Mortgage

The single most common analytical error with mortgage data is treating each recorded instrument as a separate debt. An origination plus two assignments plus a modification is one loan wearing four documents; summed naively it makes a building look three times more levered than it is. The second most common error is the mirror image: missing the satisfaction, so a loan paid off years ago still haunts the stack.

Both errors are resolution failures, and both are why debt here is presented as a history rather than a number: every position expands to its instruments, in order, each with its document id.

What the record actually contains

Borrower / mortgagor

Usually the deed holder. Co-borrowers on the instrument are a powerful identity signal across entities.

Lender / mortgagee

The originating party. After assignments, frequently no longer the holder.

Principal

The original recorded amount. Amortization is not public; anyone showing a “current balance” from records alone is estimating.

Recorded date

Start of the paper trail; with a stated term, the basis for maturity.

Jurisdiction notes

New York records mortgages with a mortgage recording tax, which discourages refinancing and encourages CEMAs (consolidation agreements). instruments that splice loans together and confuse naive pipelines. Florida and New Jersey record more plainly, but satisfaction practices and publication lag differ by county.