In California, you own the home, with your mortgage owner(s) having first rights to any proceeds from a sale.
Reality: You own the house; the bank holds a lien on the property. Myth: You don't really own your home until the mortgage is paid off.
Simply put, yes; you do own your home. However, your mortgage lender does have interest in the property based on the documents signed at closing.
If Your Name Is On The Deed, You Hold Title to the Property
Unlike a car title, a house title isn't an actual document. It's a theoretical contract that gives you very real rights to the property.
Since you were not able to pay for the property outright though, who technically “owns” the home, you or your mortgage lender? The short answer is that you do. Your name will go on the title and the deed of the house. Your home serves as collateral on the loan, but you own it for most intents and purposes.
The mortgage doesn't actually affect ownership. Even if your house is mortgaged, you still OWN it under the law. It's just that someone else has a lien on it and thus a legal claim against its value. Once that lien is lifted (by paying off the mortgage) then that claim on the value of the house is removed.
If the mortgage is not paid, the creditor can take your house. If you have other types of debt, your home is usually safe. If you own a home and stop paying your mortgage, the creditor can file a foreclosure action and force a sale of your home. You agreed to this when you took out the loan.
With a reverse mortgage, instead of making monthly payments to a lender, homeowners receive proceeds from their loan through cash payments or a line of credit. The entire loan balance of a reverse mortgage typically becomes due when the homeowner dies or moves out of the home.
Once a property is transferred to the bank, the bank may clear the title. Under the bank's ownership, the lender may make necessary structural and cosmetic repairs to the property and even relist it for sale with a real estate company that specializes in foreclosures or with a general real estate company.
Property Deeds
These deeds are also public record and can be found at the city or county recorder's office. Some recorders offices also offer online databases for searching property deeds. A deed search can help determine both current and past owners and any liens on the property.
Any joint owner of a bank account has complete access and rights to the account while you are living and after your death. Pro: Full Access during your lifetime and after your passing. This person will have full access to the account while you are living and could use these funds to pay your bills upon your behalf.
The lender owns the loan and is also called the "note holder" or "holder." Sometime later, the lender might sell the mortgage debt to another entity, which then becomes the new loan owner (holder). Loans are frequently bought and sold in the mortgage industry.
Can the bank rightfully take your house? A lender has the right to seize your home through foreclosure when you stop making payments. During foreclosure, a lender takes over the property, evicts the owner, sells the home at auction, and then collects as much of the balance of the original loan as possible.
A lien on your car is similar to a property lien on your home. With a lien in place, the lienholder has legal claim to the vehicle until you pay off your loan. The title will be released to you after your loan is paid in full. At this point, the legal ownership of the car is transferred from your lender to you.
During the 5 week notice period, the homeowner can stop the foreclosure by making-up all missed payments (including late fees and attorney costs) or working with an attorney to stop the foreclosure process. The only time it is too late to stop a foreclosure is when the property is sold at auction to a new party.
During foreclosure, your home is sold to pay off your outstanding mortgage balance. If the sale nets more than your outstanding mortgage balance, your lender can't keep the excess funds. Put another way, the lender must return the remaining positive equity.
Banks sometimes lock homeowners out of their homes during a foreclosure without the legal right to do so. Learn how you can prevent it. If a home going through a foreclosure is vacant, the foreclosing party can secure the property by changing the locks or boarding up the windows, for example.
Your mortgage doesn't just disappear when you pass away. If you've bequeathed your home to a beneficiary, they'll inherit the balance on your home loan as well as the property itself. If the lender doesn't receive prompt payment, it can impact your credit score or even lead to foreclosure.
Paying off your mortgage is a major milestone: You own your home free and clear.
A full reconveyance is also the same as a deed of reconveyance. It is a document that proves your loan has been paid in full and there is no longer a lien on the property held by a mortgage lender. In California, the deed of reconveyance is known as a full reconveyance form.
Unless you have an allodial title to your property (which is practically nonexistent in the US), you don't really own your home, even if you don't have a mortgage since you have to pay property taxes.
But you might be surprised to learn that even if the property was purchased via a mortgage arrangement, you still own the home. Your name is on the title as the homeowner. The bank or mortgage company owns an interest in the property and the mortgage note itself — but the lender does not own your house.
Can you sell a house with a mortgage before it's paid off? Yes. You don't need your mortgage to be fully paid off in order to sell your house. The important thing to remember is your home equity, which is the difference between your home's current market value and what you still owe on the mortgage.