Mortgage Registry Tax Corrective Mortgages

No Mortgage Registry Tax (MRT) is due on a mortgage which corrects a mistake in an original mortgage of real property located in Minnesota. This type of document is often referred to as a "corrective mortgage".

Minnesota Statutes 287.04 (2) grants an exemption from the MRT for any mortgage given to correct a mistake in the legal description of the real property put up as security in an original mortgage.

Historically, this exemption has been extended to mortgages that make corrections in the language of an original mortgage besides the legal description. The most common examples:

• The spelling of the mortgagee’s or mortgagor’s names.
• The address of the mortgagee or mortgagor.
• The legal signature of the mortgagee or mortgagor.

In general, any mortgage qualifies for exemption as a corrective mortgage as long as each of the four conditions are met:

• The original mortgage must be identified on the face of the corrective mortgage.
• The original mortgage must remain in existence and not be satisfied.
• The mortgage that makes the correction must be identified as a corrective mortgage.
• The corrective mortgage must not increase the principal debt of the original mortgage.