the registrar or of the assistant registrar shall be open to the public in the same manner as probate records are open, subject to such reasonable regulations as the registrar, under the direction of the court, may make.

Certified copies of all instruments filed or recorded and registered may also be obtained at any time on payment of the assistant registrar's fees."

SECTION 3. Section 501-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§501-108 Conveyance of fee; procedure. (a) An owner desiring to convey in fee registered land or any portion thereof shall execute a deed of conveyance, which the grantor or the grantee may present to the assistant registrar in the bureau of conveyances; provided that no deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument shall be accepted by the assistant registrar for registration unless a reference to the number of the certificate of title of the land affected by such instrument is incorporated in the body of the instrument tendered for registration. If the certificate reference in the instrument is not current, an endorsement of the current certificate of title shall be required.

The assistant registrar shall note upon, attach to, or logically associate with all instruments filed or recorded concurrently with the recorded instrument the document number and the certificate of title number [~~in the spaces provided therefor~~] wherever required.

The assistant registrar shall thereupon, in accordance with the rules and instructions of the court, make out in the registration book a new certificate of title to the grantee. The assistant registrar shall note upon the original certificate the date of transfer, and a reference by number to the last prior certificate. The original certificate shall be stamped "canceled". The deed of conveyance shall be filed or recorded and endorsed with, have attached to, or have logically associated with the number and place of registration of the certificate of title of the land conveyed.

(b) On all instruments to be filed or recorded, the top three and one-half inches of space of the first page shall be reserved for recording information for the assistant registrar on the left half of that space, and for the registrar of conveyances on the right half of that space. The following one inch of space shall be reserved for information showing to whom the document should be returned. In addition, the first page shall identify and include, if possible, all names of the grantors and all names and addresses of the grantees, the type of document, and the tax map key number. Endorsements, if any, may be made on a conforming fly sheet. If an instrument consists of more than one page, each page shall be single-sided sheets of written text numbered consecutively, beginning with number one, and shall be stapled once in the upper left corner. No instrument shall have a cover or backer attached. The assistant registrar shall be permitted to remove any rivets affixed to any instrument.

(c) All names of all natural persons signing in their individual capacity in the instrument shall be typewritten, stamped, legibly printed by hand, or by a mechanical or electrical printing method beneath all signatures. No discrepancy in any name shall exist between the printed name, as it appears either in the body of the instrument, beneath the signature, or in the notary's certificate of acknowledgment. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any deed or conveyance instrument executed prior to July 1, 1989.

(d) The assistant registrar may refuse to file or record any instrument that will not reproduce legibly under photographic or electrostatic methods, or that is of a size larger than eight and one-half inches by eleven inches, or that contains a schedule, inventory sheet, or map in excess of that size.

(e) The assistant registrar may accept an electronic instrument in lieu of an original instrument with original signatures subject to the requirements set forth in rules adopted by the department of land and natural resources consistent with this section and chapter 489E."

SECTION 4. Section 501-117, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§501-117 Procedure. Registration of a mortgage shall be made in the manner following: the mortgage shall be presented to the assistant registrar who shall enter upon the original certificate of title a memorandum of the purport of the mortgage, the time of filing or recording, the document number of the mortgage, and shall sign the memorandum. The assistant registrar shall also note upon the mortgage, attach to, or logically associate with the mortgage, the time of filing or recording, and a reference to the volume and page of the registration book where it is registered."

SECTION 5. Section 501-131, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§501-131 Transfer in trust; procedure. Whenever a deed or other instrument is filed or recorded for the purpose of transferring registered land in trust, or upon any equitable condition or limitation expressed therein, or for the purpose of creating or declaring a trust or other equitable interest in land without transfer, the particulars of the trust, condition, limitation, or other equitable interest shall not be entered on the certificate; but a memorandum thereon shall be entered by the words "in trust", or "upon condition", or other apt words, and by a reference by number to the instrument authorizing or creating the same. The assistant registrar shall note upon, attach to, or logically associate with the original instrument creating or declaring the trust or other equitable interest a reference by number of the certificate of title to which it relates. If the instrument creating or declaring a trust or other equitable interest is already recorded in the bureau of conveyances or admitted to probate, or any order of a federal court creating or declaring a trust in real property has been made, a certified copy may be filed or recorded by the assistant registrar and registered."

SECTION 6. Section 502-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "signature" to read as follows:

""Signature" means the name of a person as written by the individual or the affixing of a mark or finger or toe print. It may also include an electronic signature, as defined in section 489E-2. The department of land and natural resources shall identify by rule the form of the electronic signature that the bureau of conveyances is able to accept."

SECTION 7. Section 502-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§502-31 Recording, method. The registrar shall make or cause to be made an entire literal copy of all instruments, with their original signatures, required to be recorded in the registrar's office, and the registrar, the registrar's deputy, or clerk shall certify its correspondence with the original, after which the registrar, the registrar's deputy, or clerk shall certify upon the exterior, or indorse upon the recorded instrument with the original signature, the date of its registry and the document number.

The registrar, for purposes of the general indexes of the bureau of conveyances, shall use the names of the parties as they first appear in the recorded instrument. All names of all natural persons signing in their individual capacity shall be typewritten, stamped, legibly printed by hand, or by a mechanical or electrical printing method beneath all signatures. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any deed or conveyance instrument executed prior to July 1, 1989.

The registrar or the registrar's deputy may refuse to accept for record any document of a size larger than eight and one-half inches by eleven inches, or which contains a schedule or inventory sheet in excess of such size.

This section shall apply to all instruments presented for recording in the bureau of conveyances, unless otherwise provided by rules adopted by the department of land and natural resources, pursuant to chapter 91.

All instruments to be recorded shall include the original signature and the top three and one-half inches of space of the first page shall be reserved for recording information for the assistant registrar on the left half of such space, and for the registrar of conveyances on the right half of such space. The following one inch of space shall be reserved for information showing to whom the document should be returned beginning one and one-half inch from the left margin and not exceeding three and one-half inches per line. In addition, the first page shall identify and include, if possible, all names of the grantors and all names and addresses of the grantees, the type of document, and the tax map key number. Indorsements, if any, may be made on a conforming fly sheet. No papers or materials, written or otherwise, shall be secured or attached to a page in any manner that may conceal any other written text. If an instrument consists of more than one page, each page shall be single-sided sheets of written text numbered consecutively, beginning with number one, and shall be stapled once in the upper left corner. No instrument shall have a cover or backer attached. The registrar of conveyances shall be permitted to remove any rivets affixed to any instrument. The registrar may refuse to accept all instruments, papers, or notices presented for recordation that will not reproduce legibly under photographic, electronic, or electrostatic methods. The registrar shall accept an electronic instrument in lieu of an original instrument with original signatures subject to the requirements set forth in rules adopted by the department of land and natural resources consistent with this section and chapter 489E. A party shall be required to submit electronically information regarding the instrument, the parties to the instrument, and other information required by the department of land and natural resources, in a form specified by rule, together with all electronic instruments."

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

By Request

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	955
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII