Doug,
The Connecticut expedited procedure really works very well. we actually have two procedures...an action to quiet title for liens and mortgages that may be ineffective, but the holder of the lien or mortgage wants to contest the claim of invalidity. This is a normal law suit, and may take a year or two to come to trial. The expedited discharge procedure is much faster. If the mortgage or lien is clearly invalid and not contested the whole procedure can be completed in about 90 days. You first give written notice to the lien/mortgage holder demanding a release sent to him by certified mail return receipt requested. If he fails to release it within thirty 30, you serve and file an application for discharge with the court, and it should come up for a hearing within 60 days thereafter. The holder of the invalid lien/mortgage then pays all of the plaintiff's attorney's fees, marshal's fee and court filing fees if he loses...kind of a game of Texas hold em for the lien holder.
With respect to obtaining missing assignments, the banks seem to take a rather lax approach to complying with the law. I did a closing in September. The old lender was paid, and was supposed to file a missing assignment and release within 30 days. After numerous demands for the release the lender finally filed the release more than 60 days later and the missing assignment after that. The assignment is now recorded out of the chain of tile, and is certain to cause inquiries in future title searches. The lenders don't really seem to be too terribly concerned about daily accrual of fines for late filings of releases.
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