§ 34-26-5. Liability of mortgagee for failure to discharge, release, or transfer mortgage.
(a) If any mortgagee, his, her or its heirs, executors, administrators, agents, successors,
or assigns, shall not, within ten (10) days after a request made in that behalf and
a tender of all reasonable charges therefor, discharge the mortgage in one of the
modes aforesaid, or otherwise make and execute a release and quitclaim of the estate
so mortgaged, and acknowledge it before some proper officer, or transfer the mortgage
if required under the provisions of § 34-26-4, he, she, or they so refusing shall be liable to make good all damages that shall
accrue for want of the discharge, release, or transfer, to be recovered in a civil
action; and in case judgment shall pass against the party sued, the mortgagee shall
pay the plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees and triple costs upon the suit.
(b) In the event of noncompliance with the provisions of either this section and/or § 34-26-2, the mortgagee shall pay a penalty to the mortgagor for noncompliance in the amount
of fifty dollars ($50.00) for a first day of noncompliance and five dollars ($5.00)
for each day thereafter that the party remains in noncompliance. The mortgagor shall
also be entitled to a reimbursement of reasonable attorney's fees, if applicable,
for the costs incurred by the mortgagor and/or his, her or its attorneys in attempting
to obtain a discharge to which the mortgage was lawfully entitled pursuant to the
provisions of this section and/or § 34-26-2. Demand for penalties and, if applicable, attorney's fees and costs pursuant to this
section may be made to the department of business regulation, in those instances in
which the mortgagee is a regulated institution as defined in Title 19, and the department
shall direct such regulated institutions to pay applicable penalties and reimburse
effected mortgagors for attorneys fees and costs incurred, on confirmed instances
of noncompliance. The department may promulgate rules and regulations governing the
processing of such reimbursement. In those instances in which the mortgagee is not
a regulated institution as defined in Title 19, the Department shall provide the mortgagor
with the name, address and telephone number of the regulatory agency having jurisdiction
over the actions of such mortgagees.
(c) As used herein, the term "first day of noncompliance� shall mean the first day following
the last day for a mortgagee or similar party to discharge the mortgage.