2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
March 9, 2006 - Introduced by Representative Cullen, cosponsored by Senator
Risser. Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions.
AB1100,1,3 1An Act to repeal 706.05 (8) to (10) (c); to renumber 706.05 (10) (d); and to
2create
706.054 of the statutes; relating to: the Uniform Residential Mortgage
3Satisfaction Act.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, generally a mortgage-holder (mortgagee) must execute and
record a full satisfaction of a mortgage within 30 days after the date on which the
mortgagor completes full performance of the terms of the mortgage. A mortgagee
must record a mortgage satisfaction within seven days after the mortgagor
completes full performance and the mortgagee receives by certified mail a written
request from the mortgagor for a full satisfaction. A mortgagee who fails to respond
to this written request is liable to the mortgagor for damages of $100 for each day that
the violation remains uncorrected, up to a total of $2,000, plus actual damages
resulting from the violation.
This bill repeals these provisions and replaces them with the Uniform
Residential Mortgage Satisfaction Act (URMSA), whose most significant provisions
include the following:
1) A requirement that once the mortgagee has received full payment of a
mortgage loan, the mortgagor has 30 days to prepare and submit for recording a
satisfaction document. No notification to the mortgagee is necessary to trigger this
30-day period. If the mortgagee fails to submit the satisfaction document within this
period, the mortgagee is generally liable for any actual damages proximately caused
by its failure. URMSA also specifies the minimal amount of information necessary
for a satisfaction to be recorded.

2) URMSA imposes an affirmative duty on a mortgagee to provide a payoff
statement within 10 days of a proper request, specifies the minimal content for a
payoff-statement, and clarifies the persons that may request a payoff statement.
URMSA also provides that a mortgagee that issues a payoff statement that contains
an erroneous payoff amount may not enforce a mortgage against a person who has
reasonably and detrimentally relied upon the erroneous payoff amount.
3) URMSA allows a satisfaction agent to prepare and record on behalf of the
mortgagor an affidavit of satisfaction for a residential mortgage but only after first
giving notice to the mortgagee and giving the mortgagee 30 days to record a
satisfaction or object that the secured obligation remains unsatisfied. If the
mortgagee raises a timely objection, this option is not available, but if the mortgagee
fails to raise a timely objection, the satisfaction agent may generally record an
affidavit of satisfaction, which constitutes a satisfaction of the mortgage.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB1100, s. 1 1Section 1. 706.05 (8) to (10) (c) of the statutes are repealed.
AB1100, s. 2 2Section 2. 706.05 (10) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 706.05 (10m).
AB1100, s. 3 3Section 3. 706.054 of the statutes is created to read:
AB1100,2,5 4706.054 Uniform Residential Mortgage Satisfaction Act. (1)
5Definitions. In this section:
AB1100,2,106 (a) "Address for giving a notification" means, for the purpose of a particular
7type of notification, the most recent address provided in a document by the intended
8recipient of the notification to the person giving the notification, unless the person
9giving the notification knows of a more accurate address, in which case the term
10means that address.
AB1100,2,1111 (b) "Day" means calendar day.
AB1100,2,1312 (c) "Document" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or
13that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
AB1100,2,1514 (d) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital,
15magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
AB1100,3,3
1(e) "Entitled person" means a person liable for payment or performance of the
2obligation secured by the real property described in a security instrument, or the
3landowner.
AB1100,3,54 (f) "Good faith" means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable
5commercial standards of fair dealing.
AB1100,3,86 (g) "Landowner" means a person that, before foreclosure, has the right of
7redemption in the real property described in a security instrument. The term does
8not include a person that holds only a lien on the real property.
AB1100,3,109 (h) "Notification" means a document containing information required under
10this section and signed by the person required to provide the information.
AB1100,3,1111 (i) "Payoff amount" means the sum necessary to satisfy a secured obligation.
AB1100,3,1312 (j) "Payoff statement" means a document containing the information specified
13in sub. (4) (d).
AB1100,3,1514 (k) "Recording data" means the volume and page that indicate where a
15document is recorded in the office of the register of deeds.
AB1100,3,1816 (L) "Residential real property" means real property located in this state which
17is used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and is improved by one
18to 4 dwelling units.
AB1100,3,2019 (m) "Satisfaction agent" means a title insurance company or an attorney who
20is licensed to practice in this state and in good standing.
AB1100,3,2521 (n) "Secured creditor" means a person that holds or is the beneficiary of a
22security interest or that is authorized both to receive payments on behalf of a person
23that holds a security interest and to record a satisfaction of the security instrument
24upon receiving full performance of the secured obligation. The term does not include
25a trustee under a security instrument.
AB1100,4,2
1(o) "Secured obligation" means an obligation the payment or performance of
2which is secured by a security interest.
AB1100,4,63 (p) "Security instrument" means an agreement, however denominated, that
4creates or provides for an interest in residential real property to secure payment or
5performance of an obligation, whether or not it also creates or provides for a lien on
6personal property.
