July 15, 2022 - The Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has recently authorized the appointment of four new study committees and one new drafting committee.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on Model Marketable Title Act. The Model Marketable Title Act, which was derived from Article 3 of the Uniform Simplification of Land Transfers Act, was promulgated in 1990 and enacted in one state before being withdrawn as obsolete in 2015. However, about 20 states have marketable title statutes, some of which include provisions from the Model Act. The Model Act extinguishes interests in land that are not found in the root of the title, dated back 30 years from the time that interests must be determined. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of updating the Model Marketable Title Act.
Study Committee on Use of Tokens or Other Similar Products in Real Property Transactions. Theoretically, where title to a parcel of land has been registered, ownership of the land could be "tokenized" into a nonfungible token (NFT). Future transfers of the right to possession of the home would take place through transfers of the NFT rather than through the delivery of a deed. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act addressing issues related to the use of non-fungible tokens (or other similar products) in the transfer and financing of real property.
Study Committee on Indian Child Welfare Act Issues. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act addressing issues related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, a federal law that governs the removal and out-of-home placement of American Indian children. Some states have implemented statutes aimed at facilitating the application of the federal statute by state courts, but significant gaps remain, and the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in a case reviewing the constitutionality of the federal statute. The study committee will thus examine whether a uniform or model act may be needed either if the federal statute is struck down or to fill remaining gaps if the federal statute is upheld.
Study Committee on Hague Judgments Convention, Final Non-Monetary Judgments, and Interim Relief. This committee will recommend the most appropriate method for implementing the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters in the United States and to study the need for and feasibility of one or more uniform acts (including possible revision of the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act) on the topics of the recognition and enforcement of final non-monetary judgments and interim relief.
The new drafting committee is:
Drafting Committee on Recurring Service Charges. This committee will draft a uniform or model law addressing recurring service charges related to several types of "negative option contracts" in which a consumer is charged until proactively stopping the charges. The committee is tasked with reporting to the Executive Committee by January 2023 regarding the proposed scope of the act and any limitations regarding the sectors and types of contracts to be addressed. This project was proposed by the Recurring Service Charges study committee.
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.
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.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 131st 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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