---
title: HB 1042. Real Estate Security and Title Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1042
cite_as: HB 1042, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1042
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1042.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1042/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72372
date: 2026-02-20
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 319
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1042.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1042
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-27
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
  - Matt Reeves
  - Stan Gunter
  - Tyler Smith
  - Stacey Evans
  - Omari Crawford
  - Trey Kelley
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1042/2025
upstream_id: 2095190
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - foreclosure sales
  - judicial privacy
  - real estate title insurance
  - public records
  - quiet title actions
---

# HB 1042. Real Estate Security and Title Act; enact

## Text

The House Committee on Judiciary offers the following substitute to HB 1042:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Titles 9, 15, and 23 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to civil
practice, courts, and equity, respectively, so as to revise provisions for judicial sales relative
to acceptable tenders by purchasers and to permit certain purchasers to submit credit bids;
to provide for the protection of personally identifiable data of judges and spouses; to require
state and local governments to indicate on official records indices that personally identifiable
information has been restricted; to provide for the release of restricted information to the
protected person upon written request; to provide that a protected person may authorize the
release of restricted information to a third-party individual or entity; to provide for the
removal of the restriction on personally identifiable information after the death of a protected
person; to provide penalties; to provide for construction; to provide for the qualification of
special masters in certain quiet title actions; to provide for definitions; to provide a short title;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Real Estate Security and Title Act."
SECTION 2.
Title 9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to civil practice, is amended in
Part 2 of Article 7 of Chapter 13, relating to conduct and effect relative to judicial sales, by
revising Code Section 9-123-166, relating to form of tender, as follows:
"9-13-166.
Purchasers at judicial sales need not tender cash but, as an alternative, may tender a
cashier's <del>or certified</del> check <ins>or certified funds</ins> which is drawn for the amount of the purchase
price and which is issued by or certified by any financial institution insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, <ins>the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund,</ins> or the
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation; <ins>provided, however, that the holder of the
security instrument being foreclosed or its designated representative shall be authorized to
submit a credit bid for the purchase price in lieu of cash, a cashier's check, or certified
funds."
</ins> SECTION 3.
Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, is amended in Article
8 of Chapter 5, relating to protection of personally identifiable data of judges and spouses,
by revising Code Section 15-5-110, relating to definitions, as follows:
"15-5-110.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) 'Personally identifiable information' means <del>any personal phone number,</del> <ins>each</ins> home
address, <del>or property or tax records</del> <ins>the parcel number of each such address, and each
personal telephone number</ins> of a protected person.
(2) 'Protected person' means any <del>current or former:
</del> (A) <ins>Current or former judge</ins> <del>Judge</del> or justice of this state <del>and his or her spouse;
</del> (B) <ins>Current or former judge</ins> <del>Judge</del> of any county or municipality of this state <del>and his
or her spouse; and
</del>
(C) <ins>Current or former judge</ins> <del>Judge</del> or justice of the United States <del>and his or her spouse;
</del> <ins>and
(D) Spouse of any person who qualifies as a protected person under subparagraphs (A),
(B), or (C) of this paragraph.
</ins> (3) 'Publicly available content' means any written or electronic document or record that
provides information or that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or in
the possession of a state or local government entity that may be obtained by any person
from the state or local government entity's <del>public</del> website or from such state or local
government agency upon request whether free of charge or for a fee.
(4) 'State or local government entity' means any:
(A) Agency of the executive branch of this state; or
(B) Any county or municipality of this state, including, but not limited to, any county
or municipal court clerk's office, board of elections, board of tax assessors, or board of
ethics."
SECTION 4.
Said title is further amended by revising Code Section 15-5-112, relating to restriction of
judicial personally identifiable information from public disclosure and enforcement, as
follows:
"15-5-112.
(a) <ins>As used in this Code section, the term 'restrict from public disclosure' means to conceal
from a copy of an original public record or to conceal from an electronic image that is
available for public viewing the personally identifiable information of a protected person
contained within such record.
(b)</ins> Notwithstanding any provision of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 to the contrary,
a state or local government entity shall restrict from public disclosure any personally
identifiable information that specifically identifies a protected person as a judge, justice,
or spouse thereof. The provisions of this subsection shall include, but shall not be limited
to, records or filings in the office of the Secretary of State and the State Ethics
Commission.
