MI House Bill 4462

Legislation

State: Michigan
Signed: October 20, 2011

Effective: January 01, 2012
Chapter: Public Act No. 206

Summary

House Bill 4462 is another new law aimed at punishing persons who knowingly commit real property crimes. Under the new law, a person who falsely makes or utters or publishes as true, forges or counterfeits a deed, discharge of mortgage or a power or letter of attorney or any document that affects an interest in real property with intent to defraud another person may be prosecuted of a felony and sentenced to prison for up to 14 years.

Affects

Amends Michigan Compiled Laws 750.248 and 750.249 and by adding sections 248b and 249b.

Changes

Provides that a person who falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits a deed, a discharge of mortgage, or a power or letter of attorney or other document that affects an interest in real property with intent to injure or defraud another person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 14 years.
Provides that a person who utters and publishes as true a false, forged, altered, or counterfeit deed, a discharge of mortgage, or a power or letter of attorney or other document that affects an interest in real property knowing it to be false, forged, altered, or counterfeit with intent to injure or defraud is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 14 years.
Requires the circuit court upon a conviction to enter an order stating that the false, altered, forged, or counterfeit document is invalid and require that a certified copy of the court order with the invalid document, if not previously recorded, be attached and recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the subject property or part of the property is located. If the invalid document has previously been recorded, the prosecutor must provide the circuit court with the liber and page number or unique identifying reference number of the invalid document, and the register of deeds must make reference to the liber and page number or unique identifying reference number of the invalid document in the register of deed’s recording index.

Analysis

House Bill 4462 is another new law aimed at punishing persons who knowingly commit real property crimes. Under the new law, a person who falsely makes or utters or published as true, forges or counterfeits a deed, discharge of mortgage or a power or letter of attorney or any document that affects an interest in real property with intent to defraud another person may be prosecuted for a felony and sentenced to prison for up to 14 years. In addition, the bill contains provisions for invalidating the false transaction in the local land records kept by county registers of deeds.

Read House Bill 4462.