Renewing efforts to protect home buyers, sellers, land title agents and insurers, Rep. Glen Grell (R-Cumberland) has reintroduced legislation (House Bill 2097) that would require lending institutions to provide timely and accurate mortgage pay off statements for settlement of real estate transactions.
“It is in the best interest of all parties involved to have prompt and reliable information during the closing of a real estate transaction,” Grell said. “There have been occasions where months after selling a home the parties are surprised that the prior mortgage was not satisfied, due to inaccurate information in a payoff statement. This puts the buyer and seller at risk for serious legal and financial consequences.”
Grell noted that there have been incidents where lending institutions have revised or modified the payoff statement after a settlement occurred. He has been working with representatives of the effected industries to draft fair and workable procedures to address these problems.
“When executing a transaction of this importance and finality, it is imperative that buyers, sellers and title agents can rely on the information given on the payoff statement,” Grell said. “My legislation would put into law the process for requesting and providing a mortgage payoff statement.”
Grell’s legislation would apply to residential properties of four or fewer units. It requires the lender to provide a written payoff statement within 10 business days of the request and imposes limits on lender fees for providing the statement. No further claims could be asserted against the property after a settlement if the payoff statement was provided in accordance with the procedures outlined in his bill.
“The essence of my legislation is to create a process that is both efficient and reliable during the transfer of real estate,” Grell said.
Grell’s bill has been referred to by the House Commerce Committee for consideration.
Rep. Glen Grell
87th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(717) 783-2063
Contact: Tim Eller
(717) 260-6242
Member site: RepGrell.com
Caucus site: PAHouseGOP.com
