Release of mortgage document shows wrong name. What now?

I was married when I initially bought the house, but have refinanced several times, including once to get my ex’s name off of the mortgage. With this mortgage company, I never used my married name, but somehow, on the mortgage release, they used my hyphenated married last name as if it was my full name.

Is this something I need to get corrected with the county in Texas where I live?

A: We understand your frustration with your lender but we think that you should be OK on this issue. When your lender gave you the loan, the lender took a lien on your home. That lien was in the form of a mortgage and the lender had the mortgage recorded, or filed against the property.

At the time you signed the mortgage loan, you may have been using your maiden name. However, when the lender filed the mortgage lien, it received a recording or filing number from the office that handles the recording or filing of mortgages or loans. Take a look at the release of mortgage that you received after it was filed with the county clerk.

You should notice that the lender referenced your property address, the original amount of the loan, the property tax or parcel number and the filing or recording number. The document should have also shown your name as it appeared on the mortgage on the day you signed it. We suspect that the lender got all the information right, but they changed the name on the release of mortgage from your maiden name to your married name.

You can certainly talk to a real estate attorney in your area about your situation. We suspect, however, that the information on the release of mortgage is sufficient to release the lien of the lender from the home.

You should also check your credit report to make sure that the mortgage lien is showing up as paid in full. Once you see that your credit report shows the mortgage paid in full and the lender recorded the release of the lien on your home, the difference between your married, maiden name and any invented hyphenated name on the release may not matter much. The lien was released from the property and the lender reported the lien paid in full.

While you could try to have the lender record another release of lien, we don’t think the second release would do much for you or your home. If, however, you find that the loan still shows up as unpaid on your credit history, that’s a bigger issue. We want your credit report to show that the loan was paid off in full.

Each credit reporting agency (Equifax, Experian and Transunion) allows you to sign up for a free version of your credit history and their credit score. Or, you can go to annualcreditreport.com and pull a copy from each of these credit reporting agencies. This website is the official website set up by the credit reporting agencies for you to get one report from each of the credit bureaus for free per year. You will be asked if you want to pay for a credit score, but that is not necessary for this purpose.

We hope your credit report shows that the loan is paid. While you’re poking around your credit history, you might also notice that each credit reporting agency shows you other versions of your name that it recognizes as belonging to you. You may see your maiden, married, and hyphenated names there, which means the credit reporting agencies recognize that you have different forms of your name associated with your social security number.

Thanks for your question.

(Ilyce Glink is the author of “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” (4th Edition). She is also the CEO of Best Money Moves, an app that employers provide to employees to measure and dial down financial stress. Samuel J. Tamkin is a Chicago-based real estate attorney. Contact Ilyce and Sam through their website, bestmoneymoves.com.)