GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
SESSION LAW 2009-174
HOUSE BILL 615
AN ACT to amend the law governing business trusts.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 39-44 reads as rewritten:
"§ 39-44. Definition.
The term "business trust" whenever used or referred
to in this Article shall mean any unincorporated association, including but
not limited toan Illinois land trust, a Delaware statutory trust, or
a Massachusetts business trust, engaged in any business or trade under a
written instrument or declaration of trust under which the beneficial interest
therein is divided into shares represented by certificates or shares of
beneficial interest."
SECTION 2. G.S. 39-46 reads as rewritten:
"§ 39-46. Title vested; conveyance; probate.
(a) Where
real estate has been or may be hereafter conveyed to a business trust in its
trust name or in the names of its trustees in their capacity as trustees of
such business trust, the said title shall vest in said business trust, and the
said real estate and interests therein may be conveyed, encumbered or otherwise
disposed of by said business trust in its trust name by an instrument signed by
at least one of its trustees, its president, a vice-president or other duly
authorized officer, and attested or countersigned by its secretary,
assistant secretary or such other officer as is the custodian of its common
seal, not acting in dual capacity, with its official seal affixed, the said
conveyance to be proven and probated in the same manner as provided by law for
conveyances by corporations. Any conveyance, encumbrance or other disposition
thus made by any such business trust shall convey good and sufficient title to
said real estate and interests therein in accordance with the provisions of
said conveyance; provided, however, that with respect to any such conveyance,
encumbrance or other disposition effected after June 28, 1977, there must be
recorded in the county where the land lies a memorandum of the written instrument
or declaration of trust referred to in G.S. 39-44. As a minimum such
memorandum shall set forth the name, date and place of filing, if any, of such
written instrument or declaration of trust, and the place where the written
instrument or declaration of trust, and all amendments thereto, is kept and may
be examined upon reasonable notice, which place need not be a public office. Such
memorandum may include designation of trustees and duly authorized officers and
the authority granted to them with regard to real estate matters, pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Any business trust may convey or encumber an interest in real property that is transferable by either (i) an instrument duly executed by either an officer of the business trust other than one of its trustees, its president, a vice president, or other authorized agent identified in the recorded memorandum, or (ii) a declaration of trust described in subsection (a) of this section, if the conveyance has attached to it a signed resolution adopted by the board of trustees, as certified by an officer authorized to make such certifications of the business trust, authorizing the officer to execute, sign, seal, and deliver deeds, conveyances, or other instruments. This section is deemed to have been complied with if a resolution required by this subsection is recorded separately in the office of the register of deeds in the county where the land lies. Such a resolution shall be applicable to all instruments executed subsequently to the recording of the resolution and pursuant to its authority.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this section does not require a signed resolution adopted by the board of directors, as certified by an officer authorized to make such certifications, to be attached to an instrument or separately recorded in the case of an instrument duly executed by one of its trustees, its president, or a vice president of the business trust. All deeds, conveyances, or other instruments so executed shall, if otherwise sufficient, be valid and shall have the effect to pass the title to the real or personal property described in the instrument. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the trust agreement, and absent any provision otherwise in the recorded memorandum or declaration of trust required under subsection (a) of this section, when it appears on the face of an instrument registered in the office of the register of deeds that the instrument was signed in the ordinary course of business on behalf of a business trust by at least one of its trustees, its president, a vice president, or an assistant vice president, such an instrument shall be as valid with respect to the rights of innocent third parties for value without notice of a defect or breach of fiduciary duty as if executed pursuant to authorization from the board of trustees, unless the instrument reveals on its face a breach of fiduciary obligation. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to parties who had actual knowledge of lack of authority or of a breach of fiduciary obligation.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to exclude the power of any representatives of a business trust to bind the business trust pursuant to express, implied, inherent, or apparent authority, ratification, estoppel, or otherwise.
(d) Nothing in this section shall relieve trustees or officers of a business trust from liability to the business trust or from any other liability that they may have incurred from any violation of their actual authority."
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective October 1, 2009, and applies to all instruments recorded on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of June, 2009.
s/ Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Joe Hackney
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
Governor
Approved 11:29 a.m. this 26th day of June, 2009