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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legis lature (2022)
HOUSE BILL 2977 By: Olsen
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to property; enacting the Oklahoma
Road Maintenance Duty Disclosure and Release Act;
defining terms; requiring seller of real property to
deliver disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement to purchaser in certain circumstances;
specifying content of disclosure of duty to maintain
roads statement; specifying time period for
completing disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement; requiring disclosure of duty to maintain
roads statement be delivered and a release of
liability form to be completed prior to acceptance of
offer; requiring Oklahoma Real Estate Commission to
develop and amend forms and make forms available to
certain persons; requiring certain written
acknowledgment and release to accept offer to
purchase; providing immunity from liability for
stated duty of road maintenance and inaccurate
information under certain condi tions; allowing
certain information to s atisfy requirements of
disclosure; limiting recovery in civil action to
certain events; limiting remedy; stating statute of
limitation; providing for certain c osts and fees;
limiting effect of noncompliance; stating application
of act and exempting certain transfers; construing
act; stating standard for disclosures and
acknowledgments; providing for codification; a nd
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1110 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Road
Maintenance Duty Disclosure and Release Act".
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1111 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act:
1. "Contract" means a real estate purchase contract for the
sale, conveyance or exchange of property, option to purchase
property, or a lease with an option to pur chase property;
2. "Disclosure" means a written declaration , based on actual
knowledge of the seller , regarding a duty held by the property owner
to maintain roads. A disclosure for purposes of this act is not a
warranty, implied or express ed, of any kind;
3. "Disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement" means the
statement described in subsection A of Section 3 of this act;
4. "Offer to purchase" means an offer to purchase real property
made by a purchaser pursuant to a written contract;
5. "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability
company, partnership, association, trust or other legal entity or
any combination thereof;
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6. "Property" means any type of real property, whether it is
agricultural, commercial or residential;
7. "Purchaser" means one or more persons who are attempting to
acquire a possessory interest in real property;
8. "Real estate licensee" means a person licensed under the
Oklahoma Real Estate License Code;
9. "Release of liability form" means the form described in
subsection B of Section 3 of this act ;
10. "Seller" means one or more pe rsons who are attempting to
transfer a possessory interest in real property and who may or may
not be represented by a real estate licensee ; and
11. "Transfer" means a sale, conveyance, exchange or option to
purchase a possessory interest in real property by written
instrument in exchange for consideration.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1112 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication i n numbering, reads as follows:
A. A seller of property located in thi s state shall deliver, or
cause to be delivered, to the purchaser of such property a
disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement if, and only if, the
property being sold borders public roads that are not maintained by
a municipality, county, county comm issioner, or the state but is
instead the duty of the property owner to maintain. A disclosure of
duty to maintain roads statement shall be in writing and shall giv e
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the street name as well as a description of the location and
boundaries of the portion of the roads that the property owner must
maintain.
The disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement required by
this section must be completed, signed and dated by the sell er. The
date of completion on the disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement may not be more than one hundred eighty (180) days prior
to the date of receipt of the disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement by the purchaser.
B. After receiving a disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement, a purchaser may, if they wish to co ntinue with the
purchase of the real property, complete a release of li ability form
by signing, dating and returning the form to the seller. By
completing and returning a release of liability form, the purchaser
acknowledges and accepts the duty of maintaining the roads for the
property as disclosed by the disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement, waiving any rights to hold the seller liable for any road
maintenance or repair.
C. The Oklahoma Real Estate Commission shall develop by rule
the forms for the disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement and
release of liability form . After development of the initial forms,
the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission may amend the forms as is
necessary and appropriate.
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Such forms shall be made available upon re quest irrespective of
whether the person requesting a disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement or release of liability form is represented by a real
estate licensee.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1113 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. A seller, when required by this act, should deliver the
disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement and a release of
liability form to the purchaser as soon as practicable, but in any
event it shall be delivered before acceptance of an offer to
purchase.
B. If the disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement is
delivered to the purchaser aft er an offer to purchase has been made,
the offer to purchase shall be accepted only after the purchaser has
acknowledged receipt of the disclosure of duty to maintain roads
statement and confirmed the offer to purchase by returning to the
seller the release of liability form.
