Senate Bill 125 pertains to certain types of cancellation of mortgages and deeds of trust; the bill was ratified and became effective June 21, 1996; it amended G.S. 45-37(a) and G.S. 47-46.3. "House Bill 459, pertaining to cancellation of deeds of trust, passes," an article in our August, 1995 newsletter by Ed Urban addressed new cancellation statutes at that time.

G.S. 45-37(a)(1) - "acknowledgment of satisfaction"

G.S. 45-37(a)(1) pertains to acknowledgment of satisfaction to the register of deeds by a trustee, mortgagee, legal representative of the trustee, mortgagee or a duly authorized agent or attorney of any of them. The amendment states that the register of deeds is not required to verify or inquire into the authority of the person acknowledging the satisfaction.

G.S. 45-37(a)(2) - "cancellation by exhibition"

G.S. 45-37(a)(2) pertains to cancellation by exhibition of any deed of trust, mortgage, or other instrument. The amendment deleted the requirement that the endorsement of payment and satisfaction be dated before December 31, 1995, and the requirement that in order to use G.S. 45-37(a)(2), the endorsement and satisfaction must be dated. The amendment also deleted the provision that the register of deeds may require an acknowledgment of cancellation.

The amendment added the provision that the register of deeds is not required to verify or inquire about the authority of the person making the endorsement.

G.S. 45-37(a)(5) - "notice of satisfaction" and G.S. 45-37(a)(6) - "certificate of satisfaction by owner of note"

G.S. 45-37(a)(5) pertains to cancellation by means of exhibition to the register of deeds of a form notice of satisfaction. G.S. 45-37(a)(6) permits cancellation of a deed of trust, mortgage or other instrument to be effected by a certificate of satisfaction. Both G.S. 45-37(a)(5) and G.S. 45-37(a)(6) were amended to add the requirement that the document be accompanied by the deed of trust, mortgage or other instrument or a copy of it for verification and indexing purposes, but the instrument will not be recorded with the notice.

G.S. 45-46.3 - form "Affidavit of lost note"

G.S. 47-46.3 was amended to include the date on which the deed of trust, mortgage, or other instrument was satisfied. This amendment makes the affidavit conform more closely to the statute. (A few grammatical changes were made which do not significantly affect the substance of the affidavit.)