Indiana Recording Law Amended!

Our office wrote about a change to Indiana’s recording law a few months ago. It is imperative that documents are properly recorded because properly recording a document is essential to the validity of the document being recorded. Effective July 1, 2020, there was a minor but significant change in Indiana’s recording law that began requiring both a notary signature and a common law “proof” on recorded documents. The amendment was a major departure from the long-standing flexibility of allowing either a notary or a “proof” to be used on recorded documents.

Effective February 18, 2021, HEA 1056 was signed which removes the requirement of using both a notary signature and a common law “proof.” Effective immediately, either a notary or a common law “proof” may be used on a recorded document. The legislation was fast-tracked and signed in record time to fix the unintended consequence from the July 1, 2020 change. This is a return to the long-standing flexibility that has always been present in Indiana’s recording law.