2017 Massachusetts General Laws
PART II REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS
TITLE I TITLE TO REAL PROPERTY
Chapter 183 ALIENATION OF LAND
Section 54D Request for written payoff statement; time for transmittal; contents; corrected statement; penalties; fees
Section 54D. (a) Upon request of 1 or more obligors on a mortgage note, or an authorized person on behalf thereof, a mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder who is receiving payments under a mortgage note or other financial obligation secured by a mortgage described in the payoff request shall provide a written payoff statement sufficient to enable the mortgagor or the authorized person to conclusively make full payment of the outstanding indebtedness under the mortgage note or other financial obligation as of a certain payment date, which shall be specified in the request and which shall be no more than 30 days from the date of the request. The payoff request shall be made in writing but the writing may be provided by facsimile or other electronic forms of transmission as may be requested or authorized by the party from whom the payoff is being requested.
(b) The payoff statement shall be provided to the requesting party within 5 business days of receipt of the request and shall be in written form transmitted to the requesting party by such means as shall ensure receipt by the requesting party within such time period, including facsimile or other electronic transmission, if the request contained the telephone numbers, mailing addresses, electronic mail addresses or other information necessary to enable the provider of the payoff statement to respond within such time period. If only a mailing address is provided, the transmittal of the payoff statement need only be mailed and postmarked within such time period, unless overnight delivery is requested of or chosen by the provider of the payoff statement, in which case the provider of the payoff statement shall deliver the payoff statement to an overnight delivery service within such time period. Unless prohibited by law or the respective loan documents, the payoff statement provider may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of delivery of the payoff statement and the fee may be added to the payoff amount.
(c) The payoff statement shall specify an amount certain, as of the payment date specified in the payoff request, that will pay off any and all indebtedness secured by the mortgage, or a lesser amount as will be sufficient to obtain a partial release of the mortgage, if the requesting party so indicates. The payoff statement shall also include a specific amount of any additional payment which may be due or a specific formula or method for calculating the specific amount that may be due, such as by reference to a per diem amount, in the event the payoff is received later than the payoff date specified in the payoff request; provided, however, that the payoff statement may condition the payoff amount, or any additional payoff amount due beyond the specified payoff date, on any escrow or other disbursements that the mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder may be permitted or required under the terms of the mortgage to make between the payoff date specified in the request and 30 days thereafter; provided, further, that the payoff statement shall specify the nature, amount and anticipated payment date for the disbursements, if known or reasonably ascertainable by the mortgagee, mortgage servicer, or note holder providing the payoff statement. The mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder may impose a time limitation on the validity of the payoff statement of no less than 30 days from issuance. If payment is made in accordance with the payoff statement, the mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder receiving the payment shall be responsible for recording or providing a proper discharge of the mortgage in accordance with subsection (a) of section 55.
(d) If a mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder providing the payoff statement determines that the payoff amount it provided in the payoff statement was inaccurate when provided or has become inaccurate, it may provide a corrected payoff statement to the person to whom the initial payoff statement was sent. If the person receives and has a reasonable opportunity to act upon the corrected payoff statement before making payment, the corrected statement shall supersede the earlier statement. Notwithstanding the provision of a corrected payoff statement, a mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder who provides a payoff statement containing an erroneous payoff amount may not deny the accuracy of the payoff amount as against any person that reasonably and detrimentally relies upon the erroneous payoff amount and shall be bound by the statement for purposes of this section, section 55 and section 15 of chapter 240, provided, however, that, in the case of a mortgage securing a line of credit or future advances, the person or entity providing the payoff statement has received, either with the payoff request or on or before the payoff date specified in the payoff request, a written request signed by 1 or more obligors directing that the line of credit or right to future advances be frozen or terminated. The written request may be made by mail, overnight delivery, facsimile or such other electronic forms of transmission requested or authorized by the payoff statement provider and may be made along with the payoff request or separately. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this section shall not preclude the holder of the note or other financial obligation secured by the mortgage from recovering from the mortgagor any sums that may be due thereunder and remain unpaid, notwithstanding the omission of the sums from the payoff statement.
(e) A mortgagee, mortgage servicer or note holder who fails without reasonable cause to provide a timely payoff statement as required by this section shall be liable to the mortgagor, as that term is defined in section 54, for the greater of $500 or the mortgagor's actual damages caused by the failure, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
(f) One payoff statement may be requested without charge during any 6–month period. For each additional request for a payoff statement made during such 6–month period, the person providing the statement may include therein a reasonable charge.
