AnalysisSenate Bill 2448 started as a measure proposing specific solutions to address real estate fraud in Tennessee. As introduced, it would have required a Notary to verify the identity of a person using an identification card for transactions relating to real estate, and to record in a permanent record the name and description of the document, the name and address of the Notary, and the type or category of the ID and the unique numbers or letters, or both, comprising the serial number of the Notary's ID. It also would have established penalties for noncompliance. The NNA wrote a letter of concern to the sponsors of the bill pointing out that the value of making a permanent record that recorded the Notary’s name in a transaction affecting real estate would have little value if it did not also name the grantor or grantee involved in the transaction, and that the definition of identification card would have not included a U.S. Passport, which is a trustworthy and reliable form of identification. The NNA is pleased that the General Assembly did not enact Senate Bill 2448 as introduced, but instead chose to study the issue to become more informed of potential solutions to real estate fraud that would be truly effective.
Read Senate Bill 2448.