Virginia · Va. Code §55.1-339Virginia certificate of satisfaction: releasing a paid-off deed of trust

When a debt secured by a Virginia deed of trust or other lien is paid, the lien creditor issues a certificate of satisfaction in recordable form (Va. Code §55.1-339(B)(1)). If a settlement agent asks for it by notice to the address in the payoff statement, the creditor provides it to the settlement agent within 90 days after receiving the notice; otherwise the creditor delivers it to the clerk's office with the recording fee within 90 days after payment. A creditor that misses the 90 days forfeits $500 to the borrower; if that isn't paid within 10 business days after a written demand by certified mail, the creditor also pays court costs and reasonable attorney fees – and no settlement agent or attorney may take an assignment of the $500. A later holder of the note has the same duty (§55.1-339(B)(2)). The certificate, with the creditor's affidavit that the debt was paid, operates as a release and, for a deed of trust, a reconveyance (§55.1-339(C)–(D)). A settlement agent that paid the debt, or the title insurer, may also release the lien itself: it sends the creditor a notice of intent to release with the payoff letter, and if no objection or notice of a recorded release arrives within 90 days, it records a certificate of satisfaction with its affidavit and a copy of the notice (§55.1-339(E)).