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Molepske Named Legislator of the
Year
Register of Deeds Association Recognizes
Rep. Molepske
for Legislation to Reduce Identity Theft in Register of Deeds Public Documents
June 15, 2006
STEVENS POINT- Rep. Louis J. Molepske, Jr.
(D-Stevens Point) received the Legislator of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association on
June 15 in Mosinee for his diligent effort in helping the association draft and pass the Register of Deeds Privacy
Act (Wisconsin Act 139).
This consumer protection law combats identity theft by allowing registers of deeds to reject or block out Social
Security numbers in documents filed with their offices. In Wisconsin alone the FTC reported 2,646 complaints of
identity theft, along with several million complaints nationwide. Prior to this new law numerous documents filed
with the register of deeds office contained social security numbers and were accessible to the public within the
courthouse, and worldwide on the Internet.
Portage County Register of Deeds and President of the Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association Cindy Wisinski and
Rep. Molepske collaborated with the 72 register of deeds officers across the state to pass this law.
"I am deeply honored to be named Legislator of the Year by the Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association. I
thoroughly enjoyed working with Cindy and her colleagues across the state to protect our state's residents,"
said Molepske. "After the recent security breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs, we are reminded of
how critical it is that we find ways to further protect individuals' personal and financial information."
This new law uses a two-pronged approach for eliminating the practice of placing Social Security numbers on documents
to be recorded in the offices of the register of deeds. It gives registers of deeds the authority to reject filing
a document that includes a Social Security Number, makes the practice of filing a record with a Social Security
number illegal, and provides the victim of identity theft recourse against the party responsible for incorrectly
filing the document containing a social security number.
"There is no reason people should be placed at risk for identity theft by having Social Security numbers included
on these documents - they were never needed or asked for by statute. I applaud the efforts of the Wisconsin Register
of Deeds Association in helping make this new law a reality," said Molepske. "I cannot thank them enough
for choosing me out of 132 legislators for this award. It was truly a privilege to work with such a passionate
and dedicated group of leaders to pass the Register of Deeds Privacy Act."
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