Plain English Breakdown
The official status shows the bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, but no effective date is listed in the provided metadata.
AB-2174: Electronic Signatures for Mobilehome Security Interest Releases
This law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to accept verified electronic signatures instead of handwritten ones when legal owners submit documents to release or satisfy security interests on mobilehomes and manufactured homes.
What This Bill Does
- Requires the department to accept a 'verified signature executed electronically' by January 1, 2028, for documents that release or satisfy a security interest held by a legal owner.
- Treats these verified electronic signatures as having the same legal power as an original handwritten signature.
- Defines 'verified signature executed electronically' as a digital signature that meets all attributes required to equal a manual signature under existing law, such as being under the sole control of the user.
- Prohibits the department from requiring a wet (handwritten) signature for documents used to release or satisfy a legal owner's security interest.
Who It Names or Affects
- The Department of Housing and Community Development
- Legal owners who hold security interests in manufactured homes, mobilehomes, or commercial modulars
Terms To Know
- Security interest
- A legal right held by a lender over property to ensure payment of a debt.
- Verified signature executed electronically
- A digital signature that meets all safety rules required for it to count as an original manual signature, including being under the sole control of the person using it.
- Wet signature
- A traditional handwritten signature made with ink on paper.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law only applies to documents used to release or satisfy a security interest held by a legal owner, not for creating or assigning interests.
- The requirement begins no later than January 1, 2028; the department may accept these signatures earlier if it chooses.