Sec. 3. (a) If the record of a mortgage or vendor's lien to which this chapter applies does not show the time when the debt or the last installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien becomes due:
(1) the original mortgagee;
(2) the owner of the mortgage; or
(3) the owner of a vendor's lien;
may file an affidavit with the recorder of the county where the mortgage or vendor's lien is recorded, stating when the debt becomes due.
(b) An affidavit must be filed under this section not later than the following:
(1) If the mortgage or vendor's lien was created before July 1, 2012, not later than twenty (20) years after:
(A) the date on which the mortgage or vendor's lien was executed; or
(B) if the mortgage or vendor's lien does not contain the date on which the mortgage or vendor's lien was executed, the date on which the mortgage or vendor's lien was recorded.
(2) If the mortgage or vendor's lien was created after June 30, 2012, ten (10) years after the date of execution of the mortgage or vendor's lien, or, if the mortgage or vendor's lien contains no date of execution, not later than ten (10) years from the date the mortgage or vendor's lien was recorded.
Upon the filing of the affidavit, the recorder shall note in the record of the mortgage or vendor's lien that an affidavit has been filed, showing the location where the affidavit is recorded.
(c) The filing of an affidavit under subsection (a) has the same effect with respect to the duration of the mortgage or vendor's lien described in the affidavit and with respect to the time within which an action may be brought to foreclose the mortgage or vendor's lien as though the time of maturity of the debt or the last installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien had been stated in the mortgage or vendor's lien when recorded. The affidavit is prima facie evidence of the truth of the averments contained in the affidavit.
(d) A mortgage or vendor's lien on the real estate described in the affidavit expires as follows:
(1) If the mortgage or vendor's lien was created before July 1, 2012, twenty (20) years after the date on which the debt or the last installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien becomes due, as shown by the affidavit.
(2) If the mortgage or vendor's lien was created after June 30, 2012, ten (10) years after the time when the debt or the last installment of the debt secured by the mortgage or vendor's lien becomes due, as shown by the affidavit.
Upon the expiration of a mortgage or vendor's lien as described in this section and at the request of the real estate owner, the recorder of the county in which the affidavit is recorded shall certify by cross reference to the record of the mortgage or vendor's lien that the mortgage or vendor's lien is fully paid and satisfied by lapse of time and that the real estate is released from the mortgage or vendor's lien.
(e) The recorder shall charge a fee for filing the affidavit in accordance with the fee schedule established in IC 36-2-7-10.
[Pre-2002 Recodification Citation: 32-8-4-3.]
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.13. Amended by P.L.130-2012, SEC.3; P.L.18-2013, SEC.3; P.L.196-2019, SEC.4.