Bill > HB130

This bill aims to combat deed fraud, which is defined as a violation of Section 8-906 of the Criminal Law Article, by establishing a new grant fund and a task force to study the issue. Specifically, it modifies existing laws to clarify that prosecutions for deed fraud must be initiated within one year of the victim knowing or reasonably should have known about the fraud, and it removes "deed" from a general list of counterfeited items in Section 8-601 of the Criminal Law Article, while strengthening the penalties for violating Section 8-906, which specifically addresses deed fraud. The bill also creates the Deed Fraud Prevention Grant Fund, which will be administered by the Department of Public Safety and will provide grants to law enforcement agencies for identifying and preventing deed fraud, support legal services for victims, and offer emergency housing assistance to displaced victims; this fund will be financed by state appropriations, fines collected under Section 8-906, and other sources, with a specific $200,000 appropriation mandated for fiscal year 2028. Furthermore, a Task Force to Study Deed Fraud is established, comprising representatives from the Attorney General's office, the Judiciary, the Department of Assessments and Taxation, the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the land title insurance industry, and a notary public, which will study deed fraud incidents, compare methods used in other states, identify perpetrator and victim patterns, develop detection tools, analyze economic impacts on victims, and make recommendations for prevention, with a report due to the General Assembly by July 1, 2028; this task force will be dissolved after two years, on September 30, 2028. The bill also clarifies that interest earned on the Deed Fraud Prevention Grant Fund will accrue to the fund itself, rather than the General Fund, and the entire act is set to take effect on October 1, 2026.

Justice

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0130?ys=2026RS