2007 Legislation
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SENATE BILL NO. 1196 – Real property transfer disclosure

SENATE BILL NO. 1196

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S1196......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
REAL PROPERTY - TRANSFER - Amends and adds to existing law relating to the
transfer of real property to provide a statement of intent; to provide
definitions; to provide for reporting of a transfer and change in ownership
records; to provide for a property transfer certificate whereby the
purchaser discloses the sales price or declares that the information is
exempt from disclosure; to provide confidentiality; to provide civil and
criminal penalties; and to provide that property transfer certificates are
exempt from disclosure.
                                                                        
03/06    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/07    Rpt prt - to Loc Gov

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-ninth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2007
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                       IN THE SENATE
                                                                        
                                    SENATE BILL NO. 1196
                                                                        
                                 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY; AMENDING CHAPTER  3,  TITLE  63,  IDAHO
  3        CODE,  BY  THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 63-307A, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A
  4        STATEMENT OF INTENT, TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS, TO PROVIDE FOR  A  REPORT  OF
  5        TRANSFERS  AND  CHANGE  IN  OWNERSHIP  RECORDS,  TO PROVIDE FOR A PROPERTY
  6        TRANSFER CERTIFICATE, TO PROVIDE FOR EXEMPTIONS FROM DISCLOSURE OF  VALUE,
  7        TO PROHIBIT DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES; AND AMEND-
  8        ING  SECTION 9-340D, IDAHO CODE, TO EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE PROPERTY TRANS-
  9        FER CERTIFICATES FILED PURSUANT TO SECTION 63-307A, IDAHO CODE.
                                                                        
 10    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
 11        SECTION 1.  That Chapter 3, Title 63, Idaho Code,  be,  and  the  same  is
 12    hereby  amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
 13    ignated as Section 63-307A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
                                                                        
 14        63-307A.  CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP -- TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY --  DISCLOSURE.
 15    (1)  The  purpose of this act is to obtain residential real estate sales price
 16    data which may be utilized to assist in real  property  valuation  assessments
 17    for the purpose of uniformity of assessment as provided in the constitution of
 18    the  state  of  Idaho.  It is the intent of the legislature that the demand of
 19    individual privacy be respected and protected in the valuation process. Appro-
 20    priate penalties for violations shall be provided in this section. Further, it
 21    is the intent of the legislature to not impose  any  form  of  a  real  estate
 22    transfer  tax  or  excise  tax and, provided further, that no such sales price
 23    data collected in accordance with this section shall be utilized for the  pur-
 24    pose of establishing or collecting an excise tax or a real estate transfer tax
 25    by the state or any political subdivision thereof.
 26        (2)  As used in this section:
 27        (a)  "Property  transfer  certificate"  means a form designed by the state
 28        tax commission required for statewide use by  all  county  assessors,  and
 29        which  requires  the  person making the certification to declare the sales
 30        price.
 31        (b)  "Purchaser" means one who  has  become  an  owner  of  real  property
 32        through  taking  title by deed, grant or contract of sale of real property
 33        for an agreed upon sales price.
 34        (c)  "Real  property"  means   single   family   residences,   residential
 35        townhouses or residential condominium units up to a fourplex.
 36        (d)  "Sales  price"  means  the  amount of the sales price attributable to
 37        real and personal property therefor paid or  to  be  paid,  including  the
 38        amount of any lien or liens thereon.
 39        (e)  "Transfer"  means  an act of the parties or of the law in which title
 40        to real property or ownership in real property is conveyed  from  one  (1)
 41        person to another and that a change in ownership on the assessor's records
 42        is required.
 43        (3)  All  transfers  of real property, including the transfer of a partial
                                                                        
