Florida Senate - 2022                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1016
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì212610cÎ212610                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                Floor: 1/RS/2R         .                                
             03/02/2022 06:47 PM       .                                
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       Senator Burgess moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 76 - 253
    4  and insert:
    5         1. The total unpaid balance of the loan properly due under
    6  or secured by the mortgage as of the date specified in the
    7  estoppel letter, including an itemization of the principal,
    8  interest, and any other charges comprising the unpaid balance.
    9         2.Interest accruing on a per-day basis for the unpaid
   10  balance, if applicable.
   11         (c)1.Except for mortgages for which a notice of lis
   12  pendens in a foreclosure action or a suggestion of bankruptcy
   13  has been properly filed and recorded, the mortgagee or mortgage
   14  servicer may not qualify, reserve the right to change, or
   15  condition or disclaim the reliance of others on the information
   16  provided in an estoppel letter under paragraph (b), and any
   17  attempt to do so is void and unenforceable. However, if the
   18  mortgagee or mortgage servicer determines that any of the
   19  information provided in the estoppel letter under paragraph (b)
   20  was inaccurate, the mortgagee or mortgage servicer may send a
   21  corrected estoppel letter to the person who requested the
   22  estoppel letter.
   23         2.If the person who requested the original estoppel letter
   24  under paragraph (a) receives a corrected estoppel letter by 3
   25  p.m. in such person’s time zone at least 1 business day before a
   26  payment is issued in reliance on the previous estoppel letter,
   27  the corrected estoppel letter supersedes all prior estoppel
   28  letters. The corrected estoppel letter is considered received by
   29  the person who requested the original estoppel letter:
   30         a.Five business days after the corrected estoppel letter,
   31  which is to be sent by first-class mail, is deposited with the
   32  United States Postal Service;
   33         b.The day the corrected estoppel letter is delivered by a
   34  common carrier delivery service; or
   35         c.The day the corrected estoppel letter is sent by e-mail,
   36  facsimile, or other electronic means or through an automated
   37  system provided by the mortgagee or mortgage servicer for
   38  requesting an estoppel letter.
   39         3.If any of the information provided in the estoppel
   40  letter under paragraph (b) was inaccurate, but the person who
   41  requested the estoppel letter did not timely receive a corrected
   42  estoppel letter as provided in subparagraph 2., the mortgagee or
   43  mortgage servicer may not deny the accuracy of such information
   44  as against any person who relied on it.
   45         (d)3. The mortgagee or mortgage servicer of the mortgagee
   46  acting in accordance with a request in substantial compliance
   47  with this subsection paragraph is expressly discharged from any
   48  obligation or liability to any person on account of the release
   49  of the requested information, other than the obligation to
   50  comply with the terms of the estoppel letter.
   51         (e)If a payment is received at the location and in the
   52  manner specified by the mortgagee or mortgage servicer, the
   53  mortgagee or mortgage servicer must accept, and may not return,
   54  any payment received in reliance on an estoppel letter and must
   55  promptly apply such payment to the unpaid balance of the loan
   56  properly due under or secured by the mortgage.
   57         (f)1.A written request for an estoppel letter under
   58  paragraph (a) must be sent to the mortgagee or mortgage servicer
   59  by first-class mail, postage prepaid; by common carrier delivery
   60  service; or by e-mail, facsimile, or other electronic means at
   61  the address made available by the mortgagee or mortgage servicer
   62  for such purpose or through an automated system provided by the
   63  mortgagee or mortgage servicer for requesting an estoppel
   64  letter. The written request is considered received by the
   65  mortgagee or mortgage servicer:
   66         a.Five business days after the request sent by first-class
   67  mail is deposited with the United States Postal Service;
   68         b.The day the request is delivered by a common carrier
   69  delivery service; or
   70         c.The day the request is sent by e-mail, facsimile, or
   71  other electronic means or through an automated system provided
   72  by the mortgagee or mortgage servicer for requesting an estoppel
   73  letter.
   74  
   75  If any of the days in sub-subparagraph a., sub-subparagraph b.,
   76  or sub-subparagraph c. falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
   77  holiday under the laws of the state or the United States, the
   78  request for an estoppel letter is considered timely received by
   79  the mortgagee or mortgage servicer on the next business day.
   80         2.The mortgagee or mortgage servicer must send an estoppel
   81  letter by first-class mail; by common carrier delivery service;
   82  or by e-mail, facsimile, or other electronic means, as directed
   83  in the written request, or through an automated system provided
   84  by the mortgagee or mortgage servicer for this purpose. However,
   85  the mortgagee or mortgage servicer is not required to pay for a
   86  common carrier delivery service. If the 10-day period after a
   87  written request is received by the mortgagee or mortgage
   88  servicer ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday under the
   89  laws of the state or the United States, the estoppel letter is
   90  considered timely if it is sent by the close of business on the
   91  next business day.
   92         (g)(c)Notwithstanding s. 655.059, a mortgagee or mortgage
   93  servicer mortgage holder may provide the financial information
   94  required under this subsection to a person authorized under this
   95  subsection to request the financial information notwithstanding
   96  s. 655.059.
