H. B. 2292
(By Delegate Argento)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §38-12-1 and §38-12-8 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by
adding thereto a new section, designated §38-12-14, all
relating to requiring lien holders to notify the sheriff's
office via written instrument and to record a release in the
county clerk's office within sixty days after the lien has
been satisfied; requiring that the lien be removed from record
upon satisfaction; and providing penalties for failure to
notify the sheriff and county clerk of satisfaction.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §38-12-1 and §38-12-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §38-12-14, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 12. RELEASE AND ASSIGNMENT OF LIENS.
§38-12-1. When release of lien required; requisites thereof.
(a) Every person entitled to the benefit of any lien on any
estate, real or personal, or to the money secured thereby, whether
the lien was created by conveyance, judgment, decree, lis pendens,
notice of attachment, deed of trust, contract or otherwise, shall
be required to furnish and execute an apt and proper written
release thereof free of charge to the debtor whose obligation
secured by such lien has been fully paid and satisfied, if the lien
is of record in the proper county. Such release shall be executed
and furnished to the debtor within thirty days after the debt has
been satisfied. The lienholder shall also send written
notification that the lien has been satisfied to the sheriff's
office in the county where the lien has been recorded within sixty
days after the lien has been satisfied.
(b) Such release of lien shall be executed by the lienholder
and acknowledged before the clerk of the county commission in whose
office the lien is recorded or before such other person authorized
to take acknowledgments of deeds within sixty days after the lien
has been satisfied. Such written release shall be deemed
sufficient if it describe describes the lien to be released by any
words that will identify and show an intent to discharge the same.
Releases may also be made according to the provisions of section
two of this article.
§38-12-8. Recordation of release; effect.
When the release has been so signed and acknowledged, it may
be presented for record to the clerk in whose office the lien
thereby intended to be released is recorded or docketed, and from
and after the time the same is so left for record (which time the
clerk shall indorse thereon) such lien shall be discharged, and
extinguished and removed from the record, unless the lien holder
files an extension, and the estate, of whatever kind, bound or
affected thereby, shall be deemed to be vested in the former owner
or those claiming under him or her, as if such lien had never
existed. Liens that have been satisfied as of July 1, 2005, and
have not been removed from the record may be removed by the county
clerk's office and the county tax department.
§38-12-14.
Penalty for failure of lienholder to notify sheriff's
office or county clerk of satisfaction
.
Any lienholder who, upon satisfaction of a lien, fails to
notify the sheriff and county clerk, as required in section one of
this article, shall be liable to pay a fine of not more than $50
to be assessed by the sheriff.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require lien holders to
notify the sheriff's office via written instrument and to record a
release in the county clerk's office within sixty days after the
lien has been satisfied; require that the lien be removed from
record upon satisfaction; and provide penalties for failure to
notify the sheriff and county clerk of satisfaction.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.