HB 1042: Real Estate Security and Title Act; enact

This bill, called the Real Estate Security and Title Act, changes three parts of Georgia law. First, it lets the holder of a foreclosed security instrument (typically a lender) submit a credit bid instead of cash or a cashier's check at a judicial sale, and it adds certified funds and credit union insurance as acceptable payment forms. Second, it expands the existing law shielding judges' and justices' personal information (home address, parcel number, and phone number) from public records so it clearly covers their spouses, and adds new procedures: government entities must flag restricted records, protected people can request access to their own restricted records or authorize a third party to see them, and restrictions can be lifted after the protected person's death. It also creates an exception letting title insurers and their attorneys get unrestricted copies for title insurance purposes. Third, it adds new residency, citizenship, and experience requirements for special masters appointed in quiet title lawsuits.

• Allows the holder of a foreclosed security instrument, or its representative, to submit a credit bid at a judicial sale instead of cash or a cashier's check.
• Adds certified funds and National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund coverage to the list of acceptable payment forms for judicial sale purchases.
• Expands the definition of 'protected person' under Georgia's judicial privacy law (O.C.G.A. § 15-5-110) to explicitly include spouses of current and former judges and justices.
• Requires government entities to mark official record indices, including real estate conveyance records, when personally identifiable information has been restricted.
• Creates procedures letting a protected person access their own restricted records, authorize a third party to view them, or lift the restriction, and allows removal of the restriction after the protected person's death.
• Adds a carve out letting title insurers, their attorneys, and their agents obtain unrestricted copies of records for title insurance purposes, and sets new residency, citizenship, and experience requirements for special masters in quiet title cases.

Purchasers and lenders involved in judicial foreclosure sales, current and former judges and justices and their spouses whose personal information appears in public records, county and state government offices that maintain those records, title insurance companies and their attorneys, and attorneys or judicial circuit residents seeking appointment as special masters in quiet title lawsuits.

Lenders foreclosing on property would gain a faster, cash-free bidding option at judicial sales. Judges' spouses would get clearer legal protection for their home addresses and phone numbers in public records, while title insurers would retain a path to the property records they need, and courts would have stricter standards for who can serve as a special master in disputed land title cases.

• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 9-13-166 to let purchasers use certified funds or a credit bid, and adds credit union deposit insurance as an accepted form of payment guarantee.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-5-110's definition of 'personally identifiable information' to cover home address, parcel number, and phone number, and redefines 'protected person' to include spouses.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-5-112 to require flagging of restricted records on official indices within 30 days, and adds new subsections (e) through (j) letting protected persons or authorized third parties access restricted records, letting restrictions be lifted by request or after death, and exempting title insurers and their attorneys from the restriction when providing title insurance.
• Section 4 also makes false attestations under this Code section punishable as perjury under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-70.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 23-3-63 to require special masters in quiet title actions to be United States citizens residing in the judicial circuit, Georgia citizens for at least three years, and to have at least five years of experience litigating or opining on Georgia land titles.

1. 2026-02-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-19House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2026-02-10House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)
5. 2026-01-28House First Readers (House)
6. 2026-01-27House Hopper (House)

• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)Primary sponsor
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)
• Stacey Evans (D, HD-057)
• Omari Crawford (D, HD-089)
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)

• foreclosure sales
• judicial privacy
• real estate title insurance
• public records
• quiet title actions