Affidavits showing time and debt due
Sec. 3. (a) If the record of a mortgage or vendor's lien to which
this chapter applies does not show the time when the debt or the last
installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien
becomes due:
(1) the original mortgagee;
(2) the owner of the mortgage; or
(3) the owner of a vendor's lien;
may file an affidavit with the recorder of the county where the
mortgage or lien is recorded, stating when the debt becomes due. An
affidavit must be filed under this section not later than twenty (20)
years after the date of the mortgage or lien, or, if the mortgage or lien
contains no date of execution, not later than twenty (20) years from
the date the mortgage or vendor's lien was recorded. Upon the filing
of the affidavit, the recorder shall note in the record of the mortgage
or vendor's lien that an affidavit has been filed, showing the location
where the affidavit is recorded.
(b) The filing of an affidavit under subsection (a) has the same
effect with respect to the duration of the lien of the mortgage or
vendor's lien described in the affidavit and with respect to the time
within which an action may be brought or maintained to foreclose the
mortgage or vendor's lien as though the time of maturity of the debt
or the last installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's
lien had been stated in the mortgage or vendor's lien when recorded.
The affidavit is prima facie evidence of the truth of the averments
contained in the affidavit. The lien of a mortgage or vendor's lien on
the real estate described in the affidavit expires twenty (20) years
after the time when the debt or the last installment of the debt
secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien becomes due, as shown by
the affidavit. Upon the expiration of a mortgage or lien as described
in this section and at the request of the real estate owner, the recorder
of the county in which the affidavit is recorded shall certify on the
record of the mortgage or vendor's lien that the mortgage or vendor's
lien is fully paid and satisfied by lapse of time and that the real estate
is released from the lien.
(c) The recorder shall charge a fee for filing the affidavit in
accordance with the fee schedule established in IC 36-2-7-10.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.13.
Last modified: May 24, 2006