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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5462
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2979
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIVE
COVENANTS IN INSTRUMENTS AFFECTING TITLE TO REAL
PROPERTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 47-12b of the 2022 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2022): 3
(a) For purposes of this section, "unlawful restrictive covenant" 4
means a covenant or other provision in an instrument affecting the title 5
to real property that purports to restrict ownership or occupancy of such 6
real property on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, 7
sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, lawful source of 8
income, familial status or status as a veteran. 9
(b) Any unlawful restrictive covenant contained in any instrument 10
affecting title to real property that is recorded in the land records of any 11
municipality shall be void. If an unlawful restrictive covenant is 12
contained in any instrument affecting title to real property that also 13
contains any other covenant or provision that is not an unlawful 14 Raised Bill No. 5462
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restrictive covenant, the validity and enforceability of the remaining 15
covenants or provisions, as well as the validity of the recorded 16
instrument itself, shall not be affected by the voiding of the unlawful 17
restrictive covenant. 18
(c) Any owner of real property who identifies an unlawful restrictive 19
covenant in an instrument recorded on the land records that relates to 20
real property owned by such person may file either an affidavit 21
pursuant to section 47-12a or a form described in subsection (f) of this 22
section, with the town clerk in the municipality where the real property 23
is located, identifying the existence of such unlawful restrictive 24
covenant. Such affidavit or form shall (1) be in the form required by 25
section 47-12a; (2) identify the volume and page of the land records for 26
the instrument or instruments that contain the unlawful restrictive 27
covenant; and (3) state that the affidavit or form is being filed to carry 28
out the provisions of this section. Failure to file such affidavit or form 29
shall not otherwise affect the invalidity of the unlawful restrictive 30
covenant under this section. The town clerk shall record such affidavit 31
or form, and, to the extent practicable, notate the indices to the land 32
records accordingly to reflect the invalidity of the unlawful restrictive 33
covenant. No town clerk may assess any recording fee for the filing of 34
such affidavit or form. 35
(d) A reference in any recorded instrument affecting title to real 36
property, or in any other document, including, but not limited to, a 37
report, opinion, contract or insurance policy, to covenants, conditions, 38
restrictions or provisions contained in an instrument previously 39
recorded in the land records, shall not constitute a revival, reinstatement 40
or republication of an unlawful restrictive covenant. Any affidavit or 41
other form recorded in connection with this section is not an 42
encumbrance on the real property. 43
(e) If a person causes an affidavit or a form to be recorded under 44
subsection (c) of this section that is not in fact authorized by this section, 45
the town clerk and the municipality shall not be liable for any damages 46
resulting from the recording of the affidavit or form pursuant to this 47 Raised Bill No. 5462
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section. Any liability that may result by a recording that is not 48
authorized in fact by subsection (c) of this section shall be the sole 49
responsibility of the person who caused the affidavit or form to be 50
recorded. 51
(f) Not later than December 1, 2021, the Office of Policy and 52
Management shall develop a standardized form with respect to race for 53
the purposes of subsection (c) of this section. Not later than December 54
1, 2022, the Office of Policy and Management shall revise the 55
standardized form with respect to creed, color, national origin, ancestry, 56
sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, lawful source of 57
income, familial status or status as a veteran for the purposes of 58
subsection (c) of this section. The town clerk in each municipality shall 59
(1) make such form available on the Internet web site of the municipality 60
and in the area of the town clerk's office where land records are kept, 61
and (2) post a notice informing the public of the provisions of this 62
section in the area of the town clerk's office where land records are kept. 63
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 47-12b
Statement of Purpose:
To extend restrictive covenant prohibitions to restrictions based on
creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression,
marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status or status as
a veteran.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]