Sec. 1. 33 MRSA §551, as amended by PL 1977, c. 100, §§1 and 2, is further amended to read:

§551. Entry on record; neglect to discharge

A mortgage shall only may be discharged by a written instrument acknowledging the satisfaction thereof and signed and acknowledged by the mortgagee or by his executor, administrator the mortgagee's duly authorized officer or agent, personal representative or assignee. The instrument shall must recite the name or identity of the mortgagee and mortgagor, or their successors in interest, authenticated and the record location of the mortgage discharged. The instrument, when recorded, shall have has the same effect as a deed of release duly acknowledged and recorded. If a mortgagee or his executor, administrator or assignee, after full performance of the condition of his mortgage whether before or after breach of such condition, refuses or neglects for 7 days after being thereto requested to make such discharge or to execute and acknowledge a deed of release of the mortgage, he shall be punished by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $50, to be recovered in a civil action.

The mortgagee or the mortgagee's successor in interest no later than 30 days after receipt of full performance of the condition of the mortgage, whether before or after breach of such condition, shall cause the instrument discharging the mortgage to be recorded in the registry of deeds where the mortgage is recorded.

If the mortgagee, or the mortgagee's successor in interest, fails to so record the instrument within the 30-day period, the mortgagee or the mortgagee's successor in interest shall pay to the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successor in interest, interest in an amount equal to the rate of interest in effect on the day prior to receipt of full performance of the mortgage on the original principal amount of the mortgage from the date of receipt of full performance to the date of recording of the instrument of discharge.

If the mortgagee or the mortgagee's successor in interest fails to remit this amount within 7 days of demand by the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successor in interest, the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successor in interest may recover this amount by civil action and the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successor in interest may charge a reasonable attorney's fee that must be added to the amount owed by the mortgagee or the mortgagee's successor in interest, as long as the sum has actually been paid in full or partial discharge of an attorney's fee.