As you most likely are aware it is not only spring but it is legislative season, my favorite time of year.  I simply love following the bills at the Capitol.  Sort of like a bouncing ball when some of the balls end up over (or under) the fence, never to be seen again.  Our fantastic legislatures; Senator Borrelli, Representative Biasiucci and Representative Gillette have been hard at work moving bills forward to help everything from home ownership, election integrity, government policy and most important, deed fraud. 

This year I am focusing on deed fraud, a subject we should all be very interested in.  A concern we, as property owners, need to be very diligent about.  A little over a year ago your Assessor’s department unveiled the “Assessors Address Protection Program” (AAPP).  We are excited to share that the success of this program is more than we expected. Not only have we had great public participation, the AAPP has also been recognized at the Secretary of States office as a proactive approach to combat deed fraud.  With this recognition I was invited to be part of the Secretary of State’s Deed Fraud Coalition.  This honor has allowed me to help tackle the many holes in our system that allows for fraudulent activity.

With Representative Gillette’s assistance we have been successful in a couple bills that we hope will result in approval from the Governor.  

HB2581 -The Physical Presence bill is defining Arizona Residency.  Believe it or not there was zero definition of what was required to be an official Arizona Resident.  This bill will help the Assessors office with clarification for rentals, it will help with Vehicle Registration Department and even with Voter Registration.  This bill passed the House and transmitted to the Senate on February 28th.

HB2588- Relating to Notaries and sponsored by the Secretary of States office, this bill requires a thumb print from not only those being notarized but the notary themselves.  We have found that Notary identities are being stolen and crooks are able to get very sophisticated Identification cards that even Notaries cannot distinguish as being fake, thus the need for thumbprints.  This bill was passed at the House and transmitted to the Senate on February 22nd.

HB2409- Relating to conveyances and deeds, this bill mandated an in-person signature for all Quit Claim and Beneficiary Deeds.  Unfortunately, lawyers and lobbyists killed this bill.  Representative Gillette and I will continue to push this requirement next year. 

HB2405- Damaged property grace period, this bill, originated by Coconino County, allows property owners that lost their homes through fire, flood or act of God to be given more time (5 years) to rebuild prior to reclassification.  This bill was passed by the House and transmitted to the Senate Feb 22nd.  

As you can see legislative season can be exciting and sometimes disappointing.  We cannot win them all, but the trick is to not give up, to do everything you can the second time around to address whatever concerns killed the bill and hope for a winner the next year.  For perspective, it took the Arizona Assessors over 8 years to get a Veterans bill passed to help with property taxes…..8 years is way too long, especially to help Arizona Veterans, but last year it finally passed.  There is always give and take with bills, sometimes it’s the only way to get clear sailing across the finish line.  The common denominator for all successful bills is to work hard communicating with all legislatures and never give up.

Happy Easter Mohave County!

Jeanne Kentch

Mohave County Assessor