H.B. 486 Fraudulent Deeds Amendments

What this bill does

H.B. 486 would amend the state's fraudulent deeds law to define an "interest holder" as the person who holds the present lawful property interest in the real property. Under that definition, the record owner could recover title after a fraudulent transfer.

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Every vote

• 8 yes, 0 no, 4 absentHouse Political Subdivisions Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 12, 2026Who voted how
• 9 yes, 0 no, 3 absentHouse Political Subdivisions Committee: Consent Calendar Recommendation · Feb 12, 2026Who voted how
• 70 yes, 0 no, 5 absentFinal House vote · Feb 17, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Feb 12, 2026 House Political Subdivisions Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (20 turns)

  1. Committee chair2:15:02

     Representative Walter, can you do your bill in five minutes? I can. Okay. We'll go to HP 4 86 fraudulent deed amendments.

  2. Rep. R. Neil Walter2:15:21

     Thank you. Members of the committee. If Sarah Wade is here with Cottonwood title, you're welcome to join me. Um, two years ago we passed a bill that sought to make sure that if a deed was fraudulently transferred, so think about a homeowner who somebody, uh, fraudulently transferred the ownership of their home into, into their own name in order to literally steal the real property. Um, we put in a number of boundaries around that and um, it's been, it's a problem nationwide. That is legislation's been happening. Anyway, we did this two years ago. We made a clarification last year. It's been brought to our attention that there's an additional clarification. I'm just gonna point it out. It's very simple. So a fraudulent deed is a deed that is not executed or authorized to be executed by the record interest home holder, the homeowner. Think about it that way. Interest holder means a person who holds or possesses the current language, says a present lawful property interest. It should be the present lawful property interest in the real property. So the point is all we're trying to do is make sure that the person who actually owns title to that property can get their title back in the event of a, of a fraudulent transfer. This clarification was requested by, uh, individuals that deal with deeds, uh, on a regular basis. And they felt like this would improve the clarity of the lang of the legislative intent for the fraudulently fraudulent deeds bill that we passed two years ago. That concludes my presentation. Okay.

  3. Committee chair2:16:46

     Thank you. Any, uh, questions from the committee? All right, see? None. Is there anyone here from the public? Oh, sorry. There is one online representative. No, no, it's Public. Oh, public comment. Okay. Is there anyone here from the public to speak to this bill in the room? Okay. Scene none. We do have one online that we will go to. You want To Do? I It's okay.

  4. Committee chair2:17:17

     Sarah Wade. Sarah Wade is with Cottonwood title. So we, this is, um, appreciate Sarah being on today. Okay, go ahead, Sarah. Yes.

  5. Sarah Wade, Utah Land Title Association2:17:28

     Hi, Sarah Wade, uh, here representing the Utah Land Title Association and, and I am also counsel at Cottonwood Title. Uh, would like to thank the representative for his good work here. Uh, just want to voice our, uh, support for this bill and think it's a great clarification. So thank you very much, representative.

  6. Committee chair2:17:47

     Okay, thank you. That concludes our public comment. Then I'll go back to the committee for further discussion or action. Representative Nu

  7. Rep. Jake Fitisemanu2:18:04

     Yes. Thank you. Um, I would move that we pass house bill 4 86 forward with a favorable recommendation.

  8. Committee chair2:18:11

     Okay. The motion is to pass out house bill 4 86 with a favorable recommendation. Would you like to speak to that motion? End of the sponsor?

  9. Rep. Jake Fitisemanu2:18:19

     Thank you. And I just, uh, if the committee might consider after the voting on this motion whether it would go on consent.

  10. Committee chair2:18:27

      Okay. Thank you. Any committee discussion? Okay, back to the maker of the motion.

  11. Rep. Jake Fitisemanu2:18:35

      I waive Right.

  12. Committee chair2:18:36

      The motion is to pass out HB 4 86 with a favorable recommendation. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? A, um, Representative Gwynn was a yes. Okay. That motion passes unanimously seven to zero. Uh, Representative Ward,

  13. Rep. Ward2:18:59

      I'd like to make a motion to place it on consent. Okay.

  14. Committee chair2:19:01

      The motion is to place HB 4 86 on consent. Would you like to speak to that motion? This

  15. Rep. Ward2:19:06

      Doesn't seem like a substantive change and it does speak to the meaning of the previous bill, so it seems to be appropriate for consent.

  16. Committee chair2:19:12

      Okay. Thank you to the sponsor.

  17. Rep. R. Neil Walter2:19:14speaker not certain

      I'd appreciate, I appreciate the motion. Thank you.

  18. Committee chair2:19:17

      Okay. Any discussion on that? All right. Uh, see none back to the maker of the motion waive. All right. All in favor of the motion to place HB 4 86 on consent. Please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes unanimously. Eight to zero.

  19. Unknown speaker2:19:37speaker not certain

      Thank you, chair. Thank you.

  20. Committee chair2:19:38

      Motion and mo uh, Representative Ward to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Any discussion to that motion? See none. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you.

• Feb 17, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Reading Clerk20:28

     House Bill 4 86 Fraudulent deeds amendments by Representative Walter. This bill was heard in political subdivisions with the vote of 8 0 4.

  2. Speaker (presiding)20:36

     Representative Walter,

  3. Rep. R. Neil Walter20:38

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. For the last two years we've been working on a problem that is a terrifying problem if it ever happens, uh, there's a fraud scheme out there where individuals are attempting to try and convince members or convince individuals to sign over or fraudulently transfer the deed to their home. Uh, two years ago we passed a bill, uh, named fraudulent Deeds amendments, uh, that made it easy to easier for a court to restore that home to its rightful owner in the event of a fraudulent deed. Uh, this particular provision provides a very small clarification, uh, with regard to, uh, the deed that basically says that it has to be, it has to be the owner of the deed or the owner of the home who has, uh, that had the original deed in possession, uh, that has the ability to use this language. This is a good clarification and appreciate the body's support on this issue. Thank you.

  4. Speaker (presiding)21:33

     Thank you. Representative Walter Voting will now be open on P 4 86 vote Quickly. Representatives Seeing all President hand voted voting is now closed. HB 4 86 passes this body with 70 s votes, zero no votes will be sent to the Senate for the sign or sorry, sent to the Senate for its consideration. Representatives, I just wanna announce we're not going to be doing, uh, personal privileges today. We are significantly behind. Uh, we've spent a lot of time doing personal privileges, citations over, uh, uh, the, the, the, uh, past four weeks, uh, here. Uh, and we are significantly behind on the amount of bills that we have passed. So, uh, we're gonna spend the time focused on the floor and debating, uh, and voting on bills. So with that, let's go back to Madam Reading Clerk for items on the House consent calendar,