2021 Regular Legislative Session: Update

The Mississippi State Legislature convened for the 2021 Regular Legislative Session on January 25, 2021. Mississippi’s Constitution states this session will be 90 days. As of today, the Legislature is expected to adjourn Sine Die by Saturday, April 4. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this timetable could change if Legislative leadership decides to postpone the session for health and safety reasons. Leadership in both chambers have stated that they plan to place an emphasis on COVID-19 response, Medicaid, teacher pay, and workforce development during the session.

Legislative Priorities

Our legislative priorities for the 2021 Regular Legislative Session were approved by the LTAMS Board of Directors as recommended by our Legislative Committee, which is chaired by Charles Greer. This year’s legislative priorities are:

SB 2638 Papering Out Procedure (McCaughn)

This bill creates a procedure to allow the recording of “electronic documents” in those counties that do not currently have e-recording capability. The new Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts allows in-person electronic notarization effective as of July 1, 2021, but only 25 counties or so actually have e-recording capability. Without a paper-out procedure, in-person electronic notarization would not benefit the majority of the state.

SB 2610 HOA Statutory Lien & SOL (Suber)

This bill creates a statutory lien for HOA assessments, provides for the priority of that lien, and provides a corresponding 3-year statute of limitations. This bill also addresses other unanswered questions regarding HOA liens, such as whether and how to foreclose HOA assessments, etc.

SB 2637 Garbage Liens (McCaughn)

Presently, garbage liens are non-record liens and are not handled uniformly across the state. Several counties have over a million dollars in unpaid garbage lien assessments and a number of home owners have found after closing that – at least in one case – 17 years of back garbage assessments were owed. Unless garbage lien assessments are enrolled as a judgment lien, they remain on the books indefinitely. This bill would require garbage liens to be assessed and collected in the same manner as ad valorem taxes, and reflected on the tax rolls.

SB 2096 Subdivision Plats (McCaughn)

This bill would update the plat requirements to require an attorney to execute a certificate confirming they have performed a title search back to the land patent and stating the names of the record owners and holders of any deeds of trust, liens, or other encumbrances on the real property being platted. After the plat has been of record for more than 10 years, then any appearance of insufficiency of the plat would not affect the conclusiveness of the plat, and the plat would be deemed ratified as of the date of recording to the same extent as if the plat did not appear insufficient.

Legislative priority process

The LTAMS Legislative Committee meets multiple times per year to identify and recommend to the LTAMS Board of Directors which issues should be legislative priorities. The committee comprises Agent and Underwriter members from throughout the state. The LTAMS Board of Directors adopts the year’s legislative priorities at its fall meeting.

Tracked Bills

LTAMS is currently tracking the following bills of interest.

Questions?

Do you have questions about our legislative process and how you can get involved?

Get Involved

If you have a personal connection to a legislator, please let the Legislative Committee know. They may call on you to help advocate for key legislation that affects the real property and land title industry in Mississippi. Educate your local policymakers about the real property and land title industry.