Bulletin: DC000015

Dear Associates:

The new release law for the District of Columbia became effective as of the end of April. For all practical purposes, it gives the District Curative provisions for unreleased, old mortgages and deeds of trust which are quite similar to those in Maryland and adds new ways to do releases. DC now has a 12 year rule whereby a deed of trust or mortgage is presumed released 12 years after the maturity date of the promissory note or indebtedness (with certain exceptions as noted in the law, the main exception being that it does not apply if there is a foreclosure under the subject deed of trust or mortgage ongoing at the expiration of the 12 years). DC now has a 35 year rule whereby a mortgage or deed of trust is presumed released at the expiration of 35 years from the date of recording of the instrument, this being similar to the 40 year rule in Maryland.

In addition to the above provisions of a curative nature for old, matured but still unreleased instruments, the new law, also like Maryland, now permits the following instruments to be used as a release in addition to the traditional trustee's release:

(1) ORIGINAL PAID AND CANCELED PROMISSORY NOTE recorded along with a statement of the holder of the note or an officer of a title insurance company or a validly licensed title insurance agent which disbursed funds in payment of the promissory note properly identifying the note and stating under the penalties of perjury that it has been paid and satisfied;

(2) CERTIFICATE OF SATISFACTION (both full and partial release being permitted) with a form approved and promulgated.

The new law applies to mortgages and deeds of trust which are in the land records at the present time such that, for example, a 1950 trust which called for the promissory note to be fully matured in 1960 would no longer be a lien under both the 12 year and the 35 year rules.

Copies of the law as passed (believed to be codified as Section 45-718.2 of the DC Code) are available from our office. The forms as promulgated by the Recorder of Deeds are available through the reference section at the end of this bulletin. The implementation letter from the recorder of deeds is attached as Exhibit A.