The 1998 General Assembly made significant changes in the notary public and mapping statutes. Fees charged by notary publics were increased, the ex officio notary status of assistant and deputy registers of deeds was restricted, and several difficult questions about how a notary must attest a document were resolved. Several additional categories of maps are now exempt from certification by a review officer. To the disappointment of many registers, neither Senate Bill 1130 nor House Bill 1354, which would have made helpful improvements in the Torrens statutes, was enacted.

S.L. 1998-147 (S 1407) extends the supplemental pension benefits to registers of deeds who are not members of the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System. It amends G.S. 161-50.4 to add new Subsection (a1) to provide that each register of deeds who (1) is not eligible to retire with the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System solely because the county does not participate in the system, (2) has completed at least ten years of creditable service as a register of deeds, and (3) has either (a) attained the age of sixty-five, (b) attained thirty years of creditable service regardless of age, or (c) attained the age of sixty with not less than twenty-five years of creditable service is entitled to receive the supplementary pension benefits. The act was effective July 1, 1998.

G.S. 47-30.2, enacted by the 1997 General Assembly, requires that all but a tiny percentage of maps be certified by a review officer before they may be recorded. Many registers, surveyors, and lawyers believed that the statute was overbroad in that it required some maps to be certified by a review officer when certification served no justifiable policy interest. S.L. 1998-228 (S 1552) amends G.S. 47-30.2(c) to add two new categories of maps that are exempt from certification by a review officer and therefore may be recorded by the register of deeds without the review officer's certification. The first category of exempt maps is maps that are exempt from G.S. 47-30 by virtue of G.S. 47-30(j) or (l). These are maps of boundaries of municipalities, annexation maps, highway right-of-way maps, and transportation corridor maps. The second category of exempt maps is maps attached to deeds and recorded pursuant to G.S. 47-30(n). It is important to note that not all maps attached to deeds are exempt from certification by a review officer. Only those that are recorded pursuant to G.S. 47-30(n), set forth above, are exempt. Maps attached to deeds that meet the requirements of G.S. 47-30(m) (that is, those that have the original signature and seal of a registered land surveyor, or certified copies of such maps) must still be certified by a review officer. The amendments to G.S. 47-30.2 became effective November 6, 1998.

S.L. 1998-228 also amends G.S. 47-30(m) to require that maps attached to deeds or other instruments be no larger than 8 1/2 by 14 inches and amends G.S. 47-30(n) to provide that a map attached to a deed or other instrument that does not meet the requirements of G.S. 47-30(m) (that is, a map that does not contain the original signature and seal of a registered land surveyor or be a certified copy of such a map) may be accepted for recording only if it contains the following label: "THIS MAP IS NOT A CERTIFIED SURVEY AND HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED BY A LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS." The amendments to G.S. 47-30(m) and (n) became effective December 1, 1998.

Since 1987, G.S. 136-44.50 has provided for the recording of roadway corridor maps. These are maps of proposed highway routes and are intended to put the public on notice that a highway may be constructed in a particular location. The map filed with the register of deeds is a certified copy of the official map and is twenty by twelve inches. These maps must be recorded in a separate book, not the regular plat books, and must be indexed "by number of road, street name, or other appropriate description."

Effective November 1, 1998, S.L. 1998-184 (S 1291) makes several changes in this statute that are significant to the registers of deeds. First, it changes the name of the maps from "roadway" corridor maps to "transportation" corridor maps. This change was necessary because other amendments to the statute authorize the recording of maps that show proposed rail corridors, in addition to highway corridors. Second, the act adds new G.S. 136-44.50(a)(3) to provide that the map must be accompanied by a list of the names of all property owners affected by the corridor and new G.S. 136-44.50(b)(4) to require the register of deeds to index each name on the list on the grantor index. No additional fee is to be paid for this indexing. Third, the act adds new G.S. 161-14(c) to require the register of deeds to record and index any transportation corridor map no later than the close of the third business day after it is presented for recording.

