Southeast Minnesota PREP Chapter

Meeting Minutes ~ August 13, 2008

Meeting called to order at 10:05 by Dan Ziebell
Hosted by Kelly Callahan ~ Freeborn County

May Minutes approved

Attendees:

Paul Finseth, Attorney ~ Dunlap & Seeger Law Office / Title Services ~ MN State Bar Association Legislative Committee:
Paul updated those in attendance with information on the Transfer on Death Deed. This is a new deed that became effective on August 1, 2008, which will transfer property upon death of the grantor. The deed is mostly used as an estate planning tool. The grantor reserves 100% interest and control in the property and can sell or revoke at any time prior to death. It is not exempt from medical assistance liens. Clearance from the MN Department of Human Services is required. A “clearance form” is being worked on that would be attached to the Affidavit of Survivorship for recording. The Transfer on Death Deed is exempt from State Deed Tax. No CRV is needed and no pre-approval from the examiner of titles is required on Torrens property. There is clarification needed on how this deed would work with a split. Since there is no tax transfer, the statement regarding where to send tax statements can be filled in with “no change made” as the tax statements will still be sent to the current tax payer. There was discussion regarding the situation in the event of delinquent taxes on the parcel at the time the affidavit & death certificate would be filed. Currently the auditor’s function on affidavits does not include a certification of delinquent taxes. It merely states, “transfer entered”. Paul stated he would be investigating that scenario.

Don Johnson ~ Freeborn Examiner of Titles ~ Examiner Directives:
Mr. Johnson covered the situations that would require a directive from the Torrens Examiner prior to recording. Attached are copies of his handouts. Note that a metro county compiled the handouts and most Examiner of Titles have a fee to review documents. Check with the office regarding fees and if original documents are needed for approval.

Kelly Callahan ~ Affidavit of Lost Mortgage:
Kelly shared some information on the Affidavit of Lost Mortgages that some counties have received to record. As long as they are in recordable form they will be recorded and are subject to MRT. (See attachment.)

Tim Hansen ~ Hansen Law Office ~ Notary Certified Copies:
At the last Prep meeting some of the counties present noted that they have received documents from the Common Wealth of Pennsylvania where a notary is certifying that the document is a true and actual copy of the original. The county recorders were concerned that they should not be recording the documents, as the notary may not hold the original document. Tim stated that per the Notary Statute 507.93, a notary does have the right to certify to a true and correct copy and the document should be accepted for recording. If in question, check with the county where the documents are being submitted to make sure they will accept.

Pam Hameister ~ Olmsted County ~ Mortgage Modifications

Pam spoke to the group on the number of Mortgage Modifications that are being received for recording that reference multiple modifications, amendments, etc. There is one mortgage recorded in Olmsted County that has 319 reference documents due to modifications, amendments, partial releases, etc. She asked the lenders present if there was a reason why a partial release could only reference the original mortgage and the modification that added that land?

County Recorder Updates:
Reminder from the counties that they only fill in the recording information (date recorded and document number) on Assignments, Subordinations, Affidavits, etc. They will not enter the date of the corresponding document. A question was brought up at the last meeting regarding MRT on an Assignment of Rents document. If the Assignment of Rents is submitted for recording after the mortgage has been recorded, the submitter must state the document number of the mortgage it is securing, MRT amount paid, receipt number and date.

Winona ~ New Winona County plat books are available from the recorders office for $22.00 ($23.50 by mail). With the growing issues of identity theft, it is very important that no pertinent personal information is on documents submitted for recording. Social Security numbers, birth dates, etc.

Freeborn ~ Working on having the LandShark system available possibly later this fall.

Dodge ~ Microfilm has been converted to the computer. Not available yet off site as a public portal.

Houston ~ Reminder to send separate checks for recording. Companies are sending in multiple documents with only one check for all recording fees. Checks need to be separate for recording fees, mrt, sdt, and taxes.

Update on foreclosures for 2007 and 2008:

Next meeting:
The next SE MN Prep Meeting will be hosted by Fillmore County on November 12 at 10:00 a.m. Held at the Branding Iron in Preston.

Email topic suggestions to susan.kramer@burnettitle.com

Meeting adjourned.

Susan Kramer
Secretary / SE MN Prep Chapter