Resources > Glossary > Assignment

Glossary of Notary Public, Mortgage, Signing Agent, and Loan Signing Terms.

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Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Assignment

Phonetics: as·sign·ment    \ə-'sīn-mənt\

Function: noun

Loans and mortgages are typically sold from one party to the other. Some companies specialize in originating loans, and then sell the loan to another company that specializes in holding loans. Additionally, there are other companies that engage in the maintenance and service on loans including customer service, collecting payments, and any other work that has to do with the day to day operations in maintaining a loan. One issue involved in assigning loans, is that the companies that buy loans are very picky. If a loan is not signed with exactly the right name variation, or if the appraisal amount is slightly higher than what they find acceptable, they might be very likely to refuse to purchase the loan. This picky attitude causes loan origination companies to be very particular about how loans are signed.

One issue with loan assignment which has been devestating for our economy has been that lenders tend to not have a long range sense of responsibility for the loans they sell. Lenders will be happy to make a fast dollar, and if the borrower defaults on their loan ten years later because they bit off more than they could chew, the lender has been long removed from the picture.

Definition 1:
An assignment is the transfer of a mortgage from one person to another.

Definition 2:
A written document that serves as evidence of a transfer of a loan obligation from the original borrower to a third party.