SENATE BILL No. 1202

 

 

November 27, 2018, Introduced by Senators BIEDA, GREGORY and CONYERS and referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions.

 

 

     A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled

 

"The Michigan penal code,"

 

(MCL 750.1 to 750.568) by adding section 218a.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 218a. (1) A person who does any of the following and who

 

knows or has reason to know that the document is forged or

 

groundless, contains a material misstatement or false claim,

 

contains a signature that is not the signature of the person whose

 

name is being signed, or is otherwise invalid makes a false

 

representation concerning title and is guilty of a felony

 

punishable by imprisonment for not less than 1 year and not more

 

than 5 years or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both:

 

     (a) Claims an interest in, or a lien or encumbrance against,

 


real property in a document that is recorded in the office of the

 

register of deeds of the county where the property is located.

 

     (b) Executes or notarizes a document purporting to create an

 

interest in, or a lien or encumbrance against, real property, that

 

is recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county

 

where the property is located.

 

     (c) Causes a document described in subdivision (a) or (b) to

 

be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county

 

where the property is located.

 

     (d) Robosigns a document or causes a document to be

 

robosigned.

 

     (2) A person who makes a false representation concerning title

 

in 2 or more transactions engages in a pattern of making false

 

representations concerning title and is guilty of a felony

 

punishable by imprisonment for not less than 3 years and not more

 

than 20 years or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both, if

 

all of the following apply to the transactions:

 

     (a) The transactions have the same or similar pattern,

 

purposes, results, accomplices, victims, or methods of commission,

 

or are otherwise interrelated by distinguishing characteristics.

 

     (b) The transactions are not isolated incidents within the

 

preceding 4 years.

 

     (c) The aggregate loss or intended loss in the transactions is

 

more than $250.00.

 

     (3) In addition to the criminal penalties imposed under

 

subsections (1) and (2), a person who makes a false representation

 

concerning title as described in subsection (1) is subject to a


civil fine of not more than $5,000.00 for each violation. A civil

 

fine under this subsection may be recovered in a civil action

 

brought in the name of this state by the attorney general. The

 

attorney general may recover reasonable attorney fees and costs in

 

an action under this subsection.

 

     (4) Except as provided in subsection (5), the owner or holder

 

of the beneficial interest in real property that is the subject of

 

a false representation concerning title as described in subsection

 

(1) may bring a civil action to recover any damages suffered by the

 

owner or holder of the beneficial interest, reasonable attorney

 

fees, and costs. Additionally, a person who makes a false

 

representation concerning title by robosigning under subsection

 

(1)(d) is liable to the owner or holder of the beneficial interest

 

in the property for 3 times the amount for which the person would

 

otherwise be liable under this subsection.

 

     (5) Before bringing a civil action under subsection (4), the

 

owner or holder of the beneficial interest in the real property

 

shall request in writing that the person who made the false

 

representation record a document that corrects the false

 

representation. If the person records a corrective document within

 

20 days after the date of the written request, the owner or holder

 

of the beneficial interest is not entitled to file a civil action

 

under subsection (4).

 

     (6) As used in this section, "robosign" means to sign a

 

document for the signor or transferor.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.


     Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless Senate Bill No. 1203                                   

 

            of the 99th Legislature is enacted into law.