AB1100,4,87 (q) "Security interest" means an interest in residential real property created
8by a security instrument.
AB1100,4,119 (r) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a document, to
10execute or adopt a tangible symbol or to attach to or logically associate with the
11document an electronic sound, symbol, or process.
AB1100,4,1412 (s) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
13Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject
14to the jurisdiction of the United States.
AB1100,4,1715 (t) "Submit for recording" means to deliver, with required fees and taxes, a
16document sufficient to be recorded under this section, to the appropriate office of the
17register of deeds.
AB1100,4,19 18(2) Notification; manner of giving and effective date. (a) A person gives a
19notification by doing any of the following:
AB1100,4,2220 1. Depositing it with the United States Postal Service with 1st class postage
21paid or with a commercially reasonable delivery service with cost of delivery
22provided, properly addressed to the recipient's address for giving a notification.
AB1100,4,2523 2. Sending it by facsimile transmission, electronic mail, or other electronic
24transmission to the recipient's address for giving a notification, but only if the
25recipient agreed to receive notification in that manner.
AB1100,5,2
13. Causing it to be received at the address for giving a notification within the
2time that it would have been received if given pursuant to subd. 1.
AB1100,5,33 (b) A notification is effective:
AB1100,5,54 1. The day after it is deposited with a commercially reasonable delivery service
5for overnight delivery.
AB1100,5,86 2. Three days after it is deposited with the United States Postal Service, 1st
7class mail with postage prepaid, or with a commercially reasonable delivery service
8for delivery other than by overnight delivery.
AB1100,5,99 3. The day it is given, if given pursuant to par. (a) 2.
AB1100,5,1110 4. The day it is received, if given by a method other than as provided in par. (a)
111. or 2.
AB1100,5,1612 (c) If this section or a notification given pursuant to this section requires
13performance on or by a certain day and that day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
14holiday under the laws of this state or the United States, the performance is
15sufficient if performed on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
16holiday.
AB1100,5,21 17(3) Document of rescission; effect; liability for wrongful recording. (a) In
18this subsection, "document of rescission" means a document stating that an
19identified satisfaction or affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument was
20recorded erroneously, the secured obligation remains unsatisfied, and the security
21instrument remains in force.
AB1100,5,2522 (b) If a person records a satisfaction or affidavit of satisfaction of a security
23instrument in error, the person may execute and record a document of rescission.
24Upon recording, the document rescinds an erroneously recorded satisfaction or
25affidavit.
AB1100,6,2
1(c) A recorded document of rescission has no effect on the rights of any of the
2following:
AB1100,6,53 1. A person that acquired an interest in the real property described in a security
4instrument after the recording of the satisfaction or affidavit of satisfaction of the
5security instrument and before the recording of the document of rescission.
AB1100,6,76 2. A person that would otherwise have priority over or take free of the lien
7created by the security instrument under this chapter.
AB1100,6,108 (d) A person that erroneously or wrongfully records a document of rescission
9is liable to any person injured thereby for the actual damages caused by the recording
10and reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
AB1100,6,15 11(4) Payoff statement; request and content. (a) An entitled person, or an agent
12authorized by an entitled person to request a payoff statement, may give to the
13secured creditor a notification requesting a payoff statement for a specified payoff
14date not more than 30 days after the notification is given. The notification must
15contain all of the following:
AB1100,6,1616 1. The entitled person's name.
AB1100,6,1917 2. If given by a person other than an entitled person, the name of the person
18giving the notification and a statement that the person is an authorized agent of the
19entitled person.
AB1100,6,2120 3. A direction whether the statement is to be sent to the entitled person or that
21person's authorized agent.
AB1100,6,2222 4. The address to which the creditor must send the statement.
AB1100,6,2423 5. Sufficient information to enable the creditor to identify the secured
24obligation and the real property encumbered by the security interest.
AB1100,7,4
1(b) If a notification under par. (a) directs the secured creditor to send the payoff
2statement to a person identified as an authorized agent of the entitled person, the
3secured creditor shall send the statement to the agent, unless the secured creditor
4knows that the entitled person has not authorized the request.
AB1100,7,135 (c) Within 10 days after the effective date of a notification that complies with
6par. (a), the secured creditor shall issue a payoff statement and send it as directed
7under sub. (2) (a). A secured creditor that sends a payoff statement to the entitled
8person or the authorized agent may not claim that the notification did not satisfy par.
9(a). If the person to whom the notification is given once held an interest in the secured
10obligation but has since assigned that interest, the person need not send a payoff
11statement but shall give a notification of the assignment to the person to whom the
12payoff statement otherwise would have been sent, providing the name and address
13of the assignee.
AB1100,7,1414 (d) A payoff statement must contain all of the following:
AB1100,7,1715 1. The date on which it was prepared and the payoff amount as of that date,
16including the amount by type of each fee, charge, or other sum included within the
17payoff amount.
