Underwriting Manual: IN 12.28.4 Mortgages - Requisites for a Valid Mortgage - Electronic Records

A valid mortgage must be worded in substance as "A.B. mortgages and warrants to C.D. (here describe the premises) to secure the repayment of (here recite the sum for which mortgage is granted or notes or other evidence of debt and date of repayment." "Warrants" may be omitted and the mortgage will still be good without the warranty.  I.C. 32-29-1-5.  Indiana enacted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (IC § 26-2-8-101 et seq.) to govern "electronic record or electronic signatures created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored after June 30, 2000. IC § 26-2-8-302. Because a deed and mortgage require a writing with the execution or signature of the grantor or mortgagor (See IC § 32-21-1-13; I.C. 32-17-1-2), the writing and signature requirements are satisfied with respect to an electronic record if the electronic record includes the grantor's or mortgagor's electronic signature. IC § 26-2-8-106. An electronic record is "a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means." An electronic signature is "an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by the person with the intent to sign the electronic record." IC § 26-2-8-102. In order to be recorded, deeds and mortgages as a electronic record should also contain the electronic signature of a notary with a proper acknowledgment. IC § 26-2-8-110; 32-21-2-3.