New Hampshire § 478-42 - Section 478:42 Fraudulent Filings.

§ 478-42. Section 478:42 Fraudulent Filings.

I. A person may not knowingly present for filing or cause to be presented for filing in a registry or other public office, any type of document that fraudulently purports to be a judgment or other document to memorialize or evidence an act, order, directive, or process of creating a lien without having been authorized under state law, the Constitution, or the laws of the United States. II. For purposes of this section, a document or instrument that purports to create a lien on, assert a claim against, or assert an interest in, real or personal property, is presumed to be fraudulent if it: (a) Is not certified or ordered by a court or a judicial entity expressly created or established under the Constitution or the laws of this state or of the United States; or (b) Is not a document or instrument provided for by the Constitution or the laws of this state or the United States. III. Nothing contained herein shall affect the validity of a mechanic's or statutory lien created pursuant to state or federal law. IV. If a register of deeds or other public official believes in good faith that a document filed with the registry of deeds or other public office purports to create a lien that is fraudulent, the register or other public official shall index the document only under the signer of the document in the grantor index and shall identify the document as a notice in the document type. No other names appearing on the document shall be indexed. (a) The register or other public official shall send a copy of such document to the county attorney for the county where the document was filed or to the New Hampshire attorney general's office for review and possible prosecution. (b) The county attorney or attorney general receiving a copy of a document under subparagraph (a) shall send a notice of the action taken under this paragraph to the person presenting or causing such filing by regular mail at his or her last known address no later than the next business day after such action. (c) Any such document or instrument on file with the registry of deeds or other public office presumed to be fraudulent or deemed fraudulent as described in this section shall be considered invalid, void, and having no force or effect on any named person or persons named within the document or instrument. (d) Any register of deeds or other public official acting in good faith pursuant to this chapter shall be immune from civil and criminal liability. V. Any person who knowingly files a document or instrument to fraudulently create a lien on real or personal property shall be guilty of a class B felony.