See you around, bank!!

June 29, 2012 7:39 AM

Paying off the mortgage - what do I need to make sure the mortgage company/bank/whoever does?

So I pay off the last of my mortgage, and hurray I'm free! Or at least I'm about to. So what does the bank need to do then? Do they file some paperwork somewhere? What do I need to check on/check for?

I'm embarrassed that I'm a lawyer and I don't even know the answers to this.

posted by mrs. taters to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Likely, depending on your location/county, they'd file discharge papers with the registrar of deeds and you would receive paperwork (deed/title/etc) showing clear and free ownership of the house. I imagine they'd also notify your town that you'll be paying your taxes directly instead of in escrow (if that was the previous arrangement).
posted by jerseygirl at 7:43 AM on June 29, 2012

Yup, what jerseygirl said. Also, in addition to paying your taxes directly, you might be escrowing for your homeowner's insurance, so call your agent if that's the case so they can bill you directly.

Check with your lender, you may be due some money back for PMI (if you paid it long after you had paid down the first 20% of your note...you'd be surprised how often this happens.)

Congratulations!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:53 AM on June 29, 2012

In most U.S. counties, you'll get a satisfaction of mortgage/release of lien, with a recorder of deeds file-stamp, indicating it's been recorded properly. In addition to language stating the mortgage is satisfied and discharged, it should have the legal description of the property, the identification of the mortgage being released (including the date of recording and the document number of the originally recorded mortgage). Many mortgage companies send their satisfaction of mortgage/release of lien with a cover letter, explaining that you have fulfilled your obligation and they have released their lien and recorded the documentation. If you receive a satisfaction/release without a recorder of deeds file-stamp/document number, you *must* record the release in your local recorder of deeds/registrar of titles as soon as possible. I am unaware of any county that issues a new deed for the property when a lien is released, but everyone does things a little differently.

It's a fairly automatic process most places, however.

Around here (Cook County) the tax assessor won't get any specific notification, but in Cook County, you would have been getting your tax bill personally, regardless of whether your taxes were escrowed and the mortgagor was also being billed for the taxes.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:02 AM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Check with the title company that handled the closing and title insurance. They should be able to handle a lot of this for a reasonable fee. IANAL, but personally, having someone who has done it before would make me feel more confident about getting it right. Its not something where you want to discover a mistake as you get ready to sell.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 8:35 AM on June 29, 2012

Make sure to get the original, canceled note returned to you.
posted by mikewas at 6:57 AM on June 30, 2012