DEAR BENNY: I will be soon paying off (in its entirety) the mortgage on my home. For your information, I have been current on my payments throughout the 10-year term. The mortgage company is a credit union, and I intend to continue residing in my home.

Upon full and complete payment of all that is due on my part, is the mortgage company obliged to record a release of the mortgage (deed of trust) in the land registry of the county or execute a promissory note release? What can/should I expect from the mortgage company in proof of the full and complete payoff? –D.S.

DEAR D.S.: Yours is a legitimate question I get from many readers. First, the process is the same whether you obtained your loan from a bank, a credit union or a mortgage broker/banker. You signed a promissory note and a deed of trust (in some states it was a mortgage). The deed of trust (or mortgage) was recorded among the land records in the jurisdiction where your property is located.

Now that you have paid it off, some document must be recorded among those same land records reflecting that the loan has been paid in full. Some places this is called a “release,” while others call it a “satisfaction.”