C. The purchaser shall acknowledge in writing receipt of the
disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement and any amendments to
the disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement . The purchaser
shall sign and date any acknowledgmen t and subsequent release of
liability form. Such acknowledgment and release of liability form
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should accompany the o ffer to purchase the property and shall be
promptly delivered to the seller.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statute s as Section 1114 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The seller shall not be liable for needed road maintenance
if the existence of the duty to maintain the roads was disclosed in
the disclosure of duty t o maintain roads statement delivered to the
purchaser before acceptance of the offer to purchase.
B. The seller shall not be liable for any erroneous, inaccurate
or omitted information supplied t o the purchaser in the disclosure
of duty to maintain roads statement, as required by this act , if:
1. The error, inaccuracy or omission results from an
approximation of information by the seller, provided:
a. accurate information was unknown to the seller at the
time the disclosure was made,
b. the approximation was clearly identified as such and
was reasonable and based on the best information
available to the seller, and
c. the approximation was not used to circumvent the
disclosure requirements of this a ct;
2. The error, inaccuracy or omission was not within t he actual
knowledge of the seller; or
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3. The disclosure was based on information provided by public
agencies and the seller reasonably believed the information to be
correct.
C. The delivery by a public agency of information concerning
the duty of road maintenance as required to be disclosed by the
seller of the property shall satisfy the requirements of this act .
SECTION 6. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1115 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The purchaser may recover in a civil action only in the
event of the seller failing to provide the purchaser with a
disclosure of duty to maintain roads statement prior to acceptance
of an offer to purchase, if, and only if, the seller was required to
do so by this act and the duty to maintain the roads was actually
known to the seller prior to the acce ptance of an offer to purchase .
B. The sole and excl usive civil remedy at common law or
otherwise for a failure under subsection A of this section by the
seller or the real estate licensee shall be actual damages,
including the cost of repairing or maintaining the roads, suffered
by the purchaser as a resul t of needed road maintenance existing as
of the date of acceptance by the seller of an offer to purchase and
shall not include the remedy of exemplary damages.
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C. Any action brought under this act shall be commenced within
two (2) years after the date of transfer of real property subject to
this act.
D. In any civil action brought under this act, the prevailing
party shall be allowed court costs and a reasonable attorney fee to
be set by the court and to be collected as costs.
E. A transfer of a possesso ry interest in property subject to
this act may not be invalidated solely because of the failure of any
person to comply with this act.
F. This act applies to, regulates and determines rights,
duties, obligations and remedies at common law or otherwise of the
seller, the real estate licensee and the purchaser with respect to
disclosure of duty of road maintenance and supplants and abrogates
all common law liability, rights, duties, obligations and remedies
therefor.
SECTION 7. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1116 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act does not apply to:
1. Transfers pursuant to court order, including, but not
limited to, transfers pursuant to a writ of execution, transfers by
eminent domain and transfers pursuant to an order for partition;
2. Transfers to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in
interest who is in default, transfers by any foreclosure sale after
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default in an obligation secured by a mortgage, transfers by a
mortgagee's sale under a power of sale after default in an
obligation secured by any instrument containing a power of sale, or
transfers by a mortgagee who has acquired the real property at a
sale conducted pursuant to a power of sale or a sale pursuant to a
decree of foreclosure or has acquired the real property by deed in
lieu of foreclosure;
3. Transfers by a fiduciary who is not an owner occupant of the
subject property in the course of the a dministration of a decedent's
estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust;
4. Transfers from one co -owner to one or more other co -owners;
5. Transfers made to a spouse, or to the person or persons in
the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more of the owners;
6. Transfers between spouses resulting from a decree of
dissolution of marriage or a decree of legal separation or from a
property settlement agreement incidental to such a decree;
7. Transfers made pursuant to mergers and from a subsidiary t o
a parent or the reverse; or
8. Transfers or exchanges to or from any governmental entity.
SECTION 8. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1117 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
Disclosures required under this act need not be sworn to,
verified or acknowledged.
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SECTION 9. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY - CIVIL, dated
03/01/2022 - DO PASS.