Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding self-service storage facilities.

This bill updates and amends Idaho Code § 55–2301 and makes technical corrections amending Section 55–2306 regarding enforcement of a lien in amending Section 55-2308 regarding Lessees in default and removal of vehicles or trailers.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding abandoned property.

This legislation revises the unclaimed property code to provide clarity on the renewal period, pre-escheat notice, and transitional period for property presumed to be abandoned. It adds no new authority for the governing agency.

Repeals and adds to existing law to revise a provision regarding conveyances or encumbrances of homesteads by married couples.

This legislation amends I.C. Sec. 55-1007 to allow a married person to sell or encumber property they own individually as their sole and separate property without requiring their spouse to consent to the sale or encumbrance. The current version of I.C. Sec. 55-1007 states that the homestead of a married person cannot be conveyed or encumbered unless the instrument of conveyance or encumbrance is executed by both spouses. The statute, as currently written, requires that both spouses sign regardless of whether the property is the homestead of only one spouse and regardless of whether the property is owned solely by one spouse. The current statute is at odds with the definition of homestead contained in I.C. Sec. 55-1001(2) which states that “homestead” is the house in which the owner resides. Pursuant to the definition of homestead, a person cannot claim a homestead interest in a property they do not own. If a non-owner spouse cannot claim a homestead interest in a home, since they are not the owner, it should not be necessary for them to execute a deed or encumbrance for that property to be sold or encumbered. The purpose of this amendment is to align the requirements in I.C. 55-1007 with Idaho’s homestead and community property laws as well as to align it with the expectations of the citizens of Idaho.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding homestead property.

Idaho has a set of exemptions, consisting of a series of different statutes, which protect equity in certain pieces of property. These exemptions apply when (1) judgment creditors seek to satisfy their judgments from a judgment debtor’s assets, and (2) in bankruptcy cases which are filed in the District of Idaho because Idaho has opted out of the federal exemptions. Every exemption in Idaho can be claimed by an unmarried debtor. However, the same is not true for married debtors. Currently, Idaho’s existing homestead statute requires married debtors to share a homestead exemption, whereas unmarried debtors can claim the entirety of their homestead exemption. This proposed bill eliminates the marriage penalty contained in I.C. 55-1002 for married debtors by eliminating the language requiring married debtors to share the homestead exemption and replacing it with language that explicitly states that the homestead exemption may be separately claimed by each married spouse. This bill also proposes a modification to I.C. 55-1008 to specifically state that the reinvestment requirement contained within the statute does apply in bankruptcy cases. This explicit language is necessary in light of the 9th Circuit’s holding McCallister v. Wells which held that under current 9th Circuit precedent, when a homestead statute contains a reinvestment requirement, that requirement applies to sales of real estate in a bankruptcy case after the petition date. Debtors who file bankruptcy cases cannot qualify for mortgages for a period of 2-3 years after they file because of the bankruptcy filing on their credit reports and thus cannot realistically re-invest the proceeds of their homestead within a 1-year period. Therefore, this bill proposes to eliminate that reinvestment requirement for that narrow category of debtors who file bankruptcy cases.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding property ownership in the State of Idaho.

This bill amends Idaho Code Section § 55-103 by adding a new subsection (4). Currently Idaho Code Section § 55-103 prohibits a foreign government or foreign state-controlled enterprise from owning agricultural land, forestland, waterrights, miningclaims, ormineralrightsintheStateofIdaho. Howeverthecurrentstatutedoes not provide a framework for what happens if a foreign government or foreign state-controlled enterprise does own a prohibited property right. This bill creates a framework for the divestiture of the foreign government's ownership by allowing the Attorney General to petition an Idaho Court for a receivership allowing the State to seize and sell the foreign governments prohibited property right.