Partial Release of Property From Mortgage by Individual Holder
Assignments Generally: Lenders,
or holders of mortgages or deeds of trust, often assign mortgages or deeds
of trust to other lenders, or third parties. When this is done the
assignee (person who received the assignment) steps into the place of the
original lender or assignor. To effectuate an assignment, the general
rules is that the assignment must be in proper written format and recorded
to provide notice of the assignment.
Satisfactions Generally: Once a mortgage
or deed of trust is paid, the holder of the mortgage is required to satisfy
the mortgage or deed of trust of record to show that the mortgage or deed
of trust is no longer a lien on the property. The general rule is that
the satisfaction must be in proper written format and recorded to provide
notice of the satisfaction. If the lender fails to record a satisfaction
within set time limits, the lender may be responsible for damages set by
statute for failure to timely cancel the lien. Depending on your state,
a satisfaction may be called a Satisfaction, Cancellation, or Reconveyance.
Some states still recognize marginal satisfaction but this is slowly being
phased out. A marginal satisfaction is where the holder of the mortgage
physically goes to the recording office and enters a satisfaction on the
face of the the recorded mortgage, which is attested by the clerk.
Arkansas Law
Assignment: An assignment must be in writing
and recorded.
Demand to Satisfy: Upon full satisfaction,
at the request of the person making satisfaction, the mortgagee shall acknowledge
satisfaction thereof on the margin of the record in which the mortgage
is recorded.
Recording Satisfaction: If any mortgagee
shall receive full satisfaction for the amount due on any mortgage, then,
at the request of the person making satisfaction, the mortgagee shall acknowledge
satisfaction thereof on the margin of the record in which the mortgage
is recorded.
Marginal Satisfaction: The clerks in counties
which use other than paper recording systems shall not allow satisfactions
by marginal notations after December 31, 1995. Satisfactions by marginal
notations made in counties which use other than paper recording systems
after December 31, 1995, are void.
Penalty: If any person receiving satisfaction
does not, within sixty (60) days after being requested, acknowledge satisfaction,
he shall forfeit to the party aggrieved any sum not exceeding the amount
of the mortgage money, to be recovered by a civil action.
Acknowledgment: An assignment or satisfaction
must contain a proper Arkansas acknowledgment, or other acknowledgment
approved by Statute.
Arkansas Statutes
14-15-407. Manner of recording. [assignment, satisfaction]
Each recorder shall, without delay, record every deed, mortgage,
conveyance,
deed of trust, bond, or other writing delivered to him for record, with
the acknowledgment, proofs, and certificates written on or attached to
the writing, and all other papers therein referred to and annexed thereto,
in the order, and as of the time when, the writing has been delivered for
record, by:
(1) Entering them word for word and letter
for letter;
(2) Noting at the foot of each record all
interlineations, erasures, and words visibly written on erasures; and
(3) Noting at the foot of the record the
date of the month and year when the instrument so recorded was delivered
to him or deposited in his office for record.
18-40-101. Proof or acknowledgment - Recording.
All mortgages of real estate shall be proven or acknowledged in
the same manner that deeds for the conveyance of real estate are required
by law to be proven or acknowledged. When so proven or acknowledged they
shall be recorded in the counties in which the lands lie.
18-40-104. Acknowledgment of satisfaction on record.
(a) If any mortgagee, or his executor, administrator, or assignee,
shall receive full satisfaction for the amount due on any mortgage, then,
at the request of the person making satisfaction, the mortgagee
shall acknowledge satisfaction thereof on the margin of the record
in which the mortgage is recorded.
(b) Acknowledgment of satisfaction, made as stated in subsection
(a) of this section, shall have the effect to release the mortgage, bar
all actions brought thereon, and revest in the mortgagor or his legal representatives
all title to the mortgaged property.
(c) If any person receiving satisfaction does not, within
sixty
(60) days after being requested, acknowledge satisfaction as stated
in subsection (a) of this section, he shall forfeit to the party aggrieved
any sum not exceeding the amount of the mortgage money, to be recovered
by a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(d)(1) Effective January 1, 1996, this section does not apply
in counties which use other than paper recording systems. (2) The
clerks in counties which use other than paper recording systems shall not
allow satisfactions by marginal notations after December 31, 1995.(3)
Satisfactions by marginal notations made in counties which use other than
paper recording systems after December 31, 1995, are void.
18-40-106. Sufficiency of satisfaction - Transfer or assignment.
(a) Satisfaction of any mortgage, deed of trust, vendor's
lien, or lien retained in deed or note made and endorsed on the margin
of the record where the instrument is recorded by the mortgagee, trustee,
beneficiary, agent of the owner of record of the indebtedness, or by the
owner of record thereof, shall be full and complete protection for any
subsequent purchaser, mortgagee, or judgment creditor of the mortgagor
or grantor, unless there shall appear on the margin of the record where
the instrument is recorded a memorandum showing that the mortgage, deed
of trust, vendor's lien, lien retained in deed or note, or other evidence
of indebtedness secured thereby has been transferred or assigned. The memorandum
shall be signed by the transferor or assignor, giving the name of the transferee
or assignee, together with the date of the transfer or assignment, the
signature to be attested and dated by the clerk.
(b) Where it shall appear from a memorandum endorsed upon
the margin of the record and attested as provided in subsection (a) of
this section that the mortgage, deed of trust, vendor's lien, or other
evidence of indebtedness has been transferred, satisfaction shall be made
by the party appearing therein as the transferee.
(c)(1) Effective January 1, 1996, this section does not apply
in counties which use other than paper recording systems.(2) The
clerks in counties that use other than paper recording systems shall not
allow any marginal endorsements to be made after December 31, 1995. (3)
In counties which use other than paper recording systems, marginal endorsements
made after December 31, 1995, are void.
18-40-107. Attestation of satisfaction - Separate release.
(a) In all cases where the party receiving satisfaction of
any indebtedness secured by mortgage, deed of trust, or lien affecting
real estate is required by law to acknowledge it on the margin of the record,
the satisfaction shall be signed by the party and his signature shall be
attested and dated by the clerk. The attestation by the clerk shall be
evidence of the facts recited therein.
(b) The effectual discharge of any lien, deed of trust, or
mortgage lien in note, bond, or other instrument may be made by a separate
release deed or instrument duly executed, acknowledged, and recorded. This
instrument, when so recorded, shall be of the same effect as a marginal
entry.
(c)(1) Effective January 1, 1996, subsection (a) of this section
does not apply in counties which use other than paper recording systems.(2)
In counties which use other than paper recording systems, the clerks shall
not allow marginal notations of satisfaction of any indebtedness after
December 31, 1995.(3) In counties which use other than paper recording
systems, marginal notations made after December 31, 1995, are void.
