Vermont Mortgage Deed (Spouses or Civil Union Partners)

This fillable Vermont mortgage deed names two mortgagors who are spouses or civil union partners of each other. Both partners sign, and both acknowledge the deed before a notary public, so the security instrument the lender receives carries the joinder that Vermont's homestead and tenancy by the entirety rules contemplate for a married couple's real estate.

Both partners join in one security instrument

Vermont couples commonly hold their real estate as tenants by the entirety, the marital co-ownership under which neither partner holds a separable share that can be encumbered alone. A civil union carries the same property incidents as a marriage under 15 V.S.A. Section 1204, including eligibility to hold real property as tenants by the entirety. Vermont's homestead statute, 27 V.S.A. Section 141, adds a second rule: a married owner's conveyance of a homestead interest is inoperative as to the homestead unless the owner's spouse joins in the execution and acknowledgment, apart from a purchase money mortgage given at the time of purchase. This mortgage form answers both rules on its face. It recites that the two mortgagors are spouses or civil union partners of each other, and it carries a signature line and an acknowledgment certificate for each of them.

Security now, a void conveyance at payoff

Vermont treats the granting of a mortgage as a conveyance of legal title to the lender, subject to the borrower's right to redeem. Because Title 27 supplies no general statutory mortgage form, this deed states the traditional Vermont mechanics expressly: a granting clause conveying the property to the lender as security for the promissory note, express covenants of seisin, right to convey, freedom from encumbrances except as stated, and warranty, and the defeasance condition under which the conveyance becomes void once the secured debt is paid and every other secured obligation is performed. The deed also points to the discharge statutes, 27 V.S.A. Sections 461 through 464a, under which the mortgagee of record executes and delivers a discharge within 30 days after full performance.

What the form carries

Numbered sections collect the two mortgagors' names and addresses, the lender's name and address, the principal amount and dates from the promissory note, the town or city and county where the land lies, the legal description, the street address, the source of title, and existing encumbrances. A secured obligation paragraph defines what the deed secures: the note, interest, other amounts payable under the note, and the mortgagors' covenants. Two signature blocks with printed name and date lines follow, and the form carries a separate acknowledgment certificate for each mortgagor, so the two signers may acknowledge on different dates or before different notaries. The form recites exactly two mortgagors who are spouses or civil union partners of each other; a sole owner's home loan mortgage and a mortgage granted by co-owners who are not married or in a civil union with each other present different recital patterns, and this form is not set up as either.

Recording with the town clerk

Vermont records land instruments by town and city rather than by county, so the completed deed goes to the clerk of the municipality where the property is located, at the statewide fee of $15 per page under 32 V.S.A. Section 1671. Recording is what gives the mortgage its reach: under 27 V.S.A. Section 342, a mortgage that is not acknowledged and recorded is not effectual to hold the estate against anyone but the grantor and the grantor's heirs. A mortgage deed also travels lighter at the recording counter than a deed transferring title, because the Vermont property transfer tax return that accompanies a taxable conveyance is not the mortgage deed's category under the Department of Taxes instructions for Form PTT-172.

The download includes the fillable mortgage deed form, a completed example showing a Chittenden County fact pattern, and a guide that describes each section of the form, the signing formalities, and town recording. The materials describe Vermont law in general terms and are not legal advice.