GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
S	2
SENATE BILL 813
Judiciary II Committee Substitute Adopted 4/25/01

Short Title:	Register of Deeds-Instrument Standards.	()	
Sponsors:	     	
Referred to:	     	
April 3, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENHANCE THE STANDARDS FOR INSTRUMENTS TO BE REGISTERED IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 161‑14 reads as rewritten:
"§ 161‑14.  Registration of instruments.
(a)	After the register of deeds has determined that all statutory and locally adopted prerequisites for recording have been met, the register of deeds shall immediately register all written instruments presented to him for registration. When an instrument is presented for registration, the register of deeds shall endorse upon it the day and hour on which it was presented. This endorsement forms a part of the registration of the instrument. All instruments shall be registered in the precise order in which they were presented for registration. Immediately after endorsing the day and hour of presentation upon an instrument, the register of deeds shall index and cross‑index it in its proper sequence. He shall then proceed to register it on the day that it is presented unless a temporary index has been established.
The register of deeds may, in his discretion, establish a temporary index in which all instruments presented for registration shall be indexed until they are registered and entered in the permanent indexes. A temporary index shall operate in all respects as the permanent index. All instruments presented for registration shall be registered and indexed and cross‑indexed on the permanent indexes not later than 30 days after the date of presentation.
(b)	All instruments presented for registration on paper shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1)	Be eight and one-half inches by eleven inches or be eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches.
(2)	Have a blank margin of three inches at the top of the first page and blank margins of one-half inch on the remaining sides of the first page and on all sides of subsequent pages.
(3)	Be typed or printed in black on white paper in a font size no smaller than ten points.
(4)	Have text typed or printed on only one side of a page.
(5)	State the type of instrument at the top of the first page.
If an instrument does not meet these requirements, the register of deeds shall register the instrument after collecting the fee for nonstandard documents as required by G.S. 161-10(a)(19) in addition to all other applicable recording fees. 
(c)	Transportation corridor official maps authorized under Article 2E of Chapter 136 shall be registered and indexed by the end of the third business day after the business day the map is presented to the register of deeds."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 161‑10(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"§ 161‑10.  Uniform fees of registers of deeds.
(a)	Except as provided in G.S. 161‑11.1 or 161‑11.2, all fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the county general fund. While performing the duties of the office, the register of deeds shall collect the following fees which shall be uniform throughout the State:
…
(19)	Nonstandard document. – For registering or filing any document not in compliance with the recording standards adopted under G.S. 161-14(b), the fee shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00) in addition to all other applicable recording fees."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2002.