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State Legislative Issues - 2008
The General Assembly convened January 14 for the 2008 session. Below are the major bills we are monitoring. The list includes bills introduced this year and those carried over from the 2007 session. As new legislation is introduced, this page will be updated so please check back often.
Bank Taxation H.B. 1151 by Reps. Knight, Tumlin and Mosby. A bill primarily dealing with non-profit taxation but amended in committee by Rep. Knight to delete the prescriptive formula contained in H.B. 441 above. The Department of Revenue has maintained the formula could not be adjusted by regulation to provide a more favorable outcome. Rep. Knight has been working with the Administration to consider other formula options than the single formula described in the previous legislation and which has been adopted by regulation. S.R. 796 by Sen. Rogers, Williams, Mullis, Pearson, Moody and Shafer. A constitutional amendment which would freeze the value of property and provide a mechanism for exceeding the frozen values. This is the version of the constitutional amendment the House considered to go to the voters, but feel 10 votes short of the super majority needed. H.R. 979 by Speaker Richardson and Reps. Burkhalter and Keen. Implements the GREAT plan which proposes to replace certain ad valorem taxes with a statewide 4% sales tax on services, including banking services. This bill was not considered as the constitutional amendment, S.R. 796, failed to garner enough votes for passage. H.R. 1246 by Speaker Richardson and Reps. O'Neal and Ehrhart. The constitutional amendment that would implement the GREAT plan. This version was not considered in favor of S.B. 796 above. H.R. 1153 by Reps. Knight, Tumlin and Mosby. Amends the Sub S statute to require non-Georgia resident consent agreements to pay Georgia income tax to be filed with the Sub S corporate tax returns the year the non-Georgian becomes a shareholder in the corporation. H.R. 1155 by Reps. Knight, Tumlin and Mosby. Relates to Sub S taxation and reduces the penalty for failing to withhold a mandatory payment 100% to 25% of the amount that should have been withheld. The bill further clarifies the rules of filing returns and remitting taxes for non-Georgia shareholders. H.B. 446 by Reps. Royal and Floyd. Amends the statute applying to tax filers who file on an accrual basis to receive a refund in addition to a deduction for bad debt and authorizes an assignee of credit card debt or a credit card bank which extends credit may have its deduction or refund for bad debts claimed on a return filed by a member of an affiliated group.
Mortgage Closing Exemptions H.B. 918 by Rep. R. Lane. Similar to S.B. 355 above as originally introduced. A committee substitute was considered which clarified that in the case of a refinancing, the disbursement of funds would not take place until after the rescission period had ended. That language was used by the House Judiciary Committee to amend the Senate bill. We do not expect further action on this version of the bill.
Foreclosure/Other Mortgage Issues S.B. 459 by Sens. Reed, Johnston, Brown and Shafer. Provides that real estate sales made under power of sale contained in mortgages, deeds, or other lien contracts shall be advertised weekly for ten weeks. S.B. 519 by Sen. Hamrick, Orrock, Reed and Shafer. Requires a notice of foreclosure to be sent to the borrower 2 weeks prior to beginning the 4-week advertisement period. A 90-day notice is required on any loans having a prepayment penalty. S.B. 531 Hamrick, Orrock, Brown, Chance, Thompson and others. Requires an advertisement of foreclosure to include the name of the security holder as well as the name and contact information for the servicer. H.B. 1317 by Reps. Holmes, Thomas and Gordon. Allows local governments to set standards for public nuisance of neglected properties, clean or repair the property and bill the owner. H.B. 1319 by Reps. Holmes. Extends the time for notification of foreclosure from 14 days to 90 days and gives the borrower the right to cure the foreclosure prior to sale. H.B. 1320 by Rep Holmes. Provides that a tenant with an unexpired lease on property that is sold at foreclosure will be considered a tenant at will. H.R. 1153 by Reps. Mitchell, Williams, Watson, Mangham and Stevenson. Calls on Congress to pass the Homeowners and Bank Protection Act which would create a new agency to protect banks from bankruptcy, put a moratorium on foreclosures and convert existing mortgage interest rates so that payments would equal an effective rental rate. S.B. 475 by Sens. Fort, Thompson, Reed, Orrock, Jones and Brown. Amends the Georgia Fair Lending Act to return the bill to the pre-2003 version. GBA opposes. S.B. 496 by Sens. Tate, Hooks, Thompson, Shafer, Orrock and Jones. Amends the appraisal statute to prohibit certain acts by persons involved in transacting a mortgage business, so as to provide that it shall be prohibited to solicit or otherwise facilitate the fraudulent appraisal of the value of property offered as security for a mortgage or loan. H.B. 1413 by Reps. Mitchell and Williams. Would include in the criminal offense of residential mortgage fraud an act of fraud committed upon homeowners during or threatened with foreclosure.
Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System S.B. 375 by Sens. Hamrick, Hudgens, Murphy and Tarver. Identical to H.B. 921 above.