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  1    interest, executed by the purchaser after January 1, 2008, shall  be  reported
  2    and  delivered to the office of the county assessor in the county in which the
  3    real property is located on a property transfer certificate as defined in this
  4    section. All property transfer certificates shall be delivered to  the  office
  5    of  the county assessor within thirty (30) days from the closing of the trans-
  6    fer of real property.
  7        (4)  The purchaser, who is a party to the real  property  transfer,  shall
  8    cause  to be delivered to the county assessor within thirty (30) days from the
  9    closing of the transfer of real  property,  a  property  transfer  certificate
 10    declaring  the consideration paid for the real  property transferred or claim-
 11    ing an exemption from disclosure.
 12        (5)  The property transfer certificate required by this section shall  not
 13    apply to:
 14        (a)  An instrument executed by the purchaser prior to January 1, 2008.
 15        (b)  A  transfer  between  members  of a family related within  the second
 16        degree of consanguinity.
 17        (c)  A transfer by trustee's deed of reconveyance, deed in lieu  of  fore-
 18        closure or sheriff's deed.
 19        (d)  A  transfer  between  related legal entities where the original owner
 20        still has ultimate ownership and  control over the residential real  prop-
 21        erty.
 22        (e)  A  transfer  as  a  result  of eminent domain proceedings pursuant to
 23        chapter 7, title 7, Idaho Code.
 24        (6)  The certificate required by this section and the information  therein
 25    shall  be held confidential by the county assessor, not to be disclosed except
 26    as follows:
 27        (a)  To Idaho licensed or certified appraisers;
 28        (b)  To Idaho  real estate licensees;
 29        (c)  To the Idaho state tax commission;
 30        (d)  To a person owning at least a five  percent  (5%)  ownership  in  the
 31        property;
 32        (e)  To the board of equalization, the board of tax appeals, and the Idaho
 33        system  of  courts having jurisdiction over property tax matters or to the
 34        appellant taxpayer who has filed an  appeal  concerning  property  tax  or
 35        assessments at any of these appellate levels. Provided however, summaries,
 36        analyses  and evaluations of data drawn from the certificates are not con-
 37        fidential.
 38        (7)  (a) If an Idaho court finds that any public official has willfully or
 39        intentionally disclosed information protected from disclosure  by  subsec-
 40        tion  (6)  of  this  section, a civil penalty may be assessed by the court
 41        against that official in an amount not  to  exceed  one  thousand  dollars
 42        ($1,000)  which  shall, upon collection, be paid into the county's general
 43        fund, or in the case of Idaho state level  officials,  as  the  court  may
 44        direct.
 45        (b)  A  purchaser who willfully makes a false statement on the certificate
 46        declaring the consideration paid for the real property transferred, or who
 47        claims an exemption from disclosure knowing that the transfer is  not  one
 48        in  which an exemption applies, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Failure,
 49        by the purchaser, to deliver the  property  transfer  certificate  to  the
 50        office  of the county assessor within thirty (30) days from the closing of
 51        the transfer, shall be subject to a civil penalty of one  hundred  dollars
 52        ($100)  plus court costs and attorney's fees and enforceable by the prose-
 53        cuting attorney as a civil judgment through  the  district  court  of  the
 54        county wherein the property is located.
                                                                        
                                       3
                                                                        
  1        SECTION  2.  That  Section  9-340D, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
  2    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  3        9-340D.  RECORDS EXEMPT  FROM  DISCLOSURE  --  TRADE  SECRETS,  PRODUCTION
  4    RECORDS,  APPRAISALS, BIDS, PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. The following records are
  5    exempt from disclosure:
  6        (1)  Trade secrets including those contained in response to public  agency
  7    or  independent  public  body  corporate  and  politic  requests for proposal,
  8    requests for clarification,  requests for information  and  similar  requests.
  9    "Trade  secrets"  as  used in this section means information, including a for-
 10    mula, pattern, compilation, program, computer program, device,  method,  tech-
 11    nique, process, or unpublished or in progress research that:
 12        (a)  Derives  independent  economic  value,  actual or potential, from not
 13        being generally known to, and not being readily  ascertainable  by  proper
 14        means  by  other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure
 15        or use; and
 16        (b)  Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances
 17        to maintain its secrecy.
 18        (2)  Production records, housing production, rental and financing records,
 19    sale or purchase records, catch records, mortgage portfolio loan documents, or
 20    similar business records of a private concern or enterprise required by law to
 21    be submitted to or inspected by a public agency or submitted to  or  otherwise
 22    obtained  by an independent public body corporate and politic. Nothing in this
 23    subsection shall limit the use which can be made of such information for regu-
 24    latory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
 25        (3)  Records relating to the appraisal of real property, timber or mineral
 26    rights prior to its acquisition, sale or lease by a public agency or  indepen-
 27    dent public body corporate and politic.
 28        (4)  Any  estimate  prepared by a public agency or independent public body
 29    corporate and politic that details the cost of a  public  project  until  such
 30    time  as  disclosed or bids are opened, or upon award of the contract for con-
 31    struction of the public project.
 32        (5)  Examination, operating or condition reports and all documents  relat-
 33    ing  thereto, prepared by or supplied to any public agency or independent pub-
 34    lic body corporate and politic responsible for the regulation  or  supervision
 35    of  financial  institutions  including, but not limited to, banks, savings and
 36    loan associations, regulated lenders, business and industrial development cor-
 37    porations, credit unions, and insurance companies, or for  the  regulation  or
 38    supervision of the issuance of securities.
 39        (6)  Records  gathered  by  a local agency or the Idaho department of com-
 40    merce, as described in chapter 47, title 67, Idaho Code, for the specific pur-
 41    pose of assisting a person to locate, maintain, invest in, or expand  business
 42    operations in the state of Idaho.
 43        (7)  Shipping and marketing records of commodity commissions used to eval-
 44    uate marketing and advertising strategies and the names and addresses of grow-
 45    ers and shippers maintained by commodity commissions.
 46        (8)  Financial  statements  and business information and reports submitted
 47    by a legal entity to a port district organized under title 70, Idaho Code,  in
 48    connection with a business agreement, or with a development proposal or with a
 49    financing  application  for  any  industrial, manufacturing, or other business
 50    activity within a port district.
 51        (9)  Names and addresses of seed companies, seed crop growers,  seed  crop
 52    consignees,  locations  of seed crop fields, variety name and acreage by vari-
 53    ety. Upon the request of the owner of the proprietary variety,  this  informa-
 54    tion shall be released to the owner. Provided however, that if a seed crop has
                                                                        
