(a) Except as to transfers that are exempt pursuant to subdivision 9603(17) of this title, no town clerk shall record, or receive for recording, any deed or document evidencing the transfer or acquisition of a direct or indirect controlling interest in any person with title to property to which is not attached a properly executed transfer tax return, complete and regular on its face, and a certificate in the form prescribed by the Natural Resources Board and the Commissioner of Taxes that the conveyance of the real property and any development thereon by the seller is in compliance with or exempt from the provisions of 10 V.S.A. chapter 151. The certificate shall indicate whether or not the conveyance creates the partition or division of land. If the conveyance creates a partition or division of land, there shall be appended the current "Act 250 Disclosure Statement," required by 10 V.S.A. § 6007. A town clerk who violates this section shall be fined $50.00 for the first such offense and $100.00 for each subsequent offense. A person who purposely or knowingly falsifies any statement contained in the certificate required is punishable by fine of not more than $500.00 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

(b) A person who makes a false certification under this section shall be liable for damages caused by that false certification, in addition to any existing liability created under the common law. (Added 1967, No. 146, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1968; amended 1969, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 30, eff. April 4, 1970; 1969, No. 291 (Adj. Sess.), § 16, eff. 60 days after April 9, 1970; 1971, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1981, No. 38, § 3, eff. April 21, 1981; 1981, No. 223 (Adj. Sess.), § 23, 1987, No. 64, § 4; 1991, No. 111, § 9; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 118, eff. Jan. 31, 2005; 2009, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 19; 2013, No. 11, § 25; 2013, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 21, eff. June 4, 2014; 2019, No. 71, § 14.)