Source: http://updates.mwbllp.com/2016_03_06_archive.html
Timestamp: 2020-05-30 15:03:11
Document Index: 669074553

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1301', '§ 1301', '§ 317', '§ 317', '§ 1304', '§ 317', '§ 317', '§ 5301', '§ 5301']

Financial Services Law Developments: 3/6/16 - 3/13/16
A . . . mortgage . . . shall be signed by the . . . mortgagor . . . The signing shall be acknowledged by the . . . mortgagor . . . before a judge or clerk of a court of record in this state, or a county auditor, county engineer, notary public, or mayor, who shall certify the acknowledgement and subscribe the official's name to the certificate of the acknowledgment.
In addition Ohio Rev. Code § 1301.401(B) provides that recording of certain documents constitutes constructive notice:
§ 1301.401(A)(1) names "[a]ny document described or referred to" in Ohio Rev. Code § 317.08. The documents listed in Ohio Rev. Code § 317.08(A)(19) include "[m]ortgages, including amendments, supplements, modifications, and extensions of mortgages . . ."
The Court rejected the borrower's argument that Ohio Rev. Code § 1304.401 only applied to transactions governed by Ohio's Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") because it is located in the portion of the Ohio Revised Code that contains the UCC.
Instead, the Supreme Court of Ohio found that R.C. 1301.401 states that it applies to "any document described in division (A)(1)" of the section. R.C. 1304.401(A)(1) states that documents described in § 317.08 are included in its purview. In turn, R.C. § 317.08(A)(19) explicitly includes mortgages. Therefore, the Court held that R.C. 1304.401 applies to all recorded mortgages in Ohio based on the unambiguous statutory language.
The Court also disagreed with the borrower's argument that a mortgage does not provide constructive notice if it is not properly executed under Ohio Rev. Code § 5301.25(A). The Supreme Court of Ohio explained that R.C. 1301.401 does not require that a mortgage be "properly executed" to provide constructive notice, but rather provides that if the document recorded is a "mortgage" then notice of its contents is provided.
Last, the Court also rejected the borrowers' argument that under Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5301.01(B) and 5301.23(B) constructive notice is not provided for defectively executed mortgages. The Supreme Court of Ohio noted that those statutes set forth two instances where defectively executed mortgages provide constructive notice. However, the Court reasoned that this did not preclude the legislature from "recognizing other instances in which the recording of a defectively executed mortgage can provide constructive notice" and thus R.C. 1301.401 was compatible with the provisions of R.C. 5301.01(B) and 5301.23(B).
Posted by Ralph T. Wutscher at 10:15 AM