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  1    been  identified  as  diseased  or  has been otherwise identified by the Idaho
  2    department of agriculture, other state  departments  of  agriculture,  or  the
  3    United States department of agriculture to represent a threat to that particu-
  4    lar  seed or commercial crop industry or to individual growers, information as
  5    to test results, location, acreage involved and disease symptoms of that  par-
  6    ticular  seed  crop,  for  that  growing season, shall be available for public
  7    inspection and copying. This exemption shall not supersede the  provisions  of
  8    section 22-436, Idaho Code.
  9        (10) Information  obtained  from  books,  records and accounts required in
 10    chapter 47, title 22, Idaho Code, to be maintained by  the  Idaho  canola  and
 11    rapeseed commission and pertaining to the individual production records of ca-
 12    nola or rapeseed growers.
 13        (11) Records  of  any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in
 14    anticipation of litigation or for analysis of or settlement  of  potential  or
 15    actual  money  damage  claims  against  a  public  entity and its employees or
 16    against the industrial special indemnity fund except as otherwise discoverable
 17    under the Idaho or federal rules  of  civil  procedure.  These  records  shall
 18    include,  but  are  not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records,
 19    computerized reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents  and  corre-
 20    spondence relating thereto. At the time any claim is concluded, only statisti-
 21    cal data and actual amounts paid in settlement shall be deemed a public record
 22    unless  otherwise  ordered  to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
 23    Provided however, nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the attorney
 24    client privilege or attorney work product privilege otherwise available to any
 25    public agency or independent public body corporate and politic.
 26        (12) Records of laboratory test results provided by  or  retained  by  the
 27    Idaho  food  quality  assurance  laboratory.  Nothing in this subsection shall
 28    limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if  used,
 29    for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
 30        (13) Reports  required to be filed under chapter 13, title 62, Idaho Code,
 31    identifying electrical or natural or manufactured gas consumption data for  an
 32    individual customer or account.
 33        (14) Voluntarily  prepared environmental audits, and voluntary disclosures
 34    of information submitted on or before December 31, 1997, to  an  environmental
 35    agency as defined in section 9-803, Idaho Code, which are claimed to be confi-
 36    dential business information.
 37        (15) Computer  programs developed or purchased by or for any public agency
 38    or independent public body corporate and politic for its own use. As  used  in
 39    this  subsection,  "computer program" means a series of instructions or state-
 40    ments which permit the functioning of a computer system in a  manner  designed
 41    to  provide storage, retrieval and manipulation of data from the computer sys-
 42    tem, and any associated documentation and source material that explain how  to
 43    operate the computer program. Computer program does not include:
 44        (a)  The  original  data  including,  but  not  limited to, numbers, text,
 45        voice, graphics and images;
 46        (b)  Analysis, compilation and other manipulated  forms  of  the  original
 47        data produced by use of the program; or
 48        (c)  The  mathematical  or  statistical formulas that would be used if the
 49        manipulated forms of the original data were to be produced manually.
 50        (16) Active investigative records and trademark usage audits of the  Idaho
 51    potato  commission  specifically  relating  to  the enforcement of chapter 12,
 52    title 22, Idaho Code, until the commencement of formal proceedings as provided
 53    by rules of the commission; purchase and sales information  submitted  to  the
 54    Idaho  potato  commission during a trademark usage audit, and investigation or
 55    enforcement proceedings. Inactive investigatory  records  shall  be  disclosed
                                                                        
