Bulletin: CT2022001

Dear Associates:

I. Legislation

A. The 2022 legislative session of Connecticut has ended with the following bills passed that are related to real estate transactions:

1) Public Act 22-136 amended Section 45a-107b of the Connecticut General Statutes to add a subsection (d) that allows a person with an interest in real estate to petition the probate court for a release of the inchoate lien for probate fees where the lien arises out of a decedent’s retained life use or a survivorship interest in the property. The decedent must have died more than 10 years from the filing of the petition, no proceeding for the settlement of the decedent’s estate has been commenced in this state, no Connecticut estate or succession tax return for the estate has been filed with the Probate Court or Department of Revenue Services, no estate tax has been assessed by the Department of Revenue Services, and based on the value of all known property and taxable gifts, no Connecticut estate tax could be assessed in connection with said estate. The new section details what must accompany the petition. If the Probate Court determines that the petition meets the requirements, the court will calculate the probate fees and shall issue an invoice for the fees with interest to the petitioner. After payment of the amount invoiced the Probate Court will issue a certificate of release of the probate fee lien.

2) Public Act 22-26, Section 65, has postponed until July 1, 2023, the effective date of the Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act which was codified in Connecticut General Statutes Sections 52-619 - 52-656 and previously set to take effect July 1, 2022.

B. New York Powers of Attorney Now Require Two Witnesses

Pursuant to the Connecticut Standards of Title, Connecticut conveyancing transactions using documents executed out of state are deemed properly executed and acceptable for recording if executed in accordance with the laws of the state where the documents were signed. While New York historically did not require witnesses, only an acknowledgment, for recordable conveyancing documents, in 2021 a law was passed requiring a power of attorney to be executed in the presence of two witnesses, effective June 13, 2021.

II. ALTA Policy Forms

The American Land Title Association has published a recent alert regarding the new policy forms stating the following:

Effective for mortgages with note dates up to December 31, 2022, Freddie Mac will accept either the 2006 (adopted 6/17/06) or 2021 (adopted 7/1/2021) versions of the following policy forms:

• The American Land Title Association (ALTA) Loan Policy
• The ALTA Short Form Residential Loan Policy One-to-Four-Family or
• The ALTA Expanded Coverage Residential Loan Policy One- to Four-Family

Only the 2021 versions of the above policy forms will be accepted effective for mortgages with note dates on or after January 1, 2023.

Revisions to the 2021 ALTA Policy Forms collection went into effect July 30, 2021. The ALTA standard Policy Forms have been formally revised over the years to reflect changes in the marketplace brought about by evolving business practices, expectations of insureds, laws, regulations and legal decisions. Advancements in electronic notarizations, changes in certain consumer and creditor’s rights law, and case law developments were primary drivers leading to the latest revision of the ALTA Loan and Owner’s policies and numerous other ALTA forms.

If you have any questions relating to this or other bulletins, please contact a Stewart Title Guaranty Company underwriter.

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