2021 Georgia Code
Title 44 - Property
Chapter 14 - Mortgages, Conveyances to Secure Debt, and Liens
Article 7 - Foreclosure
Part 1 - In General
§ 44-14-160. Filing of Foreclosure and Deed Under Power; Penalty for Late Payment

1. Within 90 days of a foreclosure sale, all deeds under power shall be filed by the holder of a deed to secure debt or a mortgage with the clerk of the superior court of the county or counties in which the foreclosed property is located. The clerk shall record and cross reference the deed under power to the deed to secure debt or mortgage foreclosed upon. The deed under power shall be indexed pursuant to standards promulgated by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority.
2. In the event the deed under power is not filed within 30 days after the time period set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section, the holder shall be required to pay a late filing penalty of $500.00 upon filing in addition to the required filing fees provided for in subsection (f) of Code Section 15-6-77. Such late filing penalty shall be collected by the clerk of the superior court before filing.
3. The sums collected as a late filing penalty under subsection (b) of this Code section shall be remitted to the governing authority of the county. If the foreclosed property is located within a municipality, the governing authority of the county shall remit the late filing penalty for such property to the governing authority of such municipality within 30 days of its receipt of the penalty. For each late filing penalty for property located within the corporate limits of a municipality, the governing authority of the county may withhold a 5 percent administrative processing fee from the remittance to such municipality.

(Ga. L. 1975, p. 422, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 614, § 1/SB 141; Ga. L. 2015, p. 937, § 9/HB 322; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 44/SB 365.)

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, substituted the present first sentence for "When the holder of a deed to secure debt or a mortgage forecloses the same and sells the real property thereby secured under the laws of this state governing foreclosures and sales under power and the purchaser thereof presents to the clerk of the superior court his deed under power to have the same recorded, the" and added "The" at the beginning of the second sentence.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, designated the existing provisions as subsection (a); in subsection (a), substituted "filed" for "recorded" in the middle of the first sentence, and, in the second sentence, substituted "record and cross reference the deed under power to" for "write in the margin of the page where" and deleted "is recorded the word 'foreclosed' and the deed book and page number on which is recorded the deed under power conveying the real property; provided, however, that, in counties where the clerk keeps the records affecting real estate on microfilm, the notation provided for in this Code section shall be made in the same manner in the index or other place where the clerk records transfers and cancellations of deeds to secure debt" following "foreclosed upon", and added the last sentence; and added subsections (b) and (c).

The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "Code Section 15-6-77" for "Code Section 15-66-77" at the end of the first sentence of subsection (b).

- For annual survey article on commercial law, see 45 Mercer L. Rev. 87 (1993). For survey article on real property law, see 60 Mercer L. Rev. 345 (2008). For article, "Buying Distressed Commercial Real Estate: What are the Alternatives?," see 16 (No. 4) Ga. St. B.J. 18 (2010). For survey article on real property law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 193 (2015). For annual survey on real property, see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 251 (2017).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Property not sold.

- Under Georgia law, the homeowner had to first show that the homeowner's property was sold at a foreclosure in order to state a plausible claim for wrongful disclosure; because the homeowner did not allege that a foreclosure sale occurred, the homeowner failed to state such a claim. Thomas v. Bank of Am., N.A., 557 Fed. Appx. 873 (11th Cir. 2014)(Unpublished).

- In an action to remove a cloud from title, the trial court properly granted summary judgment to a bank and cancelled a recorded deed in favor of a holder, as: (1) the holder could no longer claim any legal title to the subject property once the underlying debt thereto was paid; (2) no evidence of valid renewal or extension of the note existed; and (3) the holder lacked standing to challenge any foreclosure on the debt. Northwest Carpets, Inc. v. First Nat'l Bank, 280 Ga. 535, 630 S.E.2d 407 (2006).

- Failure to timely file a deed following a foreclosure sale under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-160 was not fatal to the confirmation of the sale; confirmation was to pass upon the notice, advertisement, and regularity of the sale. To the extent that any claim was available to a debtor, the appropriate vehicle was a wrongful foreclosure action. Harper v. Ameris Bank, 326 Ga. App. 67, 755 S.E.2d 872 (2014).

Cited in Gooden v. Buffalo Sav. Bank, 21 Bankr. 456 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 1982); Grissom v. Johnson, 955 F.2d 1440 (11th Cir. 1992).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 59A C.J.S., Mortgages, § 643.

- Posting of notice or other steps preliminary to nonjudicial foreclosure of mortgage or deed of trust as suspending statute limitations, 122 A.L.R. 938.

Recognition of action for damages for wrongful foreclosure - general views, 81 A.L.R.6th 161.

Recognition of action for damages for wrongful foreclosure - types of actions, 82 A.L.R.6th 43.