Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to revise the definition of “bail bond,” to define “charitable bail organization,” and to provide for a bail bond or cash deposit posted by a charitable bail organization.

Amends existing law to require that certain vehicle loads be covered and to remove exceptions.

Amends existing law to increase fees for snowmobile use, to allocate such funds, and to establish a state snowmobile avalanche fund.

Amends existing law to provide that local jurisdictions shall not have authority to regulate off-highway vehicle traffic on sections of highway under their jurisdiction.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding an action to foreclose mortgage on real property and to provide that a lien of the mortgage shall be deemed automatically released in certain instances.

The purpose of this proposed legislation is to clarify the conditions under which the five (5) year statute of limitations period on mortgage foreclosures commences—particularly when the due date of mortgage-secured debts have been accelerated by the lender. Current law provides that an action for judicial foreclosure of a mortgage must be commenced within five (5) years from the “Maturity Date” of the obligation secured by a mortgage. If an explicit “Maturity Date” is not stated in the obligation, the legislation deems the date the lender accrues the right to foreclosure the date on which the statute of limitations commences. In instances where an obligation includes a “Maturity Date”, but also grants the lender a contractual right to accelerate the debt upon borrower default—the effective “Maturity Date” becomes unclear. The legislation's ambiguous use of the term “maturity date” has confused lenders, borrowers and the Courts—costing involved parties and Idaho's taxpayers valuable time and resources litigating. The proposed language clarifies that the statute of limitations period commences on the "Due Date", which is defined as the date the entire financial obligation becomes due in full. As clearly stated in the legislative history, this rule is regardless of whether there is a stated "Maturity Date" in the mortgage documents. This proposed amended IC 5-214A language respects lenders' right to accelerate debts in response to borrower default and protects borrowers from negligent lenders who may attempt to pursue foreclosure after the statute of limitations period has run out.

Adds to existing law to provide that an employer may not penalize an employee for using earned or accrued sick leave.

Amends existing law to provide for interstate telehealth access.

Adds to existing law to provide for digital assets as property and to provide for the application of the Uniform Commercial Code to digital assets.

The purpose of this legislation is to establish the legal nature of digital assets under the Uniform Commercial Code, classify digital assets as personal property, specify a method for perfection of security interests in digital assets, authorize banks to voluntarily provide custodial services for digital assets, and permit the opening of blockchain tokens by individuals and businesses so they can use digital tokens for consumptive purposes.