Deed; require refusal of deed when required telephone numbers are not included.
Summary
House Bill 1566 amends Mississippi’s deed-recording requirements in Section 27-3-51 to make telephone-number verification a condition of filing a deed. Under the bill, chancery clerks must ensure that the required mailing address and telephone information for each grantor and grantee are included on the deed, and beginning July 1, 2025, the listed telephone numbers must be working and valid. If the required information is missing, the clerk must refuse to accept the deed for filing. The bill also preserves the rule that incorrect or incomplete contact information does not invalidate the deed itself once recorded.
The measure keeps in place the existing framework that allows the Commissioner of Revenue to audit deed filings, assess a $100 penalty against counties for violations, and withhold that amount from homestead exemption reimbursements. It also retains provisions authorizing the Department of Revenue to verify real-property sales data and share it with county tax assessors for property valuation purposes. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
Impact
HB1566 would tighten the administrative requirements for recording real-property deeds in Mississippi by adding an affirmative duty for chancery clerks to verify that grantors’ and grantees’ telephone numbers are valid before accepting a deed for filing. This changes the filing process for county chancery clerks and could affect property owners, title companies, attorneys, and others involved in real-estate closings by requiring more complete contact information and potentially delaying filings that do not comply. The bill does not change the validity of the underlying deed if contact information is wrong, but it does increase the risk of rejection at the recording stage and preserves the state penalty structure for county noncompliance.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be presented as an administrative and property-tax compliance bill rather than a controversial policy overhaul. The caption and language suggest a focus on improving deed-record accuracy and ensuring the Department of Revenue has usable contact information for verification and valuation purposes. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no documented debate or recorded opposition in the materials supplied.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the new requirement that chancery clerks verify telephone numbers as “working and valid” before filing a deed, which could be viewed as adding a new gatekeeping step to property recording and increasing the burden on clerks, title professionals, and filers. Another possible concern is enforcement: the bill preserves the $100-per-deed county penalty and the withholding of homestead exemption reimbursement funds for violations, which may be seen as a strong compliance mechanism. At the same time, supporters would likely emphasize the bill’s goal of improving data quality for property valuation and tax administration.