Showing correct amount and due date on instruments encumbering or conveying real estate.

Every instrument conveying, encumbering, or creating a lien upon real estate shall set forth in words and figures the correct amount of the note secured by the instrument and the date upon which the note falls due. When the note falls due within three years from the date of the note or from the date of any instrument executed to secure the note, a statement of that fact in lieu of specifying the date upon which the note falls due may be made in the security instrument and shall constitute sufficient compliance with this Code section. The inclusion in the instrument of a provision that the instrument secures all other indebtedness then existing or thereafter incurred shall not require the setting forth in the instrument of existing indebtedness for loans not made on the security of the instrument. History. Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 379, § 6; Ga. L. 1955, p. 293, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-3204, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1843, § 4. OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Intangible property tax on long-term notes secured by real estate is not unconstitutional. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-56. Purpose. — Reason for the requirement that the terms of the note be stated is to enable the clerk of the court and the state revenue commissioner to determine whether the note secured by the instrument presented to the clerk for filing is a long-term or a short-term note, and thus enable the clerk to ascertain and collect the tax. 1954-56 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 787. Classification of demand notes as short-term notes. — For the purposes of classification for intangibles taxation of notes secured by real estate, a true demand note is always a short-term note, and may be classified as such by a statement in the instrument to be filed that the note may fall due within three years from the date of the note or from the date of the instrument to be filed. If a maturity date is set out in the instrument to be filed, the note, regardless of the note’s recitals, is not a demand note, and the tax collector or tax commissioner must classify the note by the date as set out. 1970 Op. Atty Gen. U70-9. RESEARCH REFERENCES C.J.S. 26A C.J.S., Deeds, § 159 et seq. 59 C.J.S., Mortgages, § 248 et seq.