Trust deed (real estate)
Encyclopedia
In real estate
in the United States
, a trust deed or deed of trust is a deed
wherein legal title
in real property
is transferred to a trustee
, which holds it as security for a loan (debt
) between a borrower and lender. The borrower is referred to as the trustor, while the lender is referred to as the beneficiary of the trust deed.
Transactions involving trust deeds are normally structured so that the lender gives the borrower/trustor the money to buy the property, the seller executes a grant deed giving the property to the trustor, and the borrower/trustor immediately executes a trust deed giving the property to the trustee to be held in trust for the lender/beneficiary. Trust deeds differ from mortgages in that trust deeds always involve at least three parties, where the third party holds the legal title, while in the context of mortgages, the mortgagor gives legal title directly to the mortgagee. In either case, equitable title remains with the borrower.
A trust deed is normally recorded with the recorder or county clerk for the county
where the property is located as evidence of and security for the debt. The act of recording provides constructive notice to the world that the property has been encumbered. When the debt is fully paid, the beneficiary is required by law to promptly direct the trustee to transfer the property back to the trustor by reconveyance, thus releasing the security for the debt.
Trust deeds are the most common instrument used in the financing of real estate purchases in Alaska
, Arizona
, California
, Colorado
, the District of Columbia, Idaho
, Maryland
, Mississippi
, Missouri
, Montana
, Nebraska
, Nevada
, New Mexico
, North Carolina
, Oregon
, Tennessee
, Texas
, Utah
, Virginia
, Washington, and West Virginia
, whereas most other states use mortgages. Besides purchases, deeds of trust can also be used for loans made for other kinds of purposes where real estate is merely offered as collateral, and are also used to secure performance of contracts other than loans.
on the property on behalf of the beneficiary. In most U.S. states, a deed of trust (but not a mortgage) can contain a special "power of sale" clause that permits the trustee to exercise these powers. Here is the standard conveyance clause from a Freddie Mac "uniform instrument":
In the states that enforce "power of sale" clauses, the courts have uniformly held that by executing a deed of trust with a "power of sale" clause, the borrower has authorized the trustee to conduct a nonjudicial foreclosure in the event of default. That is, unlike a mortgage, the lender need not sue the borrower in a state court; instead, the lender/beneficiary merely directs the trustee to mail (or serve, publish, or record) certain notices required by law, culminating in a "trustee's sale" at which the trustee auctions the property to the highest bidder. The borrower's equitable title normally terminates automatically by operation of law (under applicable statutes or case law) at the trustee's sale. The trustee then issues a deed conveying the legal and equitable title to the property in fee simple to the highest bidder. In turn, the successful bidder records the deed and becomes the owner of record. Thus, the advantage of deeds of trust is that the lender can recover the value of the collateral for the loan much more quickly, and without the expense and uncertainty of suing the borrower, which is why lenders overwhelmingly prefer such deeds to mortgages.
The time periods for the "trustee's sale" or "power of sale" foreclosure process vary dramatically between jurisdictions. Some states have very short timelines. For example, in Virginia
, it can be as short as two weeks. In California, a nonjudicial foreclosure takes a minimum of approximately 112 days from start to finish. The process starts only when the lender or trustee records a "notice of default" no matter how long the loan payments have been unpaid. For certain home loans made between 2003 and 2007, because of current economic conditions, California law was amended to add a temporary additional 60 days to the process.
Although a deed of trust usually states that the borrower is making an "irrevocable" transfer to the trustee, it is common in many jurisdictions for borrowers to obtain second and third mortgages or trust deeds that make similar transfers to additional trustees (that is, of a property they already conveyed to the trustee on their first deed of trust). As with mortgages, deeds of trust are subject to the rule "first in time, first in right," meaning that the beneficiary of the first recorded deed of trust may foreclose and wipe out all junior deeds of trust recorded later in time. If this happens, the junior debt still exists, but becomes unsecured. If the debtor has sufficient senior secured claims upon his assets, the junior liens may be wiped out completely in bankruptcy.
