HB1042: HB1042 Real Estate Security and Title Act; enact

This bill, titled the Real Estate Security and Title Act, makes changes across three parts of Georgia law. First, it amends the rules for judicial sales (O.C.G.A. § 9-13-166) so that the holder of a foreclosed mortgage or its representative can submit a credit bid, meaning they can bid using the debt owed instead of cash, a cashier's check, or certified funds. Second, it expands Georgia's law protecting the personal information of judges and their spouses (O.C.G.A. §§ 15-5-110 and 15-5-112). It broadens who counts as a protected person, requires state and local governments to flag on public records indices when information has been restricted, and sets procedures for protected people or their authorized representatives to get restricted records released, including after a protected person's death. It also keeps an exception letting title insurers and real estate attorneys get unrestricted copies of property records. Third, it tightens the qualifications for special masters appointed in quiet title lawsuits (O.C.G.A. § 23-3-63), requiring several years of Georgia residency and land title experience.

• Allows the holder of a foreclosed mortgage or its representative to submit a credit bid at a judicial sale instead of paying cash, a cashier's check, or certified funds.
• Expands the definition of a protected person under Georgia's judicial privacy law to explicitly cover spouses of current and former judges and justices, including federal judges.
• Requires state and local government entities to note on official records indices, including real estate conveyance records, when personally identifiable information has been restricted from public view.
• Creates a formal process for a protected person, their attorney, or a third party they authorize to request access to or release of restricted personal information, including after the protected person's death.
• Sets criminal exposure for perjury under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-70 for anyone who makes a false statement in these information-restriction requests.
• Requires special masters appointed in quiet title actions to have practiced law in Georgia, lived in the state at least three years, and have at least five years of experience with land title matters.

The bill affects mortgage lenders and holders of foreclosed security instruments, buyers at judicial foreclosure sales, current and former Georgia and federal judges and their spouses, county and municipal government offices that maintain public records (such as clerks, tax assessors, and boards of elections), title insurers and real estate attorneys, and special masters appointed in quiet title lawsuits.

Lenders foreclosing on property could bid using the debt itself rather than raising cash at auction, changing how foreclosure sales work. Judges and their spouses would get broader, more clearly defined privacy protections for personal records, while government offices face new recordkeeping duties, and quiet title cases would require more experienced special masters.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Real Estate Security and Title Act.'
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 9-13-166 to let the holder of a foreclosed security instrument submit a credit bid at a judicial sale in place of cash or certified funds.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-5-110 to broaden the definitions of 'personally identifiable information' and 'protected person,' explicitly including spouses of judges and justices.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-5-112 to require government entities to flag restricted information on public records indices within 30 days, and to create written-request procedures for release of restricted information to the protected person, an authorized third party, or a legal representative after death, within 45 days.
• Section 4 also keeps an existing exception allowing title insurers, their attorneys, and their agents to obtain unrestricted copies of property records when providing title insurance, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 33-7-8.
• Section 4 subjects false statements made in these requests to perjury penalties 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 licensed Georgia attorneys, three-year state residents, and have five years of land title experience.
• Section 6 repeals any conflicting laws.

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 law
• judicial privacy
• real estate title
• quiet title actions
• public records