Mortgage vs. A Deed of Trust – What’s in a Name?

Mortgage vs Deed of Trust – Have you ever heard the term “I need a mortgage” or “I just refinanced my mortgage” or another other statement that contains the word mortgage? Was the person making that statement talking about a property in California? Was that person you?

The public has a huge misconception when referring to the legal document used in California known as a mortgage when discussing real estate financing. This is due to the fact that there is no such thing as a mortgage in California. Our country is comprised of 50 states with each state having its own unique laws and customs. States are free to adopt whatever type and form of legal real estate documents.

California is known as a “Trust Deed State” which refers to California legislation requiring that for promissory note to be used as a lien on a property it must be secured with a deed of trust.

The word “mortgage” has simply been adopted by California society as the normal and customary way of referring to a deed of trust, whether knowingly or unknowingly. In fact, there is a mortgage company or bank on just about every corner that advertises low rates on mortgages. So even the lenders and banks who lend money to purchase or refinance real estate in California are using the wrong word. There are many other such misconceptions often used customarily in society.

The main differences between a mortgage and a deed of trust are listed as follows:

As you can see the title of the parties to each respective document is referred to differently, but in each document there is a borrower and there is a lender. It’s just the deed of trust that has the 3rd party that a mortgage doesn’t have. The 3rd party to a deed of trust is the trustee. This is the main difference between the two documents.

The trustee has authority “authorized” by the borrower when they signed the deed of trust. A trustee can be a person, a Title Company or even the beneficiary as it is acceptable for the lender to also be the trustee. The trustee handles reconveying the deed of trust when the loan is paid off or processing a foreclosure sale.

The other main distinction between the two documents is in the way a foreclosure is processed. A mortgage requires that a lawsuit is filed in court and the process is handled in a court of law. The process of foreclosing on a deed of trust is by way of a non judicial process known as a trustee sale. This is processed and conducted by the trustee. A trustee sale is processed outside of court. After simply recording several documents, mailing out notices by certified mail and advertizing in the newspaper for 3 weeks a trustee sale can be held on a street corner or on the courthouse steps. The process is fast and simple.

After a foreclosure sale of a mortgage there is a Right of Redemption period for 1 year allowing the borrower the opportunity under certain circumstances to redeem their property. With a deed of trust that is foreclosed on by way of a trustee sale there is no Right of Redemption. Once the property is sold the borrower has no right to redeem their property. Mortgage vs Deed of Trust.

A deed of trust does allow the lender the option to either foreclose judicially or hold a trustee sale. A judicial sale will take about 1 year to complete and a trustee sale only takes 4 months. A judicial sale does provide for a deficiency judgment which allows the lender the option to foreclose on the property and also get a judgment against the borrower. Lenders almost always though choose the trustee sales route since the timeframe is so much shorter and there is no right of redemption.

The trustee to a deed of trust holds “Naked Title with Power of Sale” for the entire term of the loan. If a borrower has a 30 year mortgage the trustee possesses the power of sale for the entire term of the loan. The power of sale provision only becomes effective if the borrower defaults on their payments. The trustee’s power of sale is only removed when the borrower pays off their loan. The trustee will then issue a deed of reconveyance to the borrower. This action releases the deed of trust against the borrower’s property. It is at this point the trustee’s power ceases to exist.

If the borrower makes the monthly payments and eventually pays off their loan then the differences between the documents will have little to no effect on the borrower. Most borrowers will never even realize the differences. Mortgage vs Deed of Trust.

So, in the future, if someone in California tells you they’re getting a mortgage you can let them know what they really mean is they’re getting a deed of trust.