2021 Wyoming Statutes
Title 34 - Property, Conveyances and Security Transactions
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
Article 1 - In General
Section 34-1-142 - Instrument Transferring Title to Real Property; Procedure; Exceptions; Confidentiality.

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.