A refinance guide to closing, with your name on it.

What happens between the application and the funding

1. The file opens. Your lender sends us the refinance request. We acknowledge it the same business day and put the closing window on the calendar.
2. Title is searched and examined. You already own the property, but the record is examined again. The last full look was when you bought it, and things happen in between.
3. Payoffs are ordered and verified. We request a payoff statement from every lender with a lien on the property and confirm it by telephone, never from an email alone. The figure includes interest through the day the loan actually funds, so it is not the same as your balance today.
4. The commitment is issued and reviewed by a Pennsylvania attorney before anyone relies on it.
5. You sign. Usually under an hour, at our office, your lender’s office, or by arrangement.
6. The right to cancel runs. On most refinances of a home you live in, three business days pass before anything moves. See below.
7. The loan funds and the old loan is paid off. We send the payoff, record the new mortgage, and the satisfaction of the old one is recorded after your prior lender issues it.

The three-day right to cancel

On most refinances of a home you live in, federal law gives you three business days after signing to cancel the loan. Nothing disburses and no payoff goes out until that window closes, so a Monday signing typically funds later that week. Saturdays count toward the three days; Sundays and federal holidays do not.

It generally does not apply to a loan on a second home or an investment property. Your lender will tell you whether it applies to your loan, and we will tell you the funding date before you sign rather than after.

Keep paying your current mortgage

This one costs people money every year. Your existing loan is not paid off on the day you sign — it is paid off when the new loan funds, which is several days later. If a payment comes due in between, make it. Skipping it can mean a late fee and a credit-reporting problem on a loan you are in the middle of replacing. Ask us or your loan officer if you are not sure.

What to bring

• A current, unexpired government-issued photo ID for everyone signing.
• Your homeowner’s insurance information, if your lender has not already collected it.
• Anything your lender asked you to bring. Their list is their own.
• If anyone is signing under a power of attorney, the original — approved by us and the lender in advance, not produced at the table.

Everyone on the deed signs, and everyone on the loan signs. If you are married and only one of you is on the deed, say so early so we can confirm with your lender who needs to be there.

The one rule about money

After closing

• Your escrow refund comes separately. Your old lender returns the balance of your escrow account, typically within a few weeks of the payoff. It is not credited at closing, so do not assume it was lost.
• The satisfaction takes time to record. Your prior lender issues a satisfaction of the old mortgage after it is paid, and it is recorded at the county. Weeks, not days.
• Your owner’s title policy from when you bought the home is still in force. Refinancing does not replace it and does not cancel it. The new policy the lender requires protects the lender only. If you never bought an owner’s policy, ask us — it is worth a conversation.
• Watch for the mail that harvests the public record. Within weeks you will likely get official-looking letters offering a copy of your deed for $90 or more, and mortgage-protection mailers quoting your real new loan amount. Real correspondence comes from us, your lender, or the county.
• Sign up for your county’s free deed alert. It emails you whenever a document is recorded in your name. Links for every county we serve are at wpsettlement.com/closing-safety.

What actually delays a refinance

• A home-equity line paid down to zero but never closed. The single most common one. The line stays open, so the lien does not release. Closing it takes a written request to the bank and a little time — tell us the day the file opens, not the week of closing.
• A prior mortgage that was paid off years ago but never satisfied of record, often from a bank that no longer exists.
• A deceased co-owner whose estate was never administered.
• A judgment indexed against a name similar to yours, which has to be cleared as not you.
• A name on your ID that does not match the name on the deed, with nothing documenting the change.

None of these are unusual out here, and all of them are faster to fix in week one than in week four.

Questions before then?

Ask your loan officer, or call William Penn Settlement at 724-733-7700. We would rather answer a question early than fix a surprise at the table.