This week the state Legislature was in session through Thursday, reaching day 10 of the 40-day schedule. And while we are only one fourth of the way through, the session is in full swing for issues of credit union interest. Each day holds a wide range of new bills introduced, and multiple hearings addressing legislation from this year as well as last year’s bills. For a full list of the bills that are being tracked, reviewed and lobbied for credit unions please click here; however, below is a sampling of some of the activity of note this week for credit unions:
Abandoned Mobile Homes: H.B. 381 by Rep. John Corbett (R-Lake Park) was a bill from 2017 that seeks to provide property owners a legal method of disposing of abandoned derelict mobile homes that are titled to someone other than the property owner, and has been monitored closely to ensure that proper notice is provided to any lienholder prior to disposal. Rep. Corbett has shared an advance copy of what changes may be in the bill for this year and is focused on ensuring that credit unions are not saddled with operational burdens in the process.
Credit Freeze Changes: S.B. 345 by Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta) was introduced this week to remove the fee credit reporting agencies are permitted to charge consumers in freezing their credit report. The environment is ripe for these types of bills given the breach at Equifax and will be monitored closely through the process for any changes that could impact the lending process.
Foreclosure Protections for Active Military: More research and dialogue has been put forth with Rep. Paulette Rakestraw (R-Powder Springs) on her bill, H.B. 676, which seeks to provide foreclosure proceedings. The measure would delay any foreclosure action during a service member’s active duty and 30 days after active duty and tracks the federal military foreclosure protections. However, there are parts of the bill that appear to open the state up to judicial foreclosure. More work continues.
Funeral Expense Payments: H.B. 689 by Rep. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville) seeks to expedite the payment of funeral expenses when an individual dies without a will. Presently there is a 90-day waiting period in which the funds must be held before payment, this would abolish the waiting period. This bill is being analyzed for any potential impact to credit union operations.
Garnishments: S.B. 194 by Sen. Jesse Stone (R-Waynesboro) passed the full Senate on January 23rd. This bill seeks to make technical adjustments to the garnishment law that passed in 2016 and was carried over from last year as it did not make it through the entire process in 2017. It now travels to the House, and GCUA is in dialogue with the groups pursuing this bill to ensure that it does not become a magnet for any changes that could impact credit union operations.
Ignition Interlock Devices: S.B. 341 by Sen. Lee Anderson (R-Grovetown) was introduced this week to regulate what must be included with ignition interlock devices. While it is applicable to devices installed for DUI probations, it will be monitored to ensure that it does not inadvertently wrap in second-chance auto lending programs.
Regulations: S.B. 338 by Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick) seeks to implement changes to how the state Legislature can put a halt to proposed regulations to any state agency, and how new rules and regulations are proposed. This will be monitored closely to ensure that credit unions, and any regulatory changes sought by credit unions, are not disparately impacted in this process.
TAVT: H.B. 327 by Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla) is a bill from last year that sought to make several changes to the TAVT process for autos, including addressing the “welcome to Georgia” tax people see when they move to the state upon transferring vehicles, among other changes. Of note is that it would place used cars at the same tax calculation as new cars (the higher of book or retail price), and would not apply to casual sales. And, this has been a bill of much debate by new and used auto dealers – it was re-addressed in a House Ways and Means committee hearing on January 24th. It is watched closely to protect credit union auto lending operations, and this debate, which lasted all of last session, will likely consume much time in 2018.
Tax Liens: the full House selected H.B. 661 by Rep. Bruce Williamson (R-Monroe) for debate next week; this is the legislative reaction to the special hearing on November 27th that “stayed” the Department of Revenue’s (DOR) proposed rules as they apply to creating an electronic database for tax liens. However, the proposed rules went much farther (applied a new step that would require a certificate of clearance on all deed transactions. H.B. 661 is to change the law to prevent the previous DOR rules from being proposed again later and to eliminate the need for a certificate of clearance.
Trash Liens: H.B. 693 by Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville), which is another attempt by Rep. Harrell to prevent trash bills from being utilized by cities and counties to foreclose or place a lien on real property. Any bill that touches foreclosures, liens and real property requires active monitoring as any changes can and do happen during the legislative session.
