Vermont Assignment of Mortgage (Executed by Attorney-in-Fact)

One signature appears on this Vermont assignment of mortgage, and it is not the mortgage holder's. The form prepares an assignment of mortgage for Vermont property in which an attorney-in-fact signs for the assignor under a power of attorney, the configuration Vermont law treats with unusual specificity: the instrument has effect only if the power of attorney itself is signed, acknowledged, and recorded in the same land records.

One signature, two recorded instruments

Under 27 V.S.A. Section 305(a), a deed or other conveyance of an interest in land made by virtue of a power of attorney is of no effect, and is not admissible in evidence, unless the power of attorney is signed, acknowledged, and recorded in the office where the deed is required to be recorded. Vermont is a title theory state, so a mortgage is a conveyance of legal title and a mortgage assignment moves an interest in land within the reach of that rule. The form is built around the pairing: Section 2 identifies the attorney-in-fact and the power of attorney by date and recording reference, and the operative section sets the statute's condition out in capital letters where it cannot be overlooked. Section 305(b) preserves the enforceability of a power of attorney executed in another state or jurisdiction in compliance with the law of that state or jurisdiction.

The power of attorney itself is read under the Vermont Uniform Power of Attorney Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 127, in effect since July 1, 2023 and amended in 2024, which supplies an optional general statutory form, a statutory short form for real estate transactions, and a definition of agent that includes a person denominated an attorney-in-fact.

What this assignment recites

The form recites one assignor of record, one attorney-in-fact, and one assignee. The attorney-in-fact signs the single signature line, and one acknowledgment certificate follows, completed in a representative capacity: the notary's certificate names the signer as attorney-in-fact for the assignor. The numbered sections identify the mortgage by its original parties, its date and recording date, and its book and page in the town land records; describe the property as the mortgage describes it; and assign, transfer, and set over the mortgage together with the promissory note it secures and all of the assignor's right, title, and interest. An optional special provisions section carries recourse terms, a partial assignment, or the chain of prior recorded assignments where the mortgage has changed hands before.

Patterns that present this configuration in the record include an individual holder of a seller-financed mortgage whose affairs a family agent manages under a durable power of attorney, and a mortgage holder who is out of state or unavailable when the loan is sold. The form recites exactly one assignor executing through an agent; an assignment signed by the holder personally, or by an entity's officer signing in an office capacity, follows a different execution pattern from the one this form recites.

Recording in a town-by-town state

Vermont records land instruments with town and city clerks; there is no county recording office. The assignment is recorded in the municipality where the mortgage is recorded, at the statewide fee of fifteen dollars per page under 32 V.S.A. Section 1671(a). 24 V.S.A. Section 1158 provides that an assignment of a mortgage shall be duly recorded in the records of the town, and it directs the marginal cross-reference that lets a title searcher find the current holder from the record of the mortgage itself. An assignment of mortgage ordinarily records without a Vermont property transfer tax return, which the Department of Taxes instructions reserve for transfers by deed of title to property. A recorded assignment is also what positions the new holder within Vermont's discharge statutes when the loan later pays off, since those statutes run to the mortgagee or assignee appearing of record.

What the download includes

The package contains the blank assignment of mortgage as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing the entire instrument filled in for a realistic Chittenden County fact pattern, and a plain-language guide that walks through every numbered section, the power of attorney recording step under Section 305, and the town recording process. The materials are informational and are not legal advice; a Vermont attorney can address how these rules operate on a specific mortgage or power of attorney.