So I whittled down my house note to the point where I have enough cash to just pay it off early and be done with it. Yay!
I asked my lender for a "payoff" statement, which provides an accounting of how much I would owe including last minute interest accruals as of the day I intend to make the last payment.
To my surprise there is a $16 "Recording Fee". Okay, it is not much money, but I don't remember agreeing to any such thing. In fact the loan documents (with another bank originally) specifically said there was no prepayment penalty on the loan. I feel like they are just sneaking in something they have no right to.
Questions:
1) What is a recording fee exactly? Is that a normal thing for home loan payoffs?
2) Are they just calling it a fee instead of a prepayment penalty to jump through a loophole and stick it to me anyway?
3) Would I likely have had to pay this when I made my last payment anyway or does this have something to do with the fact that I am paying it off early?