Uniform
Securities Act
Security Deed Cancellations
Credit Reports & File Freeze S.B. 361 by Sens. Rogers, Hamrick, Shafer, Grant, Goggins and Staton. Similar to H.B. 130 above. H.B. 35 by Reps. Benton, Teilhet, Collins, England, Kaiser and Meadows. Allows individuals to place and remove security freezes on credit reports. H.B. 38 by Reps. Teilhet, Benton, Reese, Barnard, Manning and Cox. Similar to H.B. 35 above. H.B. 196 by Reps. Bob Smith, Roberts and Rogers. Requires credit reporting agencies to provide a consumer an exact copy of any credit report provided a creditor.
Watercraft Titling
Home
Inspector Licensing
Financial Service Licensee
Identity Theft S.B. 24 by Sens. Staton, Shafer, Carter, Chance, Rogers and Harp. Prohibits persons from using the Internet or electronic mail to induce another to provide identifying information by falsely representing themselves to be a business without the authority or approval of the business.
Infrastructure
Bank
Liens H.B. 1147 by Reps. Ramsey, Burkhalter, Jacobs, Lindsey and Tumlim. Similar to S.B. 374 above.
Filing Fees
Refund Anticipation Loans
Trust
Recording of Deeds/Indexes H.B. 1069 by Reps. Williams and Frazier. Would require that future recordings in the grantor-grantee indexes include the name and address of the grantee and if the street address was not available, then the mailing address of the grantee will be recorded.
Firearms H.B. 143 by Reps. Graves, Day, Ehrhart, Talton, Teilhet and Scott. Prohibits certain employers from from prohibiting employees from lawfully carrying and possessing firearms in locked motor vehicles. S.B. 43 by Sens. Rogers, Whitehead, Williams, Johnson, Heath and Mullis. Similar to H.B. 143 above.
Retraining
Tax Credits
Bank
Data Match for Taxes
Real Estate Investment Trusts
Biometrics
Payday/Alternative Lending H.B. 393 by Reps. Oliver, Hugley, Thomas, Fludd and Stephenson. Sets up a new regulatory and fee structure for Title Pawn lenders.H.B. 562 by Reps. Dollar, Cheokas and Roberts. Amends the Georgia Fair Lending Act to create a new type loan called a Temporary Loan, a short term loan designed to become a mortgage loan. H.B. 420 by Reps. Ehrhart, Tumlin and Williams. Creates a new regulatory scheme for loans under $3,000 and moves the supervision of Georgia Industrial Loan Act licensees to the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. H.B. 663 by Reps. Harbin, Fludd, Mosby, Smith, Brooks and Willard. Creates a new type of lender licensed by the Banking Department that would make loans under $3,000. The loans would be highly regulated with limits on rates and fees with the lender required to report credit history to the credit bureaus. H.B. 718 by Rep. Holmes. Amends the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act to extend the licensing of mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers to include mortgage loan officers, a new term being defined in the Act. H.B. 720 by Reps. Holmes and Brooks. Creates a regulatory structure for automobile Title Pawns by defining the pawns as loan transactions and subjecting the pawns to the state's 60 percent usury cap.
Health
Savings Accounts H.B. 27 by Rep. Knox. Provides that the taxable net income of any taxpayer of this state shall not include premiums paid for high deductible health plans established and used with a health savings account.
Loans/Investments in
Sudan H.B. 160 by Reps. Brooks, Benfield, Williams, Abdul-Salaam, Thomas and Mangham. Would prohibit the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services from making certain deposits in certain financial institutions unless the financial institution has certified that it does not have any direct loans or knowledge of any indirect loans to certain entities connected with the Republic of Sudan. H.B. 256 by Reps. Brooks, Benfield, Williams, Mosby, Stevenson and Hensen. Provides that that no Georgia public retirement system shall invest funds in public obligations of companies doing business with or in the Republic of Sudan.
Real Estate Liens S.B. 64 by Sens. Seabaugh and Weber. Creates a procedure for liens filed in error to be so noted in the real estate records maintained by the Superior Court clerks. S.B. 65 by Sens. Seabaugh and Weber. Adds a new definition of single family residential real estate.
Motor Vehicles H.B. 978 by Rep. James Mills. Allows for the seizure and forfeiture of an automobile the driver of which was involved in an accident and is not in the country legally. Lienholder interests are superceded. H.B. 470 by Reps. Parrish, Rice, Parham and Powell. Creates a new state lemon law for vehicles. Provisions relating to lease arrangements would be of most interest to our members.
Lottery Annuity Assignment
Deposit
Account Fraud
Bankruptcy S.R. 1289 by Sens. Tarver and Wiles. Creates a study committee to review the current bankruptcy exemptions for real or personal property that are available to consumers. The study committee will be composed of five senators and they are authorized to meet up to five days. Their report to the Senate is due December 1, 2008 and is to recommend any action or legislation deemed necessary from their study.
Mobile/Manufactured Homes
Real
Estate Transfer Tax
Home
Inspector Licensing
Pawnbrokers
Asset
Protection Waivers
Bank Employees and Directors
Morgan G. Murphy Resolution
Tom
Gilliland Resolution
Kessell Stelling Resolution
Study Committees S.R. 636 by Sens. Seabaugh and Weber. Creates the Senate Comprehensive Lien Law Study Committee and the Lien Law Advisory Committee. Questions? Email the Webmaster. |
GBA's professional staff represents the membership at the both the state and federal levels. Contact any of them with questions about issues:
Joe Brannen,
President |