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91_HB2871
LRB9106739KSgcA
1 AN ACT concerning mortgages.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Mortgage Certificate of Payment Act.
6 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7 "Mortgage" means a mortgage or mortgage lien on an
8 interest in real property in this State given to secure a
9 loan in the original principal amount of less than $300,000
10 made by an entity other than a national bank or banking
11 association, federal savings bank, State bank, savings and
12 loan association, trust company, or credit union.
13 "Mortgagee" means either: (i) the grantee of a mortgage;
14 or (ii) if a mortgage has been assigned of record, the last
15 person to whom the mortgage has been assigned of record.
16 "Mortgage servicer" means the last person to whom a
17 mortgagor or the mortgagor's successor in interest has been
18 instructed by a mortgagee to send payments on a loan secured
19 by a mortgage. A person transmitting a payoff statement is
20 the mortgage servicer for the mortgage described in the
21 payoff statement.
22 "Mortgagor" means the grantor of a mortgage.
23 "Payoff statement" means a statement for the amount of
24 the (i) unpaid balance of a loan secured by a mortgage,
25 including principal, interest, and any other charges due
26 under or secured by the mortgage; and (ii) interest on a per
27 day basis for the unpaid balance.
28 "Record" means to record with the county recorder.
29 "Title insurance agent" has the same meaning ascribed to
30 it as in Section 3 of the Title Insurance Act.
31 "Title insurance company" has the same meaning ascribed
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1 to it as in Section 3 of the Title Insurance Act.
2 Section 10. Certificate of payment. An officer or duly
3 appointed agent of a title insurance company may, on behalf
4 of a mortgagor or a person who has acquired from a mortgagor
5 title to all or part of the property described in the
6 mortgage, execute a certificate of payment that complies with
7 the requirements of this Act and record the certificate of
8 payment with the recorder of each county in which the
9 mortgage is recorded, provided that payment in full of the
10 loan secured by the mortgage was made in accordance with a
11 payoff statement furnished by the mortgagee or the mortgage
12 servicer, and provided further that a satisfaction or release
13 of the mortgage has not previously been recorded.
14 Section 15. Contents. A certificate of payment executed
15 under this Act must contain substantially all of the
16 following:
17 (a) The name of the mortgagor, the name of the original
18 mortgagee, and, if applicable, the mortgage servicer at the
19 date of the mortgage, the date of recording, and the volume
20 and page or document number or other official recording
21 designation in the real property records where the mortgage
22 is recorded, together with similar information for the last
23 recorded assignment of the mortgage.
24 (b) A statement that the mortgage was paid in full.
25 (c) A statement that the person executing the
26 certificate of payment is an officer or a duly appointed
27 agent of a title insurance company authorized and licensed to
28 transact the business of insuring titles to interest in real
29 property in this State pursuant to subsections (3) and (4) of
30 Section 3 of the Title Insurance Act.
31 (d) A statement that the certificate of payment is made
32 on behalf of the mortgagor or a person who acquired title
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1 from the mortgagor to all or a part of the property described
2 in the mortgage.
3 (e) A statement that the mortgagee or mortgage servicer
4 provided a payoff statement that was used.
5 (f) A statement that payment in full of the unpaid
6 balance of the loan secured by the mortgage was made in
7 accordance with the payoff statement.
8 Section 20. Execution.
9 (a) A certificate of payment authorized by Section 10
10 must be executed and acknowledged as required by law, as in
11 the case of a deed, and may be executed by a duly appointed
12 agent of a title insurance company. The agent must be a
13 currently registered title insurance agent of the title
14 insurance company, but the delegation to an agent by a title
15 insurance company shall not relieve the title insurance
16 company of any liability for damages caused by its agent for
17 the wrongful or erroneous execution of a certificate of
18 payment.
19 (b) The appointment of an agent must be executed and
20 acknowledged as required by law, as in the case of a deed,
21 and must state all of the following:
22 (1) the identity of the title insurance company as
23 the grantor;
24 (2) the identity of the person, partnership,
25 limited partnership, limited liability company, limited
26 liability partnership, or corporation authorized to act
27 as agent to execute and record certificates of payment
28 provided for in this Act on behalf of the title insurance
29 company;
30 (3) that the agent has the full authority to
31 execute and record certificates of payment provided for
32 in this Act on behalf of the title insurance company;
33 (4) the term of appointment of the agent;
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1 (5) that the agent has consented to and accepts the
2 terms of the appointment; and
3 (6) if the agent is registered by more than one
4 title insurance company, the agent shall state the name
5 of the title insurance company on whose behalf the agent
6 is acting.
7 (c) A single appointment of agent instrument may be
8 recorded in each county in the office of the recorder. A
9 separate appointment of an agent shall not be necessary for
10 each certificate of payment. The appointment of an agent may
11 be re-recorded where necessary to establish authority of the
12 agent, but the authority shall continue until a revocation of
13 appointment is recorded in the office of the recorder where
14 the appointment of the agent was recorded.
15 Section 25. Effect. For purposes of releasing the
16 mortgage, a certificate of payment containing the information
17 and statements provided for in Section 15 and executed as
18 provided in Section 20 is prima facie evidence of the facts
19 contained therein, is entitled to be recorded with the
20 recorder, and operates as a release of the mortgage described
21 in the certificate of payment. The title insurance company or
22 title insurance agent recording the certificate of payment
23 shall use the recording fee collected at the closing for the
24 recording of a release or satisfaction of the mortgage to
25 effect the recording of the certificate of payment. The
26 recorder shall rely upon it to release the mortgage.
27 Recording of a wrongful or erroneous certificate of payment
28 by a title insurance company or its agent shall not relieve
29 the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successors or assignees from
30 any personal liability on the loan or other obligations
31 secured by the mortgage. In addition to any other remedy
32 provided by law, a title insurance company recording a
33 certificate of payment under this Act that has actual
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1 knowledge the information and statements contained therein
2 are false is liable to the mortgagee for actual damages
3 sustained due to the recording of the certificate of payment.
4 Section 30. Recording. If a mortgage is recorded
5 in more than one county and a certificate of payment is
6 recorded in one of them, a certified copy of the certificate
7 of payment may be recorded in another county with the same
8 effect as the original. In all cases, the certificate of
9 payment shall be entered and indexed when satisfactions or
10 releases of mortgage are entered and indexed.
11 Section 35. Application. This Act does not apply to
12 mortgages with principal amounts of $300,000 or more.