A name and signature affidavit is a sworn, notarized document you sign at your mortgage closing that ties every version of your name appearing in your loan file, credit history, and title records to you as one person. Lenders and title insurers require it because a small mismatch between the name on a deed, a credit report, and a mortgage application can delay funding or spark an ownership dispute years later. Two signatures and an oath make it one of the more legally weighty pages in the closing stack.
What the Document Actually Lists
The title company or closing agent drafts the form from your loan application, credit reports, and the title search on the property. Your full legal name sits at the top, matching your government-issued photo ID exactly. Below that, the form lists every other version of your name that turned up during underwriting or the title examination. These appear as “Also Known As” (AKA) or “Formerly Known As” (FKA) designations.
The variations are usually mundane. A credit bureau might spell out your middle name while your driver’s license shows only an initial. An old deed might carry a suffix like “Jr.” that you dropped years ago. Marriage, divorce, or a legal name change can add a whole different surname. What matters is that every version gets listed, so no one later questions whether the person taking on this mortgage is the same person who shows up in those other records.
If a name changed through marriage or divorce, the lender will typically want supporting paperwork such as a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order before finalizing the affidavit. Fannie Mae’s guidelines treat a name affidavit as a required custodial document whenever a borrower signs under an AKA name or uses a signature that differs significantly from the typed name on the loan.1Fannie Mae. Required Custodial Documents Read the draft carefully before signing. That’s your job at the table, not the notary’s. If a variation is missing or a name is misspelled, speak up before you sign rather than hoping no one notices.
Why There Are Two Signature Blocks
Most closing documents ask for one signature. This one asks for two. The first block is labeled something like “signature as typed” or “signature as printed.” You sign your name to match the formal printed text on the loan documents, character by character. If the mortgage spells out your full middle name, so does your signature here. That creates a verified link between the typed legal name on the mortgage and your handwriting.
The second block asks for your “signature as usually written,” the way you’d sign a check. Most people’s everyday signature is a compressed, half-legible version of their legal name, and that’s fine. This block gives lenders and title companies a baseline sample of your natural handwriting. If anyone later challenges the authenticity of the closing documents, the two samples together make a forgery argument much harder to sustain.
How It Gets Notarized
Because this is a sworn statement rather than a simple agreement, it needs a specific type of notarization called a jurat. That’s different from the acknowledgment used on deeds and many other closing documents. With an acknowledgment, you confirm that you signed voluntarily. With a jurat, the notary places you under oath and you swear that the contents are true. The distinction matters: lying under oath adds perjury to the list of possible consequences.
The mechanics are straightforward. You appear in person before a commissioned notary, who checks your unexpired government-issued photo ID against the name on the affidavit. The notary administers an oath or affirmation and asks you to swear or affirm that the information is truthful. You sign both blocks while the notary watches. The notary completes the jurat certificate with an official seal and signature. Without that certificate, the lender will reject the document and hold up funding.
At most closings, the notary is either the settlement agent or a mobile signing agent hired to handle the full loan package. State law caps notary fees for a single signature in most jurisdictions, generally between a few dollars and $25. The fee for the affidavit is usually bundled into overall closing costs, so you probably won’t see it broken out on your statement.
Signing Remotely
If you can’t sit across from a notary in person, remote online notarization (RON) is now available in most of the country. Over 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing notaries to witness signatures over a live audio-video connection. No comprehensive federal RON law exists yet, though bipartisan legislation called the SECURE Notarization Act has been introduced in Congress.2Congress.gov. H.R.1777 – 119th Congress (2025-2026) – SECURE Notarization Act Until it passes, the rules depend entirely on your state.
The identity checks are more involved than an in-person closing. You’ll typically go through three layers. You hold your government-issued ID up to the camera so the notary can read it. The RON platform runs a credential analysis, using automated algorithms to verify that the ID’s security features are legitimate. Then you complete a knowledge-based authentication (KBA) quiz, answering computer-generated questions drawn from your credit and personal history. Most states require you to answer at least 80 percent correctly. If you fail the first attempt, you can usually retake it once within 24 to 48 hours; a second failure ends the session.
The entire RON session is recorded on audio and video, so the record is far more detailed than a traditional notarization. For a name and signature affidavit specifically, the recording captures both your oath and your signature in real time, which can be strong evidence if the document is ever challenged.
What Happens if You Don’t Sign It
Every piece of real estate has a chain of title stretching back through every prior owner, and the chain is only as strong as the names on the recorded documents. Title examiners routinely find that a name on a 20-year-old deed doesn’t quite match a name on a current credit report or mortgage application. A prior owner used a nickname. A clerk transposed two letters. A marriage changed a surname. These inconsistencies create what title professionals call a “cloud” on the title, meaning there’s enough ambiguity to question whether the seller truly has clear ownership.
The name and signature affidavit is the simplest tool for clearing that cloud. By swearing under oath that “Jane M. Smith,” “Jane Marie Smith,” and “Jane Marie Johnson” are all the same person, you create a recorded public document linking those identities. The county recorder files it alongside the new deed and mortgage, and the chain of title stays continuous for the next buyer.
Without the affidavit, the title insurance company may refuse to issue a policy. That effectively kills the transaction, because no lender will fund a mortgage without title insurance. The alternative for resolving a serious name discrepancy is a quiet title action in court, which can take months and cost several thousand dollars even when nobody contests it. The affidavit solves the same problem in a few minutes at the closing table. It also helps local tax authorities track ownership accurately, so tax bills reach the right person.
Signing Through Someone Else
If you can’t physically attend closing, it’s sometimes possible to have someone else sign for you using a power of attorney (POA). The person you designate, your attorney-in-fact, would execute the affidavit and the rest of the loan package in your place. Simple in theory, complicated in practice.
Call your lender first, not your closing agent. Some lenders refuse a POA on loan documents outright, and others restrict it by loan product. If the lender agrees, the POA has to meet specific requirements: it needs to be notarized