The Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has recently authorized the appointment of two new drafting committees and five new study committees.
The new drafting committees are:
Drafting Committee on Deed Fraud. Deed fraud occurs when a person executes and records a deed that purports to be a bona fide conveyance of real estate (typically a deed or mortgage) by the record owner, but without having any authority from the record owner to do so. This committee will draft a uniform or model act that addresses the problem of deed fraud with several solutions that could provide options for states to adopt, including: known filer system for recorded documents; electronic notification system for landowners; property title freeze; recorder discretion to flag suspicious filings; electronic notification system for notaries; and dual authentication for notarial acts.
Drafting Committee on Ownership or Possession of Pets at Family Dissolution and in Domestic Violence Proceedings. This committee will draft a uniform or model law on ownership and possession of domestic pets at separation or divorce.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on State Government Ethics Law. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a model or uniform state government ethics act. All states have laws establishing rules of conduct for government officials during, and sometimes after, their public employment, though the laws were developed at different times and vary widely. The American Law Institute (ALI) has produced the ALI Principles of the Law, Government Ethics, which focuses on ethics rules for the legislative and executive branches of government. Though the ALI Principles do not contain model statutory language, the study committee could use the principles to form the basis for a state government ethics law.
Study Committee on Acceptance of Cash for In-Person Transactions. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a model or uniform act governing requirements for businesses or individuals to accept cash payment for in-person transactions.
Study Committee on Motor Vehicle Subscription Services and Comparable Practices. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a model or uniform act regulating subscription services charged for vehicles, focusing on subscriptions related to pre-installed functions and essential vehicle functions (as opposed to optional services such as satellite entertainment or safety features) and related practices.
Study Committee on Harmonization of the Law Governing Restricted Charitable Gifts. This committee will study need for and feasibility of harmonizing the laws governing restrictions on charitable gifts, regardless of the form a gift happens to take, the organizational form of the donee, or the label that happens to be assigned to the gift under state law. A study committee on harmonization of the law governing restricted charitable gifts could explore the benefits of updating the provisions of the Uniform Trust Code (UTC) and the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) in this context, and determine the challenges associated with developing and enacting a stand-alone act or amending either the UTC or UPMIFA.
Joint Committee on Fraudulent Checks and Wire Transfers. This is a joint project with the American Law Institute and the Uniform Law Commission that will, on a fast track, study and potentially draft modifications to the rules of the Uniform Commercial Code (the UCC ) Articles 3, 4, and 4A concerning allocation of losses resulting from fraudulent checks and wire transfers, and determine whether amendments or revisions to the Official Text of the UCC or its Official Comments, or new Commentaries or Reports of the PEB, are needed.
Study Committees review an assigned area of law in light of defined criteria and recommend whether ULC should proceed with a draft on that subject. Drafting committees, composed of commissioners, with participation from observers, advisors and reporter-drafters, meet throughout the year. Tentative drafts are not submitted to the entire Commission until they have received extensive committee consideration.
Proposed acts are subjected to rigorous examination and debate before they become eligible for designation as ULC products. The final decision on whether an act is ready for promulgation to the states is made near the close of an annual meeting, on a vote by states basis, with an affirmative vote of twenty or more states necessary for final approval.
Further information on all current drafting and study committees, as well as information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 135th year, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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Contact: Katie Robinson, ULC Senior Director, Strategy & Communications, krobinson@...
Uniform Law Commission / 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602 / 312-450-6600, www.uniformlaws.org
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Katie Robinson
Senior Director for Strategy and Communications
Chicago IL
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