AnalysisHouse Bill 816 permits parties to conclusively rely on a purchaser’s affidavit that the purchaser is not a foreign adversary or prohibited foreign actor, shifting the risk of falsity to the affiant rather than transactional professionals. At the same time, the new law provides that a Notary (along with other participants) has no duty to investigate a party’s status and bears no liability for failing to identify a prohibited actor. The bill preserves the Notary’s ministerial role and avoids imposing impractical compliance burdens, while still enabling enforcement through penalties for false affidavits.
See the new law update for House Bill 537 for a related bill from a prior legislative session.
Read House Bill 816.