Note that two separate documents will be filed in the register's office: (1) the certified copy of the official transportation corridor map and (2) the list of names of property owners. The new three-day recording and indexing requirements in G.S. 161-14(c) apply only to the map itself, not to the list of property owners. Thus, the list of property owners (and there may be hundreds of names on a list) must be indexed on the grantor index within twenty-four hours on a temporary index and within thirty days on the permanent index. The names should be indexed to the book and page where the transportation corridor map is recorded. The grantee should be the unit of government that recorded the map. As a result of the amendments to G.S. 47-30.2 (S.L. 1998-228), discussed in the preceding section, these maps are exempt from certification by a review officer.

S.L. 1998-73 (H 1307) adds Banner Elk to the list of cities and counties in which a deed may not be recorded by the register of deeds unless it is accompanied by a certificate from the tax collector that all delinquent taxes on the property described in the deed have been paid.

Effective October 1, 1997, the General Assembly amended G.S. 51-8 (S.L. 1997-443) to require each applicant for a marriage license to provide on the application his or her social security number. This amendment was to expire June 30, 1998. Because of the short time the amendment was to be in effect, registers of deeds were advised in Land Records Bulletin No. 24 that if an applicant did not have a social security number, the register of deeds could accept an affidavit to that effect and issue the license anyway. With the enactment of S.L. 1998-17 (S 1182), the 1998 General Assembly removed the June 30, 1998, expiration date and made the 1997 amendment to G.S. 51-8 permanent. In light of this action, registers of deeds should treat the requirement of a social security number as they would any other requirement for a marriage license (such as the requirement that the applicants be at least eighteen years old, except in certain cases) and should not issue a marriage license to an applicant who does not have a social security number, except in the situation discussed below. Registers should require documentary evidence that the social security number given by the applicant is correct, just as they would require proof of age in many cases. A social security card is one means of providing this documentation, but it is not the only way; a W-2 form or pay stub should also be acceptable, as would a statement from a social security office.

In a few cases, an applicant for a marriage license may not have a social security number and may be ineligible to obtain one. This is most likely to occur in the case of certain aliens. Aliens admitted to this country for permanent residence or to engage in employment are eligible to obtain social security numbers. 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2)(B(i)(I). Aliens not in these categories are ineligible for social security numbers. In an advisory opinion to Katherine Lee Payne, Guilford County Register of Deeds, dated August 14, 1998, Andrew Vanore, General Counsel, North Carolina Department of Justice, stated that a register of deeds should issue a marriage license to an alien who is ineligible for a social security number as long as the alien meets all other requirements for obtaining a marriage license. The opinion further states that in order to issue a license in this situation the register should require proof that the applicant is a foreign national (a passport, U.S. visa, or I.N.S. travel or work permit will establish this) and an affidavit that the applicant is ineligible for a social security number because he or she has not been admitted to the United States for permanent residence or employment.

G.S. 47-18.2 provides for the recording, in the register of deeds' office, of inheritance and estate tax waivers executed by the Secretary of Revenue. S.L. 1998-69 (S 1229), effective August 1, 1998, amends various provisions of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes to eliminate the inheritance and estate tax waiver and create, instead, a "tax waiver." G.S. 105-20 provides that this waiver may be recorded in the register of deeds' office, and G.S. 47-18.2 is unchanged.

S.L. 1998-127 (H 1356) enacts new Article 11A of Chapter 66 of the General Statutes to facilitate the filing of documents electronically and to authorize the use of electronic signatures. Although the act generally authorizes electronic commerce, the details will be spelled out in rules adopted by the Secretary of State. The act and the Secretary's rules apply to local governments as well as to state government. Any electronic signature used must be capable of certification, and the Secretary's rules will establish procedures for the licensing of "certification authorities" (i.e., agencies or persons who can authenticate an electronic signature). An electronic signature may not be used on any instrument that requires attestation by a notary public. It therefore appears that the largest significance of the act for the register's office will be to facilitate the electronic filing of Uniform Commercial Code documents and the transmittal of vital records between the state vital records office and local registers.

