Real estate title glossary
What is assignment of mortgage?
Definition
An assignment of mortgage is a recorded document transferring a mortgage from one lender to another; the assignee becomes the holder entitled to payment and to release the loan.
Loans are sold often, and some assignments are never recorded because the loan sits in MERS. A gap in assignments can make it unclear who must sign the release when the loan is paid.
How it shows up in a title search
A search follows each open mortgage's assignments to the current holder; a satisfaction signed by a company that is not in the assignment chain is a red flag.
Guides that go deeper
- Is That Mortgage Actually Open? Satisfactions, Assignments and CEMAsA recorded mortgage never leaves the record. Only a satisfaction closes it, an assignment does not, and a CEMA hides old mortgages inside a new one.
- Mortgage Search by Address: How to Find Who Holds a Mortgage on a PropertyHow a mortgage search by address works: turn the address into a parcel and owner, search recorded mortgages and assignments, and find a servicer or loan owner.
- Satisfaction of Mortgage: What It Is, Deadlines by State, and How to Confirm OneWhat a satisfaction of mortgage is, how long a lender has to record one in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Arizona, and how to confirm it is in the land records.
Related terms
Book and pageSubordination agreementMERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems)Payoff statementUCC fixture filingAll terms
Source: Legal Information Institute, Wex: assignment. Plain-English summary of general US usage; state law varies, and this is not legal advice.