<del>(b)(c)</del> Notwithstanding any provision of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 to the contrary,
a state or local government entity that possesses records, filings, or other publicly available
content that does not specifically identify a person as a judge, justice, or spouse thereof but
that includes personally identifiable information of such a protected person shall, upon
request of the protected person, restrict from public disclosure any personally identifiable
information. A protected person may request that his or her personally identifiable
information be restricted from public disclosure pursuant to this subsection by submitting
a request in writing to the state or local government entity on the form provided for in Code
Section 15-5-111. A state or local government entity receiving such request shall restrict
from public disclosure the personally identifiable information within 30 days of receiving
a valid request <ins>and shall reflect on any official records index entries affected under this
Code section, including, but not limited to, any indices related to the recordation of any
instrument or document regarding the conveyance of real property, that personally
identifiable information contained within the record has been restricted from public
disclosure pursuant to this Code section.
(c)(d)</ins> Any protected person may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction
against any officer or employee of the state or local government entity in his or her
individual capacity for failure to comply with subsection <del>(a) or</del> (b) <ins>or (c)</ins> of this Code
section. Any relief granted by such action shall be limited to injunctive relief.
<ins>(e) Any protected person may request access to information restricted from public
disclosure within publicly available content that is maintained by a state or local
government entity by submitting to such entity a signed authorization form developed by
the Administrative Office of the Courts. Upon receipt of such signed authorization form,
</ins>
<ins>the state or local government entity shall provide the authorized protected person access
to an unrestricted copy of the documents listed in such signed authorization form.
(f) Any protected person may authorize a third-party individual or entity to access
information restricted from public disclosure within publicly available content that is
maintained by a state or local government entity by submitting to such entity a signed
authorization form developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Upon receipt of
such signed authorization form, the state or local government entity shall provide the
authorized third-party individual or entity access to an unrestricted copy of the documents
listed in such signed authorization form.
(g) A protected person, or his or her attorney in fact or legal representative acting on
behalf of such protected person, may submit a written request to release the restriction on
publication of such protected person's personally identifiable information. Within 45 days
of receipt of a request under this subsection to release the restriction on such publication,
the state or local government entity shall remove such restriction.
(h) Upon proof of death of a protected person, as verified by a certified copy of a death
certificate, the attorney in fact or legal representative of the deceased protected person may
request a state or local government entity to release the restriction on publication of such
protected person's personally identifiable information unless such release is otherwise
prohibited by statute or court order. Such written request to release the restriction on such
publication shall include a certified copy of the protected person's death certificate.
(i) Any person making a false attestation under this Code section is subject to the penalty
of perjury under Code Section 16-10-70.
(j) The provisions of this article shall not prohibit any county clerk, register of deeds, tax
assessor, treasurer, or any other state or local government office or agency from providing
unrestricted copies of recorded instruments affecting title to real property or property tax
records that contain protected personally identifiable information to:
(1) A title insurer or title insurance agent;
</ins>
<ins>(2) A licensed attorney representing such title insurer or title insurance agent; or
(3) An agent of such a licensed attorney,
in furtherance of providing title insurance, as defined in Code Section 33-7-8, provided that
such insurer, agent, attorney, or attorney's agent makes an affirmative representation that
they are seeking such information in furtherance of providing title insurance."
</ins> SECTION 5.
Title 23 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to equity, is amended in Part 2
of Article 3 of Chapter 3, relating to quia timet against all the world, by revising Code
Section 23-3-63, relating to submission to special master, as follows:
"23-3-63.
The court, upon receipt of the petition together with the plat and instruments filed
therewith, shall submit the same to a special master who shall:
<ins>(1) Be an individual</ins> <del>be a person</del> who is authorized to practice law in this state <del>and;
</del> <ins>(2) Be</ins> <del>is</del> a resident of the judicial circuit <ins>of the United States</ins> wherein the action is
brought;
<ins>(3) Be a citizen of this state for not less than three years; and
(4) Have not less than five years of experience litigating or providing opinions on title
to land in this state."
</ins> SECTION 6.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

House Bill 1042 would let foreclosure lenders submit credit bids at judicial sales, expand privacy protections for judges' spouses on public records, and tighten qualifications for special masters in quiet title cases in Georgia.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-27)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-02-20)
- Sponsors: Matt Reeves, Stan Gunter, Tyler Smith, Stacey Evans, Omari Crawford, Trey Kelley
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72372

> The history, votes, and amendments (319 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1042.md?full=1