Making the Last Mortgage Payment: Steps You Should Follow

It’s finally here.

The day you make the last of your mortgage payments.

Did you ever think you’d see that day? Regardless, you should be proud of what you have accomplished. But you will want to be sure, as you mark this momentous occasion, that all the related details of paying off your mortgage go smoothly.

What steps should you take? Bob Bruss, a real estate lawyer and broker who writes a weekly column on real estate and mortgage issues, offers the following advice, which appears in today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

Be sure to phone the home loan lender a few weeks in advance to determine the exact amount of your final payment - many people don’t know that it might be slightly more or less than your regular payment.

Ask how long the mortgage lender usually takes to process a final payment and send you either the deed of reconveyance (for a deed of trust) or a mortgage satisfaction (for a mortgage payoff).

Please note that this should take no more than 30 days after the home mortgage company receives your payment. If you don’t get it by then, call immediately.

Inquire whether the mortgage lender will record the document ensuring your clear title or if it will be sent to you so you can record it in the county where the property is located.

Follow up in 30 days to be certain you received the promissory note you signed years ago, marked “paid in full,” and make sure the documentation was properly recorded.

Always remember that your mortgage lender has absolutely no financial incentive to take care of clearing the title promptly, so it’s up to you to get it done correctly.

You can hold a symbolic mortgage burning party, but never burn or destroy your actual home mortgage documents. Use something else instead. As for the actual documents, you might want to frame them.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle