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SB 2356

AN ACT to amend and reenact section 47-19-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the contents of a legal description for a deed and a contract for deed.

69th Legislative Assembly (2025-26) Introduced by Judy Lee and 3 co-sponsors

Deeds or contracts for deed with metes-and-bounds descriptions must include the draftsman’s name and address to be recorded.

Filed with Secretary Of State 03/20
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Bill Summary · SB 2356

Summary — SB 2356 (Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly, North Dakota)

Title: An Act to amend and reenact section 47-19-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the contents of a legal description for a deed and a contract for deed.

Status / Key dates
- Introduced: March 12, 2025
- Committee action: Industry and Business Committee (committee report/adopted language)
- Legislative passage: Senate vote 47–0; House vote 89–1 (per enrolled bill)
- Enrolled, signed by presiding officers and Governor; filed with the Secretary of State: March 20, 2025 (check Secretary of State for official effective date)

Purpose / Intent

The bill requires that deeds and contracts for deed that use a metes-and-bounds legal description include the name and address of the individual who drafted that legal description. The intent is to improve traceability and clarity of legal descriptions recorded in county recorder offices, help identify the source of descriptions when title or boundary questions arise, and reduce recording of ambiguous or unverifiable descriptions.

Key provisions (amends NDCC § 47‑19‑03.1)

  1. Recorder refusal authority

    • A county recorder must not record a deed or contract for deed that contains a metes-and-bounds legal description affecting title or possession unless the instrument plainly displays the name and address of the individual who drafted the legal description.

  2. Compliance statement

    • A deed or contract for deed is compliant if it contains a substantially similar statement, for example: "The legal description was prepared by ________________ (name) ________________ (address) or obtained from a previously recorded instrument."
    • If the legal description was taken from a previously recorded instrument, recording the instrument under this section may not be rejected on the basis of section 57‑02‑39.

  3. Exceptions and nonretroactivity

    • The requirement does not apply to instruments executed before January 1, 2000, or to instruments executed or acknowledged outside North Dakota.
    • The validity or effect of existing records in a recorder’s office is not diminished because those instruments lack the required statement.

Who is affected

  • Property owners and sellers preparing deeds or contracts for deed
  • Attorneys, title companies, and settlement agents preparing or reviewing conveyance instruments
  • Land surveyors or others who draft metes-and-bounds descriptions
  • County recorders (administrative duty to refuse noncompliant records)
  • Lenders, buyers, and title insurers (may see improved traceability of descriptions)

Practical impacts / considerations

  • Positive: improves accountability and makes it easier to locate the origin of a legal description when resolving title, boundary, or survey disputes.
  • Administrative: drafters must include name and address on instruments; clerks/recorders may need to refuse noncompliant filings, which could delay recordings until corrected.
  • Nonretroactive safeguard: existing recorded instruments are not invalidated by absence of the statement; instruments dated prior to Jan 1, 2000, are exempt.

Implementation / next steps

  • Confirm the official effective date with the North Dakota Secretary of State or the published session laws (the enrolled bill was filed March 20, 2025).
  • County recorders may need to update recording procedures and intake checklists to enforce the new requirement.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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