Failing to Record a Mortgage Discharge – An Expensive Mistake

What is a Mortgage Discharge in Massachusetts?

Upon paying off your mortgage (congratulations, by the way) your next step should be the recording of the mortgage discharge. A mortgage discharge is document received by a borrower or former borrower of a mortgage which indicates that the mortgage has been paid in full and discharged. Once received the mortgage discharge should be recorded with the proper registry of deeds in Massachusetts to demonstrate to anyone interested, that the title on the property is clear (has not outstanding encumbrances on it, e.g., a mortgage).

Who is Supposed to Record a Mortgage Discharge at the Registry of Deeds?

Under Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 183, section 55, the mortgagee (the bank or lender who holds the mortgage) is supposed to record the mortgage discharge or cause the mortgage discharge to be recorded within 45 days of receipt of payoff funds. This next part is very important….failure of a lender or bank to record a mortgage discharge or to cause a mortgage discharge to be recorded within the 45 days as proscribed under Massachusetts law can be very costly to a lender or bank.

Practically, recording a mortgage discharge is not always done in a timely manner, or at all. When a bank or lender fails to record a mortgage discharge this can result in serious problems for a lender or bank and they may owe the original mortgagor (you) money for the failure to record the discharge of the mortgage.

Why Would I Receive Money for a Bank Failing to Record a Mortgage?

The recording of a mortgage discharge in Massachusetts is the method of demonstrating to anyone else interested in the property, say for example, a prospective home buyer, that the title on the home is free of the encumbrance of a mortgage. Being free from a mortgage means that the new or prospective buyer can purchase the home with a new mortgage while not having to worry about paying off an old mortgage that is still due on the home. Moreover, if you are the homeowner and have just paid off your mortgage and the lender has failed to record the mortgage discharge this fact could hold up any ability you would normally have to obtain an equity line on the home for example.

If either of these problems occur to you because of the failure of a bank or lender to record the mortgage discharge of your mortgage held in Massachusetts, you may be able to receive money under Massachusetts law for this failure. At a minimum, the failure to record a discharge could cost the bank or lender $2500 (paid directly to you for their failure to record a mortgage discharge in Massachusetts). In the extreme, the failure of bank or lender to record a mortgage discharge could cost the bank or lender the amount of your actual damages, as well as any other damages available under Massachusetts law for failing to record the mortgage discharge.

Contact The Law Offices of Richard Alan Gaudet, LLC, to help you deal with a mortgage discharge that has not been recorded on property owned in Massachusetts where that failure to record the discharge has resulted in damages to you. We are equipped to handle such matters and would like to hear your case.

Where are Mortgage Discharges Recorded?

If you’ve read this far and are still wondering how to find out if your mortgage has been discharged once paid off, the next step is fairly easy. Simply go to the appropriate Registry of Deeds in Massachusetts (see below for a list of which registry handles your town or city) and find out if your mortgage discharge has been recorded there. You will want to look for a search option that allows you to look through land records and then search either by your first and last name, or by the property address itself. Next, look for an entry in the search results indicating “mortgage discharge” or similar entry. Once found (if it has actually been recorded) there will be another option to look at an image of the mortgage discharge. Confirm that the amount of the discharge is correct, the date, name of lender and your information is correct.

Remember that a failure to record a mortgage discharge in Massachusetts can result in money paid directly to you, even if you have not suffered any damages. However, if you have been harmed because of the failure to record a mortgage discharge the bank or lender may be responsible to pay you for those damages.

Below you will find a list of the appropriate Massachusetts Registry of Deeds that you can then look for a recorded (or not) mortgage discharge in:

Northern Essex Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, North Andover Massachusetts

Southern Essex Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Amesbury, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Merrimac, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, and West Newbury

Suffolk County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop

Worcester Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Athol, Auburn, Barre, Berlin, Blackstone, Bolton, Brookfield, Charlton, Clinton, Douglas, Dudley, East Brookfield, Gardner, Grafton, Hardwick, Harvard, Holden, Hopedale, Hubbardston, Lancaster, Leicester, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Northboro, Northbridge, Oakham, Oxford, Paxton, Petersham, Phillipstown, Princeton, Royalston, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Southboro, Southbridge, Spencer, Sterling, Sturbridge, Sutton, Templeton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, Webster, Westboro, West Boylston, West Brookfield, Winchedon and Worcester.

Plymouth County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Wareham, West Bridgewater, Whitman, Scituate, Rockland, Rochester, Plymouth Colony, Plympton, Plymouth, Pembroke, Norwell, Middleboro, Mattapoisett, Marshfield, Marion, Lakeville, Kingston, Hull, Hingham, Hanson, Hanover, Halifax, East Bridgewater, Duxbury, Carver, Bridgewater, Abington

Norfolk County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Avon, Bellingham, Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dorchester, Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, Holbrook, Hyde Park, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainfield, Quincy, Randolph, Roxbury, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wellesley, West Roxbury, Westwood, Weymouth, Wrentham

Nantucket Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Nantucket

Middlesex Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Acton, Arlington, Ashby, Ashland, Ayer, Bedford, Belmont, Boxborough, Burlington, Cambridge, Concord, Everett, Framingham, Groton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Malden, Marlboro, Maynard, Medford, Melrose, Natick, Newton, North Reading, Pepperell, Reading, Sherborn, Shirley, Somerville, Stoneham, Stow, Sudbury, Townsend, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Weston, Winchester and Woburn.

Hampshire County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Florence, Goshen, Granby, Hadley, Hampshire County, Hatfield, Haydenville, Huntington, Leeds, Middlefield, Northampton, Pelham, Plainfield, South Hadley, Southampton, Ware

Franklin County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Court, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Greenfiled, Hawley, Health, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, Northfield, Orange, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell, Whateley

Dukes County Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Gay Head, Gosnold, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury

Bristol Northern Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Taunton.

Bristol Southern Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, New Bedford and Westport.

Fall River Registry of Deeds – Massachusetts

Serves  Fall River, Freetown, Somerset and Swansea.

Berkshire Registry of Deeds (Middle District) – Massachusetts

Serves Becket, Dalton, Hinsdale, Lee, Lenox, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Stockbridge, Tyringham and Washington.

Berkshire Registry of Deeds (Southern District) – Massachusetts

Serves Alford, Egremont, Great Barrington, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Marlborough, Sandisfield, Sheffield and West Stockbridge.

Berkshire Registry of Deeds (Northern District) – Massachusetts

Serves Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesboro, New Ashford, North Adams, Savoy, Williamstown and Windsor.

Barnstable County Registry of Deeds

Serves Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet, Yarmouth

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