My Mortgage Is Fully Paid Off, So Where Is My Deed?

Q: Several years ago I paid off my mortgage and assumed I would be given an actual deed proving my ownership. But I never got one because everyone I contacted said that having the deal recorded by the city was sufficient. Is this true? And how will I be able to prove my home is really mine when I go to sell it?

A: Marilyn Sanden, senior title officer and executive vice president of Stewart Title Company of Washington, says this is a common question. "People think a mortgage is like a car loan, and once they pay off the loan they get their title. But that's not the way real estate works."

Instead, you get title, formally known as a statutory warranty deed, as soon as you buy the property. Then when your mortgage is paid off, your lender gives you written confirmation of that fact. It's different, however, if you bought your home under private contract with the seller. In that case, Sanden says, "the seller retains title until the buyer pays the loan off. Then the seller should issue a warranty fulfillment deed, and that's the transfer of ownership."

Sanden suspects you'll find a statutory warranty deed in your original home-purchase paperwork. If not, she says most title companies will give you a copy for free. If you want a certified copy, contact the county recorder's office. They'll need the recording number of your deed (again, a title company can help you get this), and the county will charge you according to the number of pages they provide you.

Q: I found the perfect house for me. Then I called the listing agent, and went out and looked at the house on my own. I'm planning on making an offer myself, without having an agent represent me. I know the listing office and the buying office split the commission, but since I intend to be the buying office, can I claim half the commission? If so, how do I do it? And if not, why not?

A: Your aim is to forestall a deal where the listing agent gets 100 percent of the commission when you're willing to do 50 percent of the work, right? While it sounds good in theory it won't fly, says Chris Osborne, attorney representing the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. "It's not a judgment call on the broker's part or the broker being greedy. The reason is that Washington law prohibits a real-estate broker from paying any part of a commission or compensation to someone who is not a licensed broker." Should you want to look it up, the law he's referring to is RCW 18.85.330.

While you can't pocket part of the commission, you can take some comfort from knowing that it's the seller, not you, who generally pays the agent's commission.

Q: In getting my mortgage I have questions about two fees: the tax service fee ($71) and the assignment fee ($20). Are they bogus? They are on my good faith estimate, although my lender told me they would be charged to the seller.

A: Lenders can call their fees whatever they want, and there are no official definitions for the two you mention. Thus your best bet is to ask your lender for an explanation. Otherwise, Mark Thomson, director of consumer services for the state Department of Financial Institutions, thinks the first fee, for tax service, is one your lender will use "to make sure taxes have always been paid on the property." If they have not, the county could lay claim to the property even after you buy it. So it's in your best interest to insure that all taxes have been paid.

As for the second fee, Thomson surmises you may be getting your loan through a mortgage broker, who is charging the $20 to cover the cost of assigning the loan to the actual lender. He says both fees customarily are paid by the borrower. Mortgage lenders must give borrowers a good faith estimate of all closing costs well before the deal is signed. Thomson says it's in your best interest to go over your estimate carefully and question anything you don't understand. Once the deal is closed, you usually can't go back and question what seem to you to be overcharges.

Home Forum answers readers' questions every Sunday in the Home/Real Estate section. Send your questions to Home Forum, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or call 464-8510 to leave questions on Home Forum's recorded line. The e-mail address is erho-new@seatimes.com Sorry, no personal replies.