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a trust deed or deed of trust is a deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
wherein legal title
Title (property)
Title is a legal term for a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or an equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document that serves as evidence of ownership...
in real property
Real property
In English Common Law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it made by human efforts: any buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, various property rights, and so forth...
is transferred to a trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
, which holds it as security for a loan (debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
) between a borrower and lender. The borrower is referred to as the trustor, while the lender is referred to as the beneficiary of the trust deed.
Transactions involving trust deeds are normally structured so that the lender gives the borrower/trustor the money to buy the property, the seller executes a grant deed giving the property to the trustor, and the borrower/trustor immediately executes a trust deed giving the property to the trustee to be held in trust for the lender/beneficiary. Trust deeds differ from mortgages in that trust deeds always involve at least three parties, where the third party holds the legal title, while in the context of mortgages, the mortgagor gives legal title directly to the mortgagee. In either case, equitable title remains with the borrower.
A trust deed is normally recorded with the recorder or county clerk for the county
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
where the property is located as evidence of and security for the debt. The act of recording provides constructive notice to the world that the property has been encumbered. When the debt is fully paid, the beneficiary is required by law to promptly direct the trustee to transfer the property back to the trustor by reconveyance, thus releasing the security for the debt.
Trust deeds are the most common instrument used in the financing of real estate purchases in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, the District of Columbia, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Washington, and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, whereas most other states use mortgages. Besides purchases, deeds of trust can also be used for loans made for other kinds of purposes where real estate is merely offered as collateral, and are also used to secure performance of contracts other than loans.
Power of sale and trustee's sale
A deed of trust has a crucial advantage over a mortgage. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the trustee has the power to forecloseForeclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
on the property on behalf of the beneficiary. In most U.S. states, a deed of trust (but not a mortgage) can contain a special "power of sale" clause that permits the trustee to exercise these powers. Here is the standard conveyance clause from a Freddie Mac "uniform instrument":
In the states that enforce "power of sale" clauses, the courts have uniformly held that by executing a deed of trust with a "power of sale" clause, the borrower has authorized the trustee to conduct a nonjudicial foreclosure in the event of default. That is, unlike a mortgage, the lender need not sue the borrower in a state court; instead, the lender/beneficiary merely directs the trustee to mail (or serve, publish, or record) certain notices required by law, culminating in a "trustee's sale" at which the trustee auctions the property to the highest bidder. The borrower's equitable title normally terminates automatically by operation of law (under applicable statutes or case law) at the trustee's sale. The trustee then issues a deed conveying the legal and equitable title to the property in fee simple to the highest bidder. In turn, the successful bidder records the deed and becomes the owner of record. Thus, the advantage of deeds of trust is that the lender can recover the value of the collateral for the loan much more quickly, and without the expense and uncertainty of suing the borrower, which is why lenders overwhelmingly prefer such deeds to mortgages.
The time periods for the "trustee's sale" or "power of sale" foreclosure process vary dramatically between jurisdictions. Some states have very short timelines. For example, in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, it can be as short as two weeks. In California, a nonjudicial foreclosure takes a minimum of approximately 112 days from start to finish. The process starts only when the lender or trustee records a "notice of default" no matter how long the loan payments have been unpaid. For certain home loans made between 2003 and 2007, because of current economic conditions, California law was amended to add a temporary additional 60 days to the process.
Terminology
Though a mortgage is technically an entirely different legal instrument, trust deeds are frequently called mortgages in the real estate loan business due to the functional similarity between trust deeds and mortgages.Although a deed of trust usually states that the borrower is making an "irrevocable" transfer to the trustee, it is common in many jurisdictions for borrowers to obtain second and third mortgages or trust deeds that make similar transfers to additional trustees (that is, of a property they already conveyed to the trustee on their first deed of trust). As with mortgages, deeds of trust are subject to the rule "first in time, first in right," meaning that the beneficiary of the first recorded deed of trust may foreclose and wipe out all junior deeds of trust recorded later in time. If this happens, the junior debt still exists, but becomes unsecured. If the debtor has sufficient senior secured claims upon his assets, the junior liens may be wiped out completely in bankruptcy.