Legislative Developments

A bill signed into law on July 9 has introduced the “Missouri Residential Sale Leaseback Protection Act” and the “Uniform Mortgage Modification Act,” which amend several sections of state law relating to real estate transactions, penalty provisions and severability clauses.

Legislators in the territory of Puerto Rico are considering a bill referred to as the Puerto Rico Real Estate Regulation Act which would establish a regulatory board, formally criminalize illegal real estate practices and more.

A bill signed into law by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 22 amended state law to prohibit foreign adversary nations or agents from purchasing, owning, leasing, or acquiring any substantial interest in real property in the state.

A bill has been introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives that would, if enacted, require the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator to create an online flood insurance information tool relating to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Lawmakers in Alaska have passed a comprehensive bill to update the terminology, definitions and procedures governing secure transactions and electronic records in the state, including delivery of electronic documents of title.

Under the statutes of a law recently signed by Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, mortgage servicers operating in the state will be required to adhere to updated capital, liquidity and accounting standards.

In early June, Michigan State Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would ban home insurance companies from using price optimization to set their rates.

Vermont became the fourth state to pass a comprehensive data privacy law this year when Gov. Phil Scott signed the Vermont Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act, which goes into effect in 2028.

Lawmakers in Michigan have introduced a bill that would, if enacted, amend the state’s Insurance Code of 1956 to exclude title insurance transactions and the entities facilitating those transactions from a section of code involving risk.

The Iowa Insurance Division has announced that a new law scheduled to take effect on July 1 would empower insurance companies in operating in the state to halt suspicious transactions if they have evidence that elder financial abuse is taking place.