Senator Johnson asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Johnson’s statement is as follows:
I rise to ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation to protect Michigan homeowners from what has unfortunately become a growing crime in our nation and state: fraud related to property deeds. House Bill No. 5598 would make it a felony to knowingly draft and submit fraudulent documents for entry into the Register of Deeds database. This legislation is urgently needed to deter this clearly criminal activity and to hold individuals accountable. Submitting fraudulent documents to a Register of Deeds is used as a precursor to further crimes that seek to profit from property that simply does not belong to the perpetrator.
I want to thank Wayne County Register of Deeds Bernie Youngblood for his tireless efforts to educate legislators about this problem and the need for this legislation. I worked with Bernie when I was the Oakland County Clerk and Register of Deeds, where I saw firsthand the devastating effect that the criminal enterprise of deed fraud can have on individuals and families.
Unfortunately, the incidence of such crimes has only increased in recent years. In fact, recently one of America’s most-recognized homes—Elvis Presley’s famous “Graceland” estate in Memphis, Tennessee—almost fell victim to this exact scam. Fortunately, a judge halted the sale after a notary public, listed on the fraudulent documents, testified that she had never seen or notarized the loan documents allegedly signed by Lisa Marie Presley in her presence. However, many property owners are not so lucky. They can lose their homes, or spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to restore their property rights—or even worse, they have lost their homes.
It is important that we pass this bipartisan legislation to protect the people of Michigan and the integrity of property records in our state. I want to thank the committee chairwoman, my colleague from the 11th District, for taking up these bills and for getting them to the floor for a vote. And again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill—House Bill No. 5598—and also the companion bill—House Bill No. 5599—which prescribes for penalties.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No. 5599, entitled
A bill to amend 1927 PA 175, entitled “The code of criminal procedure,” by amending section 15b of chapter XVII (MCL 777.15b), as amended by 2014 PA 451.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: