442.558. Transfer fee covenants not to run with title to real property--lien void, when. - Missouri Statutes

Transfer fee covenants not to run with title to real property--lienvoid, when.

442.558. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Transfer", the sale, gift, conveyance, assignment, inheritance,or other transfer of ownership interest in real property located in thisstate;

(2) "Transfer fee", a fee or charge payable upon the transfer of aninterest in real property, or payable for the right to make or accept suchtransfer, regardless of whether the fee or charge is a fixed amount or isdetermined as a percentage of the value of the property, the purchaseprice, or other consideration given for the transfer. "Transfer fee" shallnot include the following:

(a) Any consideration payable by the grantee to the grantor for theinterest in real property being transferred;

(b) Any commission payable to a licensed real estate broker for thetransfer of real property under an agreement between the broker and thegrantor or the grantee;

(c) Any interest, charges, fees, or other amounts payable by aborrower to a lender under a loan secured by a mortgage against realproperty, including but not limited to any fee payable to the lender forconsenting to an assumption of the loan or a transfer of the real propertysubject to the mortgage, any fees or charges payable to the lender forestoppel letters or certificates, and any other consideration allowed bylaw and payable to the lender in connection with the loan;

(d) Any rent, reimbursement, charge, fee, or other amount payable bya lessee to a lessor under a lease, including but not limited to any feepayable to the lessor for consenting to an assignment, subletting,encumbrance, or transfer of the lease;

(e) Any consideration payable to the holder of an option to purchasean interest in real property or the holder of a right of first refusal orfirst offer to purchase an interest in real property for waiving,releasing, or not exercising the option or right upon the transfer of theproperty to another person;

(f) Any tax, fee, charge, assessment, fine, or other amount payableto or imposed by a governmental authority;

(3) "Transfer fee covenant", a declaration or covenant purporting toaffect real property which requires or purports to require the payment of atransfer fee to the declarant or other person specified in the declarationor covenant or to their successors or assigns upon a subsequent transfer ofan interest in the real property.

2. A transfer fee covenant recorded in this state on or afterSeptember 1, 2008, shall not run with the title to real property and is notbinding on or enforceable at law or in equity against any subsequent owner,purchaser, or mortgagee of any interest in real property as an equitableservitude or otherwise. Any lien purporting to secure the payment of atransfer fee under a transfer fee covenant recorded in this state on orafter September 1, 2008, is void and unenforceable.

(L. 2008 S.B. 907)