Update from the Real Property Section Chair
By Dear Real Property Section:
It is my honor to serve as Chair of the NCBA Real Property Section for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Also serving on the Executive Committee are Vice-Chair Lindsay Parris Thompson of The Van Winkle Law Firm in Asheville, Secretary-Treasurer Matt Waters of Jordan Price in Raleigh and Immediate Past Chair Brian Byrd of Fox Rothschild in Greensboro.
The Real Property Section Council has been working diligently on behalf of the section. Below is a summary of those efforts, as reported in our last Council meeting on November 9, 2021.
Legislative Matters
NC Land Records Advisory Committee and Task Force
That last meeting was on November 8, 2021. The next meeting is February 7, 2022.
John McLean reported on the following:
- H531 SL 2021-1 Timeshare Act Changes
- H624 SL 2021-166 NC Regulatory Sandbox Act
- H854 SL 2021-168 Landlord/Tenant, vested rights in zoning matters and specific zoning tweaks
- S308 – various building code amendments, as well as fire access roads and sales of abandoned cemeteries (removed in ratified bill)
- S336 – Condominium / Marketable Title Act: This is in Conference Committee.
- S329 – building code modification – also in Conference Committee
- Federal bill – House of Representatives – the Enablers Act, sec. 4, Secretary of Treasury to adopt regulations – title insurance companies (agents and underwriters) to report entity ownership information to the Secretary of Treasury, including real property attorneys – LLCs, partnerships, etc. These provisions may be similar to FINCEN Geographic Targeting Orders to identify money laundering.
General Statutes Commission
John McLean reported on the General Statutes Commission meeting from November 5, 2021. The Commission has requested that the section review and provide comment on:
- the Uniform Community Property Disposition at Death Act
- the public/private sales Docket #21-2, Postponement of Various Sales of Property, and
- The Uniform Relocation of Easement Act
The following three (3) proposals were approved as technical corrections to be presented to the General Statutes Commission for consideration for their technical correction bill:
- NCGS §47-18.1
- Title change to conform to statutory provisions
- Statutory provisions
- NCGS §47-119 and 119.1, clarifying the parties who must sign memoranda, especially the vested title holder, in order to have priority under G.S. 47-28. This suggestion was in response to increasing occurrences of potential purchasers recording documents without notarization by the seller, and the need for consumer protection. Several cases have been referred to the NC Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division (see also Consumer Protection report below).
- NCGS 41-63(4)
Permanent Remote Online Notarization (H776)
Jason Peltz reported that this legislation is in Conference Committee. It is unclear it if will pass this Session, though the stakeholder groups continue to exert pressure.
Tenancy-In-Common Joint Committee
Nancy Ferguson, reporting for Jim Saintsing, noted that he is working with representatives from the Estate Planning section on codifying common law and reorganizing applicable statutory provisions regarding tenancies in common, proposed Article 8 of N.C. General Statutes Chapter 42, following up on the earlier revisions of tenancies by entireties (Article 6) and joint tenancies with rights of survivorship (Article 7). They continue to research case and statutory provisions and are scheduled to meet in late January 2022 to update the draft, which will be shared with the Real Property Section when available for comment.
Mobile Home Lien Release Revisions
Nancy Ferguson reported that DMV forms are in process in response to the changes under H650, §6 regarding removal of liens from manufactured home titles.
Consumer Protection
Peter Moeller and Kyle Smalling reported on several matters that have been brought to their attention. They encourage real property practitioners to continue reporting concerns as they arise.
CLE
Jimmy Bryan and Jennifer Hall reported on the upcoming CLE presentations plans. A $1,000 buydown will be applied to registration fees for the February virtual meetings. They are seeking planners for the Annual Meeting.
| CLE | Date / Location | Planners |
| Hot Topics | February 18, 2022 | Hannah Combs – Wyrick Robbins
Max Isaacson – Long Leaf Partners |
| Annual Meeting | May 20-21, 2022
Renaissance, Asheville |
TBD |
Ethics
Tessa Leftwich gave a brief overview of Proposed 2021 Formal Ethics Opinion 3, Charging Fees to Separately Represented Party in Residential Real Estate Closing. The closing attorney can charge seller for some items, such as time spent on payoff as well as actual expenses (such as wire fees), so long as buyer and seller are notified, agree to it, and the fee is not illegal or excessive. The attorney should include this in engagement letters. The proposed opinion has been published for comment.
Joint Forms
Bob Ramseur reported that the committee has met 3 times since the last Council meeting in August, primarily addressing cleanup issues. A couple of substantive items included whether or not a termite treatment is required by a builder (which they are researching) and consideration of a prohibition against recording at register of deeds without permission of all parties. All comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Membership / Diversity
Jonathan Bogues and Julianne Dambro noted that the section has the highest percentage increase in membership, now 2,255 members as of November 1, 2021, versus 2,221 at this time last year, an increase of 34.
Young Lawyers Division
Logan Reilly has agreed to serve as YLD liaison. Jonathan Bogues reported that the YLD will be doing section spotlights on each section, including as examples a discussion of hot topics or day in the life of a real property attorney for law students and young lawyers.
Pro Bono
Barrett McFatter attended the Pro Bono chair meeting, encouraging pro bono chairs to design pro bono projects, in collaboration with the Bar Foundation, such as the Housing Stability project. Anyone with experience with NC Hope Program could help design, in conjunction with the YLD, in order to help tenants and landlords, in a neutral capacity, to facilitate situations where landlord and tenant need assistance to keep people in their homes.
McFatter is still working with Land Loss Prevention Project for a couple of cases. If it goes well, he will provide a presentation to the section as an opportunity for an approved Pro Bono project with Land Loss – specifically with regard to heir property issues.
NCLTA Liaison
Sharon Schlachter reported that the NCLTA 2022 convention will be at the Embassy Suites Wilmington Riverfront, on September 22-24, 2022.
Paralegal Division Liaison
Amanda Miller reported that their meeting is next week, so she will have an update for the next Real Property Section Council meeting.
Real Estate Commission Liaison
Charlie Moody reported that the Commission is holding meetings in person, limited to participants but livestreamed for the public. They will be updating the rules in response to the rewrite of the Timeshare Act, discussed in the legislative report above.
RELANC Liaison
Julian Robb reported that RELANC continues to look at RON and the Marketable Title Act legislative revisions and provide input.
Upcoming Council Meetings
| February 8, 2022, at 10 a.m. | Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte (tentative – hybrid) or remote |
| May 19, 2022, at 2 p.m. | Asheville Renaissance – Annual Meeting |
In closing, the section has numerous opportunities for members to get involved, whether serving on a committee, writing a blog post or volunteering for the pro bono Housing Stability Project described above. As with most volunteer opportunities, we stand to gain as much or more than we give, and this has certainly been my experience serving on the Real Property Section Council. Please reach out to a committee chair if you wish to become involved with a committee or to me if there is anything the section can do to improve your real property practice.