                                       5
                                                                        
  1    unless  the  disclosure  would  violate the standards set forth in subsections
  2    (1)(a) through (f) of section 9-335, Idaho Code. Nothing  in  this  subsection
  3    shall  limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if
  4    used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceed-
  5    ing.
  6        (17) All records copied or obtained by the director of the  department  of
  7    agriculture  or  his designee as a result of an inspection pursuant to section
  8    25-3806, Idaho Code, except:
  9        (a)  Records otherwise deemed to be public records not exempt from disclo-
 10        sure pursuant to this chapter; and
 11        (b)  Inspection reports, determinations of compliance or noncompliance and
 12        all other records created by the director or his designee pursuant to sec-
 13        tion 25-3806, Idaho Code.
 14        (18) All data and information collected by the division of  animal  indus-
 15    tries  or the state brand board pursuant to the provisions of section 25-207B,
 16    Idaho Code, or rules promulgated thereunder.
 17        (19) Records disclosed to a county official by the  state  tax  commission
 18    pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of section 63-3029B, Idaho Code.
 19        (20) Records, data, information and materials collected, developed, gener-
 20    ated, ascertained or discovered during the course of academic research at pub-
 21    lic  institutions  of higher education if the disclosure of such could reason-
 22    ably affect the conduct or outcome of the research, or the ability of the pub-
 23    lic institution of higher education  to patent or copyright  the  research  or
 24    protect intellectual property.
 25        (21) Records, data, information and materials collected or utilized during
 26    the  course  of  academic  research at public institutions of higher education
 27    provided by any person or entity other than the public institution  of  higher
 28    education or a public agency.
 29        (22) The  exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21)
 30    of this section shall apply only  until  the  academic  research  is  publicly
 31    released, copyrighted or patented, or until the academic research is completed
 32    or  terminated.  At  such  time, the records, data, information, and materials
 33    shall be subject to public disclosure unless: (a) another  exemption  in  this
 34    chapter  applies; (b) such information was provided to the institution subject
 35    to a written agreement of confidentiality; or (c) public disclosure would pose
 36    a danger to persons or property.
 37        (23) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and  (21)
 38    of  this  section do not include basic information about a particular research
 39    project that is otherwise subject to public disclosure, such as the nature  of
 40    the  academic  research, the name of the researcher, and the amount and source
 41    of the funding provided for the project.
 42        (24) Records of a  county  assessor  containing  information  showing  the
 43    income  and  expenses  of  a  taxpayer,  which information was provided to the
 44    assessor by the taxpayer to permit the assessor  to  determine  the  value  of
 45    property of the taxpayer.
 46        (25) Property  transfer certificates filed with the county assessor pursu-
 47    ant to section 63-307A, Idaho Code.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                     STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                            RS17132

The purpose of this legislation is to provide the framework
necessary to implement sales price disclosure on real estate
transactions of single family residences, residential townhouses or
residential condominium units up to a fourplex.  Idaho's property
tax system is based upon "market value" but there is limited actual
sales price data that is available to determine market value. 

Recognizing that sales prices are private information the bill
protects the data from disclosure and sets out penalties for
inappropriate release of information.  It further sets out the
process for the sales prices to be disclosed to the county
assessor. 

The bill also specifically states that this data is not to be
used for the assessment or collection of either a transfer tax or
an excise tax.*



                          FISCAL IMPACT

There is no fiscal impact to the state general fund.*




Contact
Name:     Sen. Shawn Keough 
          Sen. Lee Heinrich
          Rep. Wendy Jaquet

Phone: 332-1000


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                        S 1196