Legislative Developments February 23, 2026

Alabama: House Bill 440, which would set fees charged by the probate court for Escambia County for certain services, passed the House on 2/19/2026. These include Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing fees. All other service fees charged by the probate court shall continue to be those set forth in the general laws.

Mississippi: Senate Bill 2712, which would authorize a lender to charge the borrower a fee for non-filing or non-recording insurance in lieu of filing a UCC financing statement or other security instrument, passed the Senate on 2/12/2026. The cost of the non-filing fee may not exceed the amount charged by the secretary of state to file a UCC financing statement.

Utah: House Bill 82, which would modify the information required to file a judgment lien against real property, passed the Senate on 2/19/2026 and is pending delivery to the governor. The bill would provide that if the judgment debtor is an individual, if known, the lien filing requirement of  the full SSN would no longer be required, only the last four digits and, if known, only the month and year of the judgment debtor’s birth, not the full birthdate.

Virginia: House Bill 1217, which would allow storage liens for the keeper of a livery stable, marina, or aircraft hangar, passed the House on 2/17/2026.

West Virginia: House Bill 5566 was introduced on 2/16/2026 and Senate Bill 983 on 2/18/2026 to establish a centralized tax lien registry to improve tax collection efficiency, enhance transparency, support economic development, and reduce administrative burden.

Alaska: Senate Bill 252 was introduced on 2/18/2026 to adopt the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records.

Idaho: House Bill 702 was introduced on 2/16/2026 to amend UCC Article 8. The amendments address governing law and the priority of entitlement holders.

Idaho: House Bill 709 was introduced on 2/16/2026 to amend various portions of the Uniform Commercial Code with respect to programmable money. The bill would restrict the use of programmable money and exclude the term from the definition of “money” in the UCC.

Maryland: Senate Bill 154, which would add Article 12-Controllable Electronic Records from the 2022 Amendments to the state’s version of the UCC, passed the Senate on 2/19/2026. The bill would insert Article 12 from the official text as the state’s UCC Article 10A and omit the rest of the 2022 Amendments.

Utah: Senate Bill 298 was introduced on 2/16/2026 to amend various portions of the Uniform Commercial Code with respect to programable money. The bill would restrict the use of programmable money and exclude the term from the definition of “money” in the UCC.

Alabama: House Bill 483 was introduced on 2/19/2026 to authorize the formation and operation of decentralized unincorporated nonprofit associations as a subtype of unincorporated nonprofit associations, which are authorized under existing law. This bill would allow a decentralized unincorporated nonprofit association to use distributed ledger technology and smart contracts for its governance and operation. This is similar to Senate Bill 277, which was reported last week.

Idaho: House Bill 738 was introduced on 2/19/2026 to authorize a limited liability company to use the street and mailing address of its commercial registered agent instead of the street and mailing address of the LLC’s principal office if: (i) the LLC attests that it has no physical location other than a residential address; and (ii) the registered agent consents.

Iowa: House File 2536 was introduced on 2/16/2026 to amend the Uniform Partnership Act. The amendments would provide for the conversion of a domestic partnership to any type of domestic or foreign organization subject to certain conditions. Current law only allows a domestic partnership to convert to a limited partnership. This is similar to House Study Bill 211, which was introduced in 2025.

Iowa: Senate File 2363 was introduced on 2/18/2026 to provide for the conversion of partnerships into other forms of domestic or foreign organizations and establish related fees.

Iowa: Senate File 2402 was introduced on 2/19/2026 to authorize the secretary to remove information from a filing following review of an affidavit submitted by a person swearing that personal information was wrongfully included in the filing, including by identifying the person as the business entity’s registered agent, or listing the person’s street, mailing, or email address as the address of the registered agent or the business entity’s principal office. Upon filing a statement of removal, the secretary must send a notice to the business entity informing the business entity of the secretary’s decision that the statement is immediately effective. The bill would also authorize the secretary to commence administrative dissolution proceedings against a business entity based on a determination by the secretary that the business entity is being used to commit a fraudulent, criminal, or unlawful purpose. The secretary’s determination is based on a review of responses to interrogatories served by the secretary on the business entity. This appears similar to Senate Study Bill 3165, which was reported last week.

Michigan: Senate Bill 7896 was introduced on 2/18/2026 to revise the Business Corporations Act, including providing for the creation and governance of benefit corporations.

Utah: Senate Bill 40, which would make extensive changes to the state’s business entity statutes, passed the House as amended on 2/12/2026 and is pending concurrence in the Senate. The bill includes changes to the regulation of and procedures for commercial registered agents.

Utah: Senate Bill 41, which would make updates and technical corrections to the state’s business entity statutes to conform with the changes of Senate Bill 40, passed the House as amended on 2/12/2026 and is pending concurrence in the Senate.

Virginia: House Bill 293, which would adopt the Limited Liability Decentralized Autonomous Organization Act, passed the House on 2/13/2026. The bill would provide for the creation and regulation of limited liability decentralized autonomous organizations (LLDs).

Wyoming: Senate File 82, which would amend the statutory duties of registered agents, passed the Senate on 2/18/2026. The bill would require registered agents to maintain the names and addresses of all owners of each entity represented in addition to the registered agent’s other duties.

California: Assembly Bill 1977 was introduced on 2/13/2026 to amend the state’s notary laws regarding qualifications of the notary and remote notarization.

Connecticut: Senate Bill 262 was introduced on 2/19/2026 to increase the maximum fee that a notary may charge for certain notarial acts from $5 to $10.

California: Assembly Bill 2224 was introduced on 2/19/2026 to increase the recording fees and additional page fees charged by a county recorder.

Maryland: House Bill 1566 was introduced on 2/13/2026 to clarify that the holder of a promissory note, other instrument, or other obligation is entitled to the benefits of a recorded deed of trust notwithstanding any person recorded in the land records as the holder of the promissory note, other instrument, or other obligation.

Maryland: House Bill 1601 was introduced on 2/16/2026 to require that certain deeds presented for recordation contain the name of the title insurer and the policy number. This appears similar to Senate Bill 723, which was reported last week.

New Jersey: Assembly Bill 4017 was introduced on 2/12/2026 to require that a limited liability company must disclose ownership information when submitting a deed for recording.

New York: The governor signed Senate Bill 8768 on 2/13/2026 to amend the process for discharge of a mortgage. The new law will require mortgage lenders to accept and apply payments as specified in a payoff letter, even if such payments do not fully cover all amounts due, unless the payment lacks sufficient information for the mortgage to be identified. Such payments will not result in a mortgage discharge or satisfaction unless they fulfill the total amount owed. The new law takes effect 180 days after the measure becomes law.

Ohio: Senate Bill 366 was introduced on 2/17/2026 to require payment by the grantor of all delinquent taxes at the time of transfer of any lot, tract, or parcel in whole or in part to a person other than the grantor.

Utah: House Bill 486, which would revise definitions related to fraudulent deeds, passed the House on 2/17/2026.

West Virginia: House Bill 5512 was introduced on 2/13/2026 to address deed fraud. This bill would: (i) allow a recorder to refuse to record a suspicious document; (ii) require each recorder to implement a property alert system; and (iii) require notaries to complete a class that includes at least one hour on red flags related to real estate fraud and elder exploitation.

Virginia: Senate Bill 369, which would establish a specialty civil court docket for business and complex litigation, passed the Senate on 2/16/2026. The docket would be for specific issues such as corporate governance, intellectual property disputes, and antitrust litigation.