A deed of trust is a legal document that frequently takes the position of the traditional mortgage document. A deed of trust provides a lien collateral as security for a promissory note on a home mortgage. Because of legal filing requirements relating to the deed of trust, the deed of trust is a public document that everyone can get a copy of.
Lender Files
State law requires mortgage lenders to keep a copy of the trust deed in their files. More specifically, in the event the lender initiates foreclosure under a trust deed, then the borrower has the right to demand a copy of the trust deed and a payoff statement below the loan. Therefore, the lender always needs to retain a copy of the trust deed in its own business files.
Trustee Files
The citizenship is an independent third party. The trustee is the person with authority to execute the foreclosure process, on behalf of the lender, in the event the borrower defaults under the trust deed. State legislation requires in order to foreclose that the trustees have a duplicate of the trust deed in their own files.
Borrower Files
No regulation requires that the borrower maintain a copy of the trust deed. It is always a good idea for the borrower to keep a copy. The deed of trust includes import legal provisions and conditions that the borrower may need to refer to. Maintaining a copy also helps to ensure that the lender doesn’t commit fraud by claiming contract provisions that are not really from the first deed of trust.
Recording
State law requires a copy of the deed of trust be listed in the office of the county recorder. The county recorder is a public servant that indexes and files all documents related to property. The documents stored by the county recorder are available for public study and inspection.
Geography
Each county recorder maintains the property records for all property located in that county. Therefore, the deed of trust has to be filed with the county recorder located in precisely the same county where the collateral identified under the trust deed is located. In the event the collateral happens to be located in two or more different counties, the trust deed must be submitted in each of those counties.