I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10475 
To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
a grant program to address deed fraud, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 18, 2024 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Ms. CLARKE of New York) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 
and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
to establish a grant program to address deed fraud, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Documentation 
and Enforcement of Estate Deeds Act of 2023’’ or the 
‘‘Good DEED Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEED FRAUD GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development shall establish a pro-
gram (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to 
award grants, on a competitive basis, to address deed 
fraud in accordance with this section. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In carrying out the 
Program, the Secretary may award a grant to the 
following: 
(A) A State. 
(B) A political subdivision of a State with 
a population of 200,000 or more individuals. 
(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under the Program, an entity specified in 
paragraph (1) shall submit to the Secretary an ap-
plication at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
(3) FINGERPRINT REQUIREMENT.—To be eligi-
ble to receive a grant under the Program, an entity 
specified in paragraph (1) that is a State shall re-
quire that if a document to be notarized is a written 
instrument transferring an interest in real property, 
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any notary public preforming an in-person notariza-
tion shall— 
(A) if a print notary journal is used, re-
quire the party signing the document to place 
his or her right thumbprint or other finger 
print as appropriate in a sequential notary jour-
nal entry; and 
(B) if an electronic notary journal is 
used— 
(i) save to such journal a picture of 
the signing party’s face; or 
(ii) save to such journal a video of the 
signer during the act of signing. 
(4) RECORDING RETENTION REQUIREMENT.— 
To be eligible to receive a grant under the Program, 
a State shall require any notary public performing 
remote notarization using audio-visual technology 
with respect to a written instrument transferring an 
interest in real property to submit an audio and vis-
ual recording of the notarization to a repository ap-
proved by such State where such recording shall be 
retained for not less than 10 years. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant recipient under the 
Program may only use grant amounts to fund the fol-
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lowing activities carried out by the recipient or a covered 
organization: 
(1) Legal assistance related to deed fraud for a 
low-income individual. 
(2) Coverage of costs associated with clearing a 
title for a low-income individual. 
(3) Acquisition, upgrade, or implementation of 
technology that— 
(A) assists in preventing or detecting or re-
sponding to deed fraud; 
(B) facilitates communication in response 
to the detection of deed fraud; 
(C) assists in the creation of websites re-
lating to deed fraud; 
(D) assists in the creation and use of pub-
lic notification systems; 
(E) allows for geospatial information sys-
tem mapping of deed fraud report locations; 
(F) enhances the indexing of information 
relating to deed fraud; 
(G) improves the exchange of data relating 
to deed fraud; or 
(H) reduces notarial fraud or mistake in 
the performance of notarial acts. 
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(4) Assistance in the prevention, detection, in-
vestigation, and prosecution of deed fraud, including 
through the provision of— 
(A) education and training; 
(B) information sharing and partnership 
facilitation; 
(C) research support and other assistance 
supportive of intelligence-focused policing; and 
(D) investigative support, including sup-
port staff, detectives, and prosecutors. 
(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 
(1) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 
Program, the Secretary shall give priority to grant 
applications that propose to assist an area with a 
high actual or potential risk of deed fraud affecting 
title, as determined by the Secretary. 
(2) MINIMUM ALLOCATION FOR LEGAL SERV-
ICES.—At least 35 percent of the amounts awarded 
by the Secretary under the Program shall be used 
to provide legal assistance described in subsections 
(c)(1) and (c)(2). 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
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and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the Program, 
including— 
(1) a description of activities funded under the 
Program; 
(2) an identification of factors that increase 
and decrease the likelihood of deed fraud, which 
shall include the impact of state laws; and 
(3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
Program in assisting victims of deed fraud affecting 
title. 
(f) UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM.—The 
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations shall, not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, add a categories for deed fraud to the Uniform Crime 
Reporting Program. 
(g) UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.— 
The United States Sentencing Commission, shall, not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 
promulgate guidelines or amend existing guidelines to pro-
vide sentencing enhancements for offenses that involve 
deed fraud. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) COVERED ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered organization’’ means each of the following: 
(A) A legal services organization; or 
(B) a non-profit organization, or a State, 
Tribal, or local government agency that devel-
ops laws, policies or programs designed to pre-
vent, detect, deter and remedy deed fraud and 
related issues. 
(2) JOURNAL.—The term ‘‘journal’’ means— 
(A) a record of notarial acts that is created 
and maintained by a notary public; or 
(B) all journals of notarial acts created 
and maintained by a notary public. 
(3) LEGAL
SERVICES
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘legal services organization’’ means— 
(A) an accredited law school; 
(B) a public provider of legal aid or legal 
services; or 
(C) a nonprofit provider of legal aid or 
legal services. 
(4) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘low- 
income individual’’ means an individual with a 
household income that does not exceed 80 percent of 
the median income of the area in which such indi-
vidual resides, as determined by the Secretary. 
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(5) DEED
FRAUD.—The term ‘‘deed fraud’’ 
means forgery, impersonation, or willful misrepre-
sentation of authority in connection with the execu-
tion of a written instrument transferring an interest 
in real property. 
(6) WRITTEN INSTRUMENT TRANSFERRING AN 
INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY.— The term ‘‘written 
instrument transferring an interest in real property’’ 
includes any deed, mortgage, satisfaction of mort-
gage, contract of sale, assignment or termination of 
any of the foregoing, or any other instrument which 
does or may evidence, create, transfer, terminate or 
otherwise affect a legal right or interest in real prop-
erty, or is required for the filing of a deed, including 
a notarial certificate, with an agency of a State or 
any political subdivision, public authority or public 
benefit corporation of a State. 
Æ 
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