HB 2171 (2025)
An Act relating to unlawful land restriction; creating the Oklahoma Uniform Unlawful Restrictions in Land Records Act; defining terms; providing that a property owner may record an amendment to remove an unlawful restriction; providing requirements for an owner to file an amendment; providing for an owners association to record an amendment to remove an unlawful restriction; providing requirements for an owners association to file an amendment; providing requirements and limitations of an amendment to remove an unlawful restriction; providing form for an amendment to remove an unlawful restriction; providing duties and liability of county clerk for recording an amendment to remove an unlawful restriction; providing relation to the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 401 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Uniform Unlawful Restrictions in Land Records Act".
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 402 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: As used in this act: 1. "Amendment" means a document that removes an unlawful restriction; 2. "Document" means a record recorded or eligible to be recorded in land records; 3. "Governing instrument" means a document recorded in land records that: a. establishes a governing body responsible for management of common areas or facilities used by more than one owner of a property interest affected by the document, and b. requires contribution, enforceable by a lien on a separate property interest, of a share of taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, or improvement of, or services or other expenses for the common benefit of, the real property described in the document; 4. "Index" means a system that enables a search for a document in land records; 5. "Land records" means documents and indexes maintained by a recorder; 6. "Owner" means a person that has a fee interest in real property; 7. "Person" means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity; 8. "Record", used as a noun, means information: a. inscribed on a tangible medium, or b. stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form;9. "Recorder" means an officer authorized under other laws of this state to accept a document for recordation in land records; 10. "Remove" means eliminate any apparent or purportedly continuing effect on title to real property; and 11. "Unlawful restriction" means a prohibition, restriction, covenant, or condition in a document that purports to interfere with or restrict the transfer, use, or occupancy of real property: a. on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability, or other personal characteristics, and b. in violation of other laws of this state or federal law.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 403 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: Except with respect to property to which Section 4 of this act applies, an owner of real property subject to an unlawful restriction may submit to the recorder for recordation in the land records an amendment to remove the unlawful restriction, but only as to the owner's property.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 404 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. The governing body of an owners association identified in a governing instrument may, without a vote of the members of the association, amend the governing instrument to remove an unlawful restriction. B. A member of an owners association may request, in a record that sufficiently identifies an unlawful restriction in the governing instrument, that the governing body exercise its authority under subsection A of this section. Not later than ninety (90) days after the governing body receives the request, the governing body shall determine reasonably and in good faith whether the governing instrument includes the unlawful restriction. If the governing body determines the governing instrument includes the unlawful restriction, the governing body, not later than ninety (90) days after the determination, shall amend the governing instrument to remove the unlawful restriction. C. Notwithstanding any provision of the governing instrument or other laws of this state, the governing body may execute an amendment under this section. D. An amendment under this section is effective notwithstanding any provision of the governing instrument or other law of this state that requires a vote of the members of the owners association to amend the governing instrument.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 405 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. An amendment under this act must identify the owner, the real property affected, and the document containing the unlawful restriction. The amendment must include a conspicuous statement in substantially the following form: "This amendment removes from this deed or other document affecting title to real property an unlawful restriction as defined under the Oklahoma Uniform Unlawful Restrictions in Land Records Act. This amendment does not affect the validity or enforceability of a restriction that is not an unlawful restriction." B. The amendment must be executed and acknowledged in the manner required for recordation of a document in the land records. The amendment must be recorded with the county clerk in the county in which the document containing the unlawful restriction is recorded. C. The amendment does not affect the validity or enforceability of any restriction that is not an unlawful restriction. D. The amendment or a future conveyance of the affected real property is not a republication of a restriction that otherwise would expire by passage of time under other law of this state.
SECTION 6. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 406 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: The following (included) form may be used by an owner to make an amendment under Section 3 of this act
SECTION 7. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 407 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. A county clerk shall record an amendment submitted under this act, add the amendment to the index, and cross-reference the amendment to the document containing the unlawful restriction. B. A county clerk is not liable for recording an amendment under this act.
SECTION 8. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 408 of Title 16, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: This act modifies, limits, or supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C., Section 7001 et seq., as amended, but does not modify, limit, or supersede 15 U.S.C., Section 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in 15 U.S.C., Section 7003(b).
SECTION 9. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
SB 1617 (2024)
Section 42-106.1. A. Any restrictive covenant on property contained in a residential addition may be amended if: 1. The restrictive covenant has been in existence for at least ten (10) years and the amendment is approved by the owners of at least seventy percent (70%) of the parcels contained in the addition or the amount specified in the restrictive covenant, whichever is less; or 2. The restrictive covenant has been in existence for at least fifteen (15) years and the amendment is approved by the owners of at least sixty percent (60%) of the parcels contained in the addition or the amount specified in the restrictive covenant, whichever is less.
B. Where a preliminary plat has been filed for a residential addition, the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection A of this section shall include all the parcels contained in the preliminary plat.
C. In the absence of a provision providing for the amendment of the restrictive covenants of a residential addition the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection A of this section shall apply. A thirty-day notice of any meeting called to amend the restrictive covenants shall be provided to the owners of every parcel contained in the addition. Each parcel shall be entitled to one vote.
D. The recorded restrictive covenants on property contained in a residential addition may be amended by the addition of a new covenant creating a neighborhood association for the addition that would require the mandatory participation of the successors-ininterest of all record owners of parcels within the addition at the time the amendment is recorded. The amendment must be approved by the record owners of at least sixty percent (60%) of the parcels contained in the addition and shall be subject to the following:
1. The amendment shall provide that participation in the neighborhood association created by the amendment shall not be mandatory for persons who are record owners of parcels within the residential addition at the time the amendment is filed of record, but such participation shall be mandatory for all successors-ininterest of the record owners;
2. The amendment must provide that the concurring vote of not less than sixty percent (60%) of the record owners of parcels contained in the addition shall be necessary for the establishment or change of dues for the neighborhood association; and
3. Following approval, the amendment shall be filed of record in the office of the county clerk of the county wherein the residential addition is located against all parcels within the addition. The term amendment may apply to an existing covenant or to a new subject not addressed in existing covenants. A thirty-day written notice of any meeting called to approve any such amendment shall be provided to the owners of every parcel contained in the residential addition. The notice of such meeting shall be published in a newspaper in the county at least fourteen (14) days before the meeting. The notice shall also be given by publication in the neighborhood newsletter. Each parcel within the addition shall be entitled to one vote. Any amendment approved and recorded pursuant to this subsection may thereafter be revoked by approval of sixty percent (60%) of the record owners of parcels within the addition.
E. A municipality may amend an existing plat which was previously filed with the office of the county clerk of the county where the addition is located to remove an illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant pursuant to the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C., Section 3601 et seq. The amendment shall be filed on record in the office of the county clerk of the county where the addition is located against all parcels within the addition after:
1. The municipality provides thirty (30) days’ written notice to all property owners of all parcels within the addition of the proposed amendment to remove an illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant, the notice including the time, date, and place of the planning commission meeting where the amendment will be considered; and
2. The governing body of the municipality approves the amended plat. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring the approval of the amended plat by the property owners of all parcels within the addition.
F. An illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant contained on a plat is not enforceable in this state, and all illegal discriminatory restrictive covenants contained in plats recorded in this state are unlawful, unenforceable, and declared null and void. Any illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant contained in an existing plat is extinguished and severed from the plat, with the remainder of such plat remaining enforceable and effective.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.