Section 34.20.115. Procedure for reconveyance.

   (a) Unless the beneficiary has requested that a title insurance company reconvey a trust deed before the title insurance company mails or delivers the notice under (b) of this section, a title insurance company shall comply with the requirements of this section before reconveying the trust deed.
   (b) Not less than 30 days after payment in full of the obligation secured by a trust deed and receipt of satisfactory evidence of payment in full, a title insurance company shall
        (1) mail, by certified mail with postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the beneficiary and the servicer, a notice of intent to reconvey; the notice shall be sent to the beneficiary's address and the servicer's address
             (A) stated in the trust deed;
             (B) stated in the last recorded assignment of the trust deed, if any;
             (C) shown in a request for notice recorded under (g) of this section; and
             (D) if any, personally known to the title insurance company; or
        (2) hand deliver to the beneficiary and to the servicer a notice of intent to reconvey.
   (c) The notice required by (b) of this section must be in substantially the following form and accompanied by a copy of the reconveyance to be recorded: 
                                                                 
 NOTICE OF INTENT TO RECONVEY                                    
TO: (Beneficiary or servicer for beneficiary)                    
FROM: (Title insurance company)                                  
DATE:______________________                                      
Notice is hereby given to you as follows:                        
   (1) This notice concerns the trust deed described as follows:       
Trustor: ________________________                                
Beneficiary: ________________________                            
Recording information for the trust deed:                        
    Serial number: ____________________                          
    or                                                           
    Book number: ______________________                          
    Page number: ______________________                          
Recording information for current assignment of trust deed:      
    Serial number: ____________________                          
    or                                                           
    Book number: ______________________                          
    Page number: ______________________                          
   (2) The undersigned title insurance company claims to have fully
 paid or received satisfactory evidence of the payment in full of the  
obligation secured by the trust deed described above.                  
   (3) Unless, within 90 days following the date stated above, the     
undersigned has received, by certified mail, return receipt requested, 
directed to the address noted below, a notice stating that you have not
received payment in full of all obligations secured by the trust deed
 or that you otherwise object to reconveyance of the trust deed, the   
undersigned will fully release and reconvey the trust deed under AS    
34.20.115.                                                             
   (4) A copy of the reconveyance or release of the trust deed is      
enclosed with this notice.                                             
 (Title insurance company)                                       
 (Address)                                                       
 (Telephone number)                                              
  (d) After at least 90 days have elapsed after the mailing or   
delivery of the notice of intent to reconvey under (b) of this section,
if a title insurance company has not received an objection to the      
reconveyance, the title insurance company may execute and record a     
reconveyance of the trust deed.                                        
  (e) The reconveyance authorized by (d) of this section must be 
acknowledged under AS 09.63 and be in substantially the following form:
 RECONVEYANCE OF TRUST DEED                                      
________________________, a title insurance company authorized to
transact business in Alaska, does, by this document, reconvey, without 
warranty, to the person or persons legally entitled to the trust       
property, the following trust property covered by a trust deed naming  
________________________ as trustor and ________________________ as    
beneficiary, which was recorded on ________________________ at serial number ____________________________ or at book ______________________ and page ___________________: The following described property located in the                  
________________________ Judicial District, State of Alaska:           
 (Property description)                                          
The undersigned title insurance company certifies that           
   (1) the undersigned title insurance company has fully paid or       
received satisfactory evidence of the payment in full of the obligation
secured by the trust deed;                                             
   (2) not less than 30 days following the payment in full of the trust
deed, the undersigned hand delivered or mailed by certified mail,
 return receipt requested, to the record beneficiary under the trust   
deed and the servicer for the record beneficiary, at the beneficiary's 
and servicer's record addresses, and to any address personally known to
this title insurance company, a notice of intent to reconvey as
 required by AS 34.20.115; and                                         
   (3) at least 90 days have elapsed after the mailing or delivery of  
the notice of intent to reconvey, and the undersigned title insurance  
company has not received an objection to the reconveyance.             
         Dated ____________________________________              
 __________________________________________                      
         (Title insurance company)                               
         (Acknowledgment)                                 
   (f) A reconveyance of a trust deed, when executed and acknowledged in substantially the form prescribed in (e) of this section, may be recorded and, when recorded, constitutes a reconveyance of the trust deed identified in the reconveyance, regardless of any deficiency in the reconveyance procedure that is not disclosed in the recorded reconveyance, except for forgery of the title insurance company's signature. The reconveyance of a trust deed under this section does not discharge a personal obligation that was secured by the trust deed at the time of its reconveyance.
   (g) A person who wants to receive a copy of a notice given under (b) of this section after the deed of trust is recorded and before the reconveyance is recorded under (d) of this section may record a request for a copy of the notice in the office of the recorder in the judicial district in which a part of the real property is located. The request must be acknowledged, must state the name and address of the person requesting the copy of the notice, and must identify the deed of trust by stating the names of the parties to the deed of trust, the date of recordation, and the serial number or book and page numbers where the deed of trust is recorded.
   (h) If, at any point during the procedure required by this section, the beneficiary requests the title insurance company to reconvey the trust deed, the title insurance company is not required to proceed with the rest of the procedure required by this section and may execute and record a reconveyance of the trust deed.
   (i) Except as provided in (a) and (h) of this section, if a title insurance company reconveys a trust deed without having satisfactory evidence of payment in full required under (b) of this section or without providing the prior notice to the beneficiary and the servicer as required under this section, the title insurance company is liable to the beneficiary and to the heirs, successors in interest, representatives, and assigns of the beneficiary for all damages occasioned by the neglect or the wilful act, and the title insurance company is liable to the state for a penalty of $300.
   (j) In this section,
        (1) "beneficiary" means both the record owner of the beneficiary's interest under a trust deed and a successor in interest;
        (2) "satisfactory evidence of payment in full," with regard to an obligation secured by a trust deed or an encumbrance on the property covered by the trust deed, means a payoff letter, or, along with reasonable documentary evidence that the check was intended to effect full payment,
             (A) the original cancelled check; or
             (B) a copy, including a voucher copy, of a check, payable to the beneficiary or a servicer;
        (3) "servicer" means a person who handles, for a beneficiary of a trust deed, the receipt of the beneficiary's payments under the trust deed;
        (4) "title insurance company" means a title insurance company or a title insurance limited producer; in this paragraph, "title insurance company" and "title insurance limited producer" have the meanings given in AS 21.66.480.

Authorities

34.20.115

Notes

References

AS 34.20.115 Procedure for reconveyance.

History

(Sec. 1 ch 113 SLA 2004)