AB1100,7,1918 2. The information reasonably necessary to calculate the payoff amount as of
19the requested payoff date, including the per diem interest amount.
AB1100,7,2120 3. The payment cutoff time, if any, the address or place where payment must
21be made, and any limitation as to the authorized method of payment.
AB1100,7,2322 (e) A payoff statement may contain the amount of any fees authorized under
23this section not included in the payoff amount.
AB1100,8,424 (f) A secured creditor may not qualify a payoff amount or state that it is subject
25to change before the payoff date unless the payoff statement provides information

1sufficient to permit the entitled person or the person's authorized agent to request
2an updated payoff amount at no charge and to obtain that updated payoff amount
3during the secured creditor's normal business hours on the payoff date or the
4immediately preceding business day.
AB1100,8,95 (g) A secured creditor must provide upon request one payoff statement without
6charge during any 6-month period. A secured creditor may charge a fee not more
7than $25 for each additional payoff statement requested during that 6-month
8period. However, a secured creditor may not charge a fee for providing an updated
9payoff amount under par. (f) or a corrected payoff statement under sub. (5) (a).
AB1100,8,1310 (h) Unless the security instrument provides otherwise, a secured creditor is not
11required to send a payoff statement by means other than 1st class mail. If the
12creditor agrees to send a statement by another means, it may charge a reasonable
13fee for complying with the requested manner of delivery.
AB1100,8,2014 (i) Except as otherwise provided in sub. (8), if a secured creditor to which a
15notification has been given pursuant to par. (a) does not send a timely payoff
16statement that substantially complies with par. (d), the creditor is liable to the
17entitled person for any actual damages caused by the failure plus $500, but not
18punitive damages. A creditor that does not pay the damages provided in this
19subsection within 30 days after receipt of a notification demanding payment may
20also be liable for reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
AB1100,9,2 21(5) Understated payoff statement; correction; effect. (a) If a secured
22creditor determines that the payoff amount it provided in a payoff statement was
23understated, the creditor may send a corrected payoff statement. If the entitled
24person or the person's authorized agent receives and has a reasonable opportunity

1to act upon a corrected payoff statement before making payment, the corrected
2statement supersedes an earlier statement.
AB1100,9,53 (b) A secured creditor that sends a payoff statement containing an understated
4payoff amount may not deny the accuracy of the payoff amount as against any person
5that reasonably and detrimentally relies upon the understated payoff amount.
AB1100,9,96 (c) This section does not affect the right of a secured creditor to recover any sum
7that it did not include in a payoff amount from any person liable for payment of the
8secured obligation or limit any claim or defense that a person liable for payment of
9a secured obligation may have under law other than this section.
AB1100,9,17 10(6) Secured creditor to submit satisfaction for recording; liability for
11failure.
(a) A secured creditor shall submit for recording a satisfaction of a security
12instrument within 30 days after the creditor receives full payment or performance
13of the secured obligation. If a security instrument secures a line of credit or future
14advances, the secured obligation is fully performed only if, in addition to full
15payment, the secured creditor has received a notification requesting the creditor to
16terminate the line of credit or containing a statement sufficient to terminate the
17effectiveness of the provision for future advances in the security instrument.
AB1100,9,2118 (b) Except as otherwise provided in sub. (8), a secured creditor that is required
19to submit a satisfaction of a security instrument for recording and does not do so by
20the end of the period specified in par. (a) is liable to the landowner for any actual
21damages caused by the failure, but not punitive damages.
AB1100,9,2522 (c) Except as otherwise provided in par. (d) and in sub. (8), a secured creditor
23that is required to submit a satisfaction of a security instrument for recording and
24does not do so by the end of the period specified in par. (a) is also liable to the
25landowner for $500 and any reasonable attorney's fees and court costs incurred if,

1after the expiration of the period specified in par. (a), the landowner gives the creditor
2a notification, by any method authorized under sub. (2) that provides proof of receipt,
3demanding that the creditor submit a satisfaction for recording and the creditor does
4not submit a satisfaction for recording within 30 days after receipt of the notification.
AB1100,10,75 (d) Paragraph (c) does not apply if the secured creditor received full payment
6or performance of the secured obligation before the effective date of this section ....
7[revisor inserts date].
AB1100,10,9 8(7) Form and effect of satisfaction. (a) A document is a satisfaction of a
9security instrument if all of the following are true:
AB1100,10,1210 1. It identifies the security instrument, the original parties to the security
11instrument, the recording data for the security instrument, and the office in which
12the security instrument is recorded.
AB1100,10,1313 2. It states that the person signing the satisfaction is the secured creditor.
AB1100,10,1614 3. It contains a legal description of the real property identified in the security
15instrument, but only if a legal description is necessary for a satisfaction to be
16properly indexed.
AB1100,10,1817 4. It contains language terminating the effectiveness of the security
18instrument.
AB1100,10,2019 5. It is signed by the secured creditor and authenticated as required by s. 706.06
20or 706.07 for a conveyance of an interest in real property.
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