SC House Bill 3104

Legislation

State: South Carolina
Signed: May 09, 2011

Effective: May 09, 2011
Chapter: Act No. 19

Summary

HB 3104 clarifies that a mortgage satisfaction affidavit filed when the original mortgage or deed of trust or other security instrument securing payment of money has been lost or destroyed, or an affidavit filed by a South Carolina attorney to release a lien on real property, must be acknowledged in conformance with the Uniform Recognition of Acknowledgments Act (URAA).

Affects

Amends Section 29-3-330 of the South Carolina Code.

Changes

Clarifies that if an original mortgage, deed of trust or other instrument securing the payment of money and being a lien upon real property has been lost or destroyed it may be satisfied either by the owner or holder of the instrument in person or his personal representative or duly authorized attorney in fact, by an instrument in writing executed before two witnesses and acknowledged in conformance with the Uniform Recognition of Acknowledgments Act (URAA).
Clarifies that a South Carolina attorney who can provide proof of payment of funds by evidence of payment made payable to the mortgagee, holder of record, servicer, or other party entitled to receive payment may record, or cause to be recorded, an affidavit, in writing, duly executed in the presence of two witnesses and acknowledged pursuant to the URAA, which states that full payment of the balance or pay-off amount of the mortgage or other instrument securing the payment of money and being a lien upon real property has been made and that evidence of payment from the mortgagee, assignee, or servicer exists.

Analysis

When a mortgage is paid off in full, the loan servicer is required to file a mortgage satisfaction releasing the lien on the property in the county land records. In cases where the original mortgage or deed of trust has been lost, the statute provides for an alternative procedure for releasing the lien. HB 3104 clarifies that such mortgage satisfaction must be acknowledged in conformance with the Uniform Recognition of Acknowledgments Act (URAA), a uniform law adopted in 1968 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The URAA is a predecessor of the most current Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts that has been adopted in 15 states. The bill also clarifies that a South Carolina attorney may file an affidavit releasing the lien if the attorney can provide proof of payment of funds by evidence made to the mortgagee, holder of record, servicer or other party entitled to receive payment. This affidavit filed by the attorney must also be acknowledged in conformance with the URAA.

Read House Bill 3104.