§ 34-1-142 — Instrument transferring title to real property; procedure; exceptions; confidentiality

(a) When a deed, contract or other document transferring
legal or equitable title to real property, including instruments
conveying ownership of structures on lands not owned by the
transferring party, is presented to a county clerk for
recording, the instrument shall be accompanied by a statement
under oath by the grantee or his agent disclosing the name of
the grantor and grantee, the addresses and contact information
of the grantor and grantee, the date of transfer, date of sale,
a legal description of the property transferred, the actual full
amount paid or to be paid for the property, terms of sale and an
estimate of the value of any nonreal property included in the
sale.
(b) No instrument evidencing a transfer of real property
may be accepted for recording until the completed sworn
statement is received by the county clerk. The validity or
effectiveness of an instrument as between the parties is not
affected by the failure to comply with subsection (a) of this
section.
(c) For instruments transferring title as described in
this subsection, the presenting party may omit from the
statement the amount paid or other consideration exchanged for
the property, the terms of the sale and an estimate of the value
of any nonreal property included in the sale that would
otherwise be required to be included in the statement under
subsection (a) of this section:
(i) An instrument which confirms, corrects, modifies
or supplements a previously recorded instrument without added
consideration;
(ii) A transfer pursuant to mergers, consolidations
or reorganizations of business entities;
(iii) A transfer by a subsidiary corporation to its
parent corporation without actual consideration or in sole
consideration of the cancellation or surrender of a subsidiary
stock;
(iv) A transfer which constitutes a gift of more than
one-half (1/2) of the actual value;
(v) A transfer between husband and wife or parent and
child with only nominal consideration therefor;
(vi) An instrument the effect of which is to transfer
the property to the same party;
(vii) A sale for delinquent taxes or assessments or a
sale or a transfer pursuant to a foreclosure;
(viii) Any other transfers which the state board of
equalization and department of revenue exempts upon a finding
that the information is not useful or relevant in determining
sales-price ratios.
(d) The sworn statements shall be used by the county
assessors and the state board of equalization and the department
of revenue along with other statements filed only as data in a
collection of statistics which shall be used collectively in
determining sales-price ratios by county. An individual
statement shall not, by itself, be used by the county assessor
to adjust the assessed value of any individual property.
(e) The statement is not a public record and shall be held
confidential by the county clerk, county assessor, county board
of equalization, the state board of equalization and the
department of revenue. A statement may be disclosed pursuant to
W.S. 39-13-109(a)(i) to any person wishing to review or contest
his property tax assessment or valuation. The statement shall
not be subject to discovery in any other county or state
proceeding.
(f) Repealed by Laws 1991, ch. 174, § 3.
(g) As used in W.S. 34-1-142 through 34-1-144:
(i) A "review" is considered the initial meetings
between the taxpayer and the county assessor's office pursuant
to W.S. 39-13-109(b)(i);
(ii) "Contest" means the filing of a formal appeal
pursuant to W.S. 39-13-109(b)(i);
(iii) "Geographic area" may include any area
requested by the property owner or his agent within the
boundaries of the county in which the subject property is
located.
(h) The state board of equalization shall adopt rules and
regulations to implement W.S. 34-1-142 and 34-1-143 which shall
include forms to be used and which shall be used by county
assessors and county clerks.