October 17, 2012, Introduced by Rep. Brown and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
(MCL 750.1 to 750.568) by adding section 218a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 218a. (1) A person who does any of the following and who
knows or has reason to know that the document is forged or
groundless, contains a material misstatement or false claim,
contains a signature that is not the signature of the person whose
name is being signed, or is otherwise invalid makes a false
representation concerning title and is guilty of a felony
punishable by imprisonment for not less than 1 year and not more
than 5 years or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both fine
and imprisonment:
(a) Claims an interest in, or a lien or encumbrance against,
real property in a document that is recorded in the office of the
register of deeds of the county where the property is located.
(b) Executes or notarizes a document purporting to create an
interest in, or a lien or encumbrance against, real property, that
is recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county
where the property is located.
(c) Causes a document described in subdivision (a) or (b) to
be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county
where the property is located.
(d) Robosigns a document or causes a document to be
robosigned.
(2) A person who makes a false representation concerning title
in 2 or more transactions engages in a pattern of making false
representations concerning title and is guilty of a felony
punishable by imprisonment for not less than 3 years and not more
than 20 years or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both fine
and imprisonment, if all of the following apply to the
transactions:
(a) The transactions have the same or similar pattern,
purposes, results, accomplices, victims, or methods of commission,
or are otherwise interrelated by distinguishing characteristics.
(b) The transactions are not isolated incidents within the
preceding 4 years.
(c) The aggregate loss or intended loss in the transactions is
more than $250.00.
(3) In addition to the criminal penalties imposed under
subsections (1) and (2), a person who makes a false representation
concerning title as described in subsection (1) is subject to a
civil fine of not more than $5,000.00 for each violation. A penalty
under this subsection may be recovered in a civil action brought in
the name of this state by the attorney general. The attorney
general may recover reasonable attorney fees and costs in an action
under this subsection.
(4) Except as provided in subsection (5), the owner or holder
of the beneficial interest in real property that is the subject of
a false representation concerning title as described in subsection
(1) may bring a civil action to recover any damages suffered by the
owner or holder of the beneficial interest, reasonable attorney
fees, and costs. Additionally, a person who makes a false
representation concerning title by robosigning under subsection
(1)(d) is liable to the owner or holder of the beneficial interest
in the property for 3 times the amount for which the person would
otherwise be liable under this subsection.
(5) Before bringing a civil action under subsection (4), the
owner or holder of the beneficial interest in the real property
shall request in writing that the person who made the false
representation record a document that corrects the false
representation. If the person records a corrective document within
20 days after the date of the written request, the owner or holder
of the beneficial interest is not entitled to file a civil action
under subsection (4).
(6) As used in this section, "robosign" means to sign a
document for the signor or transferor.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5970(request no.
04602'11 a) of the 96th Legislature is enacted into law.