S.L. 1998-228 (S 1552) makes numerous important changes in G.S. Chapter 10A, the chapter of the General Statutes governing notaries public.

Effective January 1, 1999, G.S. 10A-4(c) is amended to give the Secretary of State authority to deny an application for a commission or recommission as a notary if the applicant has been convicted of a felony and the applicant's rights have not been restored. Also effective January 1, 1999, the requirements for notary instructors are moved from G.S. 10A-4 to G.S. 10A-7, and a certification fee of $50 is added for certification to teach a course of study for notaries. Registers of deeds and clerks of superior court are exempt from paying the instructor's fee, and they remain exempt from all of the other requirements for instructors, except for purchase of the guidebook and attendance at the prescribed course of study, so long as they hold the office of register of deeds or clerk of superior court. Effective November 6, 1998, the fees charged by notaries and authorized by G.S. 10A-10 were increased from $2 per transaction to $3.

G.S. 10A-9(b), regarding the requirements for a notary's attestation, is amended by rewriting Subsection (2) to read as follows: "The readable appearance of the notary's name, either from the notary's signature or from the notary's typed, printed, or embossed name near the signature." This new language appears to be an effort to settle the question whether, if the notary's signature is illegible, the notary's name in the seal may serve as the "readable appearance of the notary's name." Although it could have been more clearly stated, the amendment appears to provide that the name in the seal is sufficient. To settle another thorny question, G.S. 10A-11 is amended to provide that the notary's official seal, as it appears on a document, may contain the notary's expiration date, either "permanently imprinted or . . . a handwritten expiration date." S.L. 1998-228 also amends G.S. 10A-16 to validate recorded documents on which the notary's seal contained typed, printed, or handwritten material. The amendments to G.S. 10A-11 and 10A-16 are retroactive to October 1, 1998.

S.L. 1998-228 amends G.S. 10A-14 to make several changes in the ex officio notary status of registers of deeds and clerks of superior court and their assistants and deputies. First, G.S. 10A-14(e) makes it clear that the ex officio status applies only while the listed officers are performing their official duties; it does not accompany them when they leave the office for the day. Second, registers and clerks are unrestricted as to the notary duties they may perform, but the authority of assistants and deputies is restricted to taking oaths or affirmations and verifications or proofs. As ex officio notaries, assistants and deputies are not authorized to take acknowledgments. (Perhaps there is some logical principle underlying a statute that allows deputy and assistant registers of deeds to take the proof of execution of a document by a subscribing witness but prohibits them from taking the acknowledgment of the execution of the same document; if so, however, it is not apparent.) Assistants and deputies may acquire authority to perform all other notarial acts by virtue of their offices by attending the course of study prescribed by the Secretary of State for notaries. The statute authorizes the Secretary to approve a course that is only for assistant and deputy registers of deeds or only for assistant and deputy clerks of superior court. Finally, G.S. 10A-14(d) is amended to provide that ex officio notaries may charge the regular notary fees, and these fees are payable to the governmental unit or agency that employs them.

Effective January 1, 1999, the 1998 Appropriations Act, S.L. 1998-212 (S 1366), in Section 29A.9, amends G.S. 10A-7 to increase the application fee for a notary commission to $30. This increase appears to be a nullity, however, because effective January 1, 1999, S.L. 1998-228 repeals the application fee in G.S. 10A-7 and inserts the current $25 fee in new G.S. 10A-4(b)(6). Thus, the application fee remains $25, at least until the 1999 General Assembly has another go at it.

Torrens Statutes. Senate Bill 1130 and House Bill 1354 were identical bills that would have made numerous improvements in the Torrens statutes (Chapter 43 of the General Statutes), including much-needed revisions of the fees for handling Torrens documents. Despite the hard work of a number of registers of deeds and real property lawyers from eastern North Carolina, neither bill was enacted. House Bill 1354 passed the House and was in the Senate Judiciary Committee at adjournment. Senate Bill 1130 spent the entire session in the Senate Finance Committee.