HB 2298 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Authorizing county auditors to create a voluntary property title protection program to prevent land record fraud.

HB 2298 authorizes Washington county auditors to create a voluntary property title protection program to prevent land record fraud. Property owners can opt to record a "fraud protection instrument" with their county auditor, which requires a secure ID or court-approved process for any transfer of ownership. The program allows county auditors to delay recording transfers for up to five business days if fraud protection is active and includes an emergency override via court orders or authorized legal actions. This directly affects property owners who choose to enroll in the program to safeguard against unauthorized title changes.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 7, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

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What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from H-2745.1 to H-3345.1 and updated with new committee referral dates. The most significant substantive change is the addition of a new subsection in Section 1, which authorizes county treasurers or excise agents to delay processing real estate tax refund applications for up to five days if the property is subject to a recorded fraud protection instrument. This expands the fraud prevention mechanism beyond just the county auditor to include tax refund processing.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include county treasurers and excise agents in the fraud prevention process, whereas the original version only authorized county auditors.

ENFORCEMENT

Added authority for county treasurers or excise agents to delay real estate tax refund applications for up to five days when a fraud protection instrument is recorded on the property.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill number from H-2745.1 to H-3345.1 and changed the prefiled/read first dates to reflect the current legislative session timeline.

Changed the sponsor designation from a list of individual representatives to 'House Local Government'.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Local Government at 10:30 AM.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Local Government at 10:30 AM.

lower

1 primary · 14 co-sponsors