ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

The Financial Side of Home Ownership

Understanding Your Mortgage

Who owns the mortgage on my house?

Traditionally, banks and savings and loan institutions owned most residential mortgages. Today, it's much more common for the original lender to sell the mortgage to an investor, such as a mutual fund or an insurance company. This means that borrowers are usually dealing with a mortgage servicer, rather than the actual person or institution that owns the mortgage.