H.B. 525

127th General Assembly

(As Introduced)

 

Reps.     Combs, J. McGregor, Peterson, Setzer, Harwood, Szollosi, Raussen, Chandler

BILL SUMMARY

·        Establishes standard format requirements for documents to be recorded by a county recorder.

CONTENT AND OPERATION

Requirements for instruments or documents recorded with county recorder

(R.C. 317.114(A) and (B))

Current law does not prescribe format requirements for instruments or documents recorded with the county recorder.  However, format-type requirements do exist for certain instruments or documents.  For example, an instrument conveying title to property must contain legible signatures or names and the name of the instrument's preparer and must be of a quality of paper and sufficiently legible to permit reproduction.  (R.C. 317.11, 317.111, and 317.112, none in the bill.)  Also, current law requires a deed or other instrument that is in a language other than English to be accompanied by a certified English translation  (R.C. 317.113, not in the bill).

Under the bill, except for the exceptions described below, to be accepted for recording by the county recorder, an instrument or document must comply with the following standard format requirements:

·        Print size not smaller than a computer font size of ten;

·        Minimum paper size of 81/2 inches by 11 inches;

·        Maximum paper size of 81/2  inches by 14 inches;

·        Black or blue ink only;

·        No use of highlighting;

·        Margins of one-inch width on each side of each page of the instrument or document;

·        A margin of one-inch width across the bottom of each page of the instrument or document;

·        A three-inch margin of blank space across the top of the first page of each instrument or document to accommodate any certification or indorsement of the county engineer, county auditor, or county recorder, as may be required by law, with the right half of that margin being reserved for the indorsement of the county recorder required upon the presentation of a deed or other instrument of writing for record, on which the county recorder must indorse the date, the precise time of its presentation, and a file number; and

·        A one and one-half-inch margin across the top of each of the remaining pages of the instrument or document.

Exceptions to recording requirements

(R.C. 317.114(C))

The requirements described above do not apply to the following documents recorded with the county recorder:

·        Any document that originates with any court or taxing authority;

·        Any record of discharge of a discharged member of the United States armed forces or of any person who served during World War I or World War II as a member of any armed force of the government of Poland or Czechoslovakia, participated in armed conflict with a United States enemy, and has been a United States citizen for at least ten years;

·        Any plat, which is a map of a tract or parcel of land, that is required or authorized by the Revised Code to be recorded;

·        Any document authorized to be recorded that originates from any state or federal agency; and

·        Any document executed before the bill's effective date.

HISTORY

ACTION

DATE

 

 

Introduced

04-03-08

 

 

 

H0525-I-127.doc/jc