   97         (2)Within 60 days after the unpaid balance of a loan
   98  secured by a mortgage has been fully paid or paid pursuant to an
   99  estoppel letter under subsection (1), whichever is earlier, the
  100  mortgagee or mortgage servicer shall execute in writing an
  101  instrument acknowledging satisfaction of the mortgage; have the
  102  instrument acknowledged, or proven, and send it or cause it to
  103  be sent for recording in the official records of the proper
  104  county; and send or cause to be sent the recorded satisfaction
  105  to the mortgagor or record title owner of the property. The
  106  prevailing party in a civil action brought against the mortgagee
  107  or mortgage servicer to enforce the requirements of this
  108  subsection is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs.
  109         (3)(2)Within 60 days after the unpaid balance Whenever the
  110  amount of money due on a any mortgage, lien, or judgment has
  111  been fully paid to the person or party entitled to the payment
  112  thereof, the mortgagee, creditor, or assignee, or the attorney
  113  of record in the case of a judgment, to whom the payment was
  114  made, shall execute in writing an instrument acknowledging
  115  satisfaction of the mortgage, lien, or judgment; and have the
  116  instrument acknowledged, or proven, and send it or cause it to
  117  be sent for recording duly entered in the official records of
  118  the proper county; and. Within 60 days after the date of receipt
  119  of the full payment of the mortgage, lien, or judgment, the
  120  person required to acknowledge satisfaction of the mortgage,
  121  lien, or judgment shall send or cause to be sent the recorded
  122  satisfaction to the person who has made the full payment. In the
  123  case of a civil action arising out of this section, The
  124  prevailing party in a civil action brought against the creditor
  125  or assignee, or the attorney of record in the case of a
  126  judgment, to enforce the requirements of this subsection is
  127  entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs.
  128         (4)(3)When Whenever a writ of execution has been issued,
  129  docketed, and indexed with a sheriff and the judgment upon which
  130  it was issued has been fully paid, it is the responsibility of
  131  the person party receiving payment to request, in writing,
  132  addressed to the sheriff, return of the writ of execution as
  133  fully satisfied.
  134         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
  135  (2) of section 701.041, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  136         701.041 Title insurer; mortgage release certificate.—
  137         (1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
  138         (a) “Estoppel letter” means a statement containing, at a
  139  minimum, the information required in s. 701.04(1)(b) of the
  140  amount of:
  141         1.The unpaid balance of a loan secured by a mortgage,
  142  including principal, interest, and any other charges properly
  143  due under or secured by the mortgage.
  144         2.Interest on a per-day basis for the unpaid balance.
  145         (2) CERTIFICATE OF RELEASE.—An officer or duly appointed
  146  agent of a title insurer may, on behalf of a mortgagor or a
  147  person who acquired from the mortgagor title to all or a part of
  148  the property described in a mortgage, execute a certificate of
  149  release that complies with the requirements of this section and
  150  record the certificate of release in the real property records
  151  of each county in which the mortgage is recorded if a
  152  satisfaction or release of the mortgage has not been executed
  153  and recorded after the date payment in full of the loan properly
  154  due under or secured by the mortgage was made in accordance with
  155  an estoppel letter a payoff statement furnished by the mortgagee
  156  or the mortgage servicer.
  157         Section 3. The Legislature finds that the timeliness and
  158  accuracy of an estoppel letter is critical because the parties
  159  to a real estate transaction must rely on the estoppel letter to
  160  establish the loan payoff amount necessary to release the
  161  mortgage, which in turn will allow the owner to confer clean
  162  title to a buyer or to refinance the property. The Legislature
  163  further finds that estoppel letters increasingly contain
  164  conditional language disclaiming the ability of an owner to rely
  165  on the stated loan payoff amounts, extending even to the return
  166  of such payments submitted by owners, creating unnecessary
  167  delays in the efficient operation of the state’s real estate
  168  market, which is a vital economic contributor to the state, and
  169  imposing needless costs and burdens on property owners and
  170  buyers. Additionally, the Legislature finds that real estate
  171  lending, mortgages, real estate transactions, and estoppel
  172  letters are extensively regulated under both state and federal
  173  law. The Legislature finds and determines that this act makes
  174  changes to state law that appropriately balance the parties’
  175  interests, are reasonable and necessary to serve and achieve an
  176  important state interest, are necessary for the prosperity and
  177  welfare of the state and its property owners and inhabitants,
  178  and must be applied to existing mortgages in order to provide
  179  effective relief.
  180         Section 4. This act applies to all mortgages, and all loans
  181  secured by such mortgages, existing as of, or entered into on or
  182  after, October 1, 2022.
  183         Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2022.
  184  
  185  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  186  And the title is amended as follows:
  187         Delete lines 18 - 36
  188  and insert:
  189         providing methods for sending a corrected estoppel
  190         letter; prohibiting the mortgagee or mortgage servicer
  191         from denying the accuracy of certain information
  192         provided in an estoppel letter under certain
  193         circumstances; prohibiting payments received pursuant
  194         to an estoppel letter from being returned and
  195         requiring such payments to be promptly applied to any
  196         unpaid balance of the loan properly due under or
  197         secured by a mortgage; providing methods for sending a
  198         written request for an estoppel letter and for sending
  199         an estoppel letter; providing that the mortgagee or
  200         mortgage servicer is not required to pay for a common
  201         carrier delivery service; requiring the mortgagee or
  202         mortgage servicer to take certain actions within a
  203         specified time after the unpaid balance of a loan
  204         properly secured by a mortgage has been fully paid or
  205         paid pursuant to an estoppel letter; authorizing
  206         reasonable attorney fees and costs; amending s.