What should a payoff request to a mortgage servicer include, for title agencies?

A written request that names the current servicer, attaches a signed borrower authorization naming the title company, and includes the loan number, the property address, a requested payoff or closing date, and where to send the statement. Send it through the portal, fax, or address that servicer published for payoffs.

This is for the closer or processor at a 5-to-30-person title agency or attorney-closing firm on Qualia, SoftPro, ResWare or RamQuest who is building the packet that starts the servicer’s clock.

A payoff request is the written packet the shop sends. A payoff statement, also called a payoff letter or payoff demand, is what comes back: the amount that pays the loan in full as of a specified date. 12 CFR 1026.36(c)(3), read 2026-10-09, is the federal definition. How long a mortgage servicer has to send a payoff statement is that clock. This page is what has to be in the request so the clock actually starts.

What to put in the request

Log the packet on the file in Qualia, SoftPro, ResWare or RamQuest. The CFPB’s official interpretation of § 1026.36(c)(3) (Supplement I, Comment 36(c)(3)-1 and -2, read 2026-10-09) lets the servicer verify identity and authorization, and name the channel, before the reasonable-time period begins. A fax without those items has not started.

Item	Why it is on the request
Signed borrower authorization naming this agency	Clock does not start until the servicer verifies who is asking
Borrower name or names as they appear on the note	A missing co-borrower is a usual bounce
Loan number from the monthly statement	Wrong number, or a “we cannot locate” reply
Property address	Same
Current servicer, not the originator	A prior holder is not required to send the statement
Requested payoff or closing date	The letter needs a specified date and a good-through window
Where to send the statement	Portal, fax, or the payoff email the servicer published
Agency name, file number, and a callback number already on the file	So the letter lands on the right closer
Per diem, and a figure good through a few days past the contract date	Funding slips. A quote good through Friday is thin cover on Monday
HELOC freeze instruction, if the loan is a line of credit	The borrower can still draw after you order the letter

Ask for a payoff statement, not a current balance. North Carolina’s G.S. 45-36.7 (read 2026-10-09) lists the same core and caps the requested payoff date at 30 days out.

What to leave off

Item	Why it delays or fails
Phone-only request	The federal clock runs from a written request
Request to the originator or a goodbye-letter 1-800	Wrong servicer. Confirm who is on the monthly statement
“Current balance as of today”	Not the statement a closer can wire from
Full Social Security number in an unencrypted email	Last-four is what many portals use to match the loan
The title company’s own wiring instructions	Those are not part of the request
A fax or email that arrived this morning asking you to hurry	Use the channel already on the file
A verbal quote treated as the request	File note, not a statement

A second lien is a separate request. Order it when the file opens.

Authorization is what starts the clock

Comment 36(c)(3)-1 says a person acting on behalf of the consumer may include an attorney or a creditor refinancing the loan. It does not name title companies as a separate class. The shop fits only as a person acting on behalf of the consumer, which is why the servicer requires a signed authorization naming the agency before the clock runs.

Trustmark’s third-party authorization and payoff request form (read 2026-10-09) is a live packet of those same fields. It expires the authorization in 90 days and assesses a $5.00 fax fee to the borrower’s loan. If closing slips past 90 days, get a fresh signature.

California Civil Code § 2943 (read 2026-10-09) lets the beneficiary require reasonable proof that the requester is an entitled person or an authorized agent. A writing signed by the entitled person appointing the agent, delivered personally or by registered return-receipt mail, is that proof. A licensed escrowholder is an entitled person. Florida § 701.04 (read 2026-10-09) adds that a request from someone other than the mortgagor must include a copy of the instrument showing title or other lawful authorization, and the servicer must notify the mortgagor.

Where to send it

Comment 36(c)(3)-2 lets the servicer specify a mailing address, email, fax, or other reasonable method. If the request skips that channel, a longer timeframe is reasonable. Texas Finance Code § 343.106 and 7 TAC § 155.2 (read 2026-10-09) require a written request to the designated channel that names the mortgagor, the property, and the proposed closing date. The statement has to be valid through that date.

Channel	Use it	Skip it
Servicer portal or fax already on the file for that lender	Yes	A new portal login that arrived with a rush email
Payoff email or address published on the monthly statement	Yes	Customer-service 1-800 as the only send
Servicer’s third-party or title-company form	Yes	A generic letter with no authorization attached
Borrower-downloaded statement from their own login	Useful copy. Still untrusted until callback	Treating it as the verified letter

HELOC, seconds, and servicing transfers

A HELOC still needs the freeze. Put the freeze instruction in the same packet, and do not wire until the line is frozen.

If servicing transferred, confirm who is on the monthly statement before you send anything. A prior holder is not required to send the statement. Use the new loan number. The old number is why shops get “this loan is paid in full” on a transfer.

Foreclosure, bankruptcy, reverse-mortgage, and collection-attorney payoffs run long. Order them when the file opens.

State overlays

Federal law is the floor on a consumer dwelling loan. A state statute can add a form or extra proof. The rows below are only the statutes read for this page. Other states differ. Check the underwriter’s bulletin and counsel. This is not legal advice.

Place	What the request has to carry	What else
Federal	Written request, in the channel the servicer named, with authorization the servicer can verify	Seven business days after that, on a consumer dwelling loan, including a HELOC on a dwelling
North Carolina	The G.S. 45-36.7 list, including a payoff date no more than 30 days out	Ten days to issue the statement. One statement per six months without charge
Texas	Mortgagor name, property address or legal description, proposed closing date, to the designated channel	Statement valid through that closing date. Corrections by the second business day before it
California	Written demand by an entitled person or authorized agent, plus proof of that status if asked	21-day state clock. Use the shorter federal clock on a consumer mortgage
Florida	Written request to the address or system the servicer made available; copy of authorization if the requester is not the mortgagor	Ten-day estoppel letter with unpaid balance and per-day interest

On a North Carolina file, do not pick a payoff date 45 days out. On a Texas file, the proposed closing date is not optional.

When the letter comes back

The payoff statement is also a wire-instruction document. Treat the numbers on it as untrusted until someone at the agency, by name, has called the servicer back at a number already on the file, never the number printed on the letter that just arrived. Do not post the letter or the wires into Qualia, SoftPro, ResWare or RamQuest until that named person approves them. How a title company should verify payoff wire instructions is that job.

If the letter is still out after a complete request, what to do when the servicer will not send it is the chase. Resend the same complete packet. Do not close on a verbal quote.

Pull the files closing in the next 30 days. Confirm each has a signed authorization naming the agency, the current servicer on the monthly statement, the loan number, a payoff date that still covers the contract, and the portal or fax that servicer named. Resend any packet missing one of those, and log the sent date on the file that afternoon.