what is a payoff home loan letter?

[shacker2762]

What exactly is a homeloan payoff letter? I'm selling my condo and owe about 280K (a slight bit less, actually) in principle. My lawyer asked me to get a payoff letter from the bank and they informed me that yes the principle was 280K but per law we can't state that as the payoff amount as there may be fees, interest, etc. involved. I was told that there are no prepayment penalties so I'm OK there.

So is this just a CYA type of thing? How much more than principle will I need to pay? I've had an interest only loan so far so I know the principle has not gone down.

Let me know what you think.
Hey! Thanks for all the responses. There's a little more information. I hate sounding like a newbie but this is the first place I'm selling. As mentioned below, my payment is due on the 1st (of October, plus the grace is 10 days). I'm closing on the 28th. Now, I've already made my October payment way back on the 4th (since I didn't know when I was closing) so it looks like I'm good since I've already made my payment for the month - I think! :-)

[newjerseyguy]

I think the lender is just saying that the payoff amount is $280K as of that date but may vary slightly depending on exactly when the payment is made.

[ronidl76]

payoffs are affected daily. If you ask for a payoff on your condo as of a certain date, then that's what it will be. But if you ask for a payoff for today, and you don't sell until a week or so, the payoff amount will be different.

[Traverse City Agent]

This is a standard part of the closing process whether done by a title company or an attorney. Basically the pay off $ is projected to the day. You'll have interest for each day that is in addition to the payoff date. So if your payment is due 12/1 and you close 12/5 you'll have interest for those additional days. In addition, if your payment is due on the first of the month but your payment was received on the 5th a few times you'll pay extra due to the payment being late. You may also have late fees for payments received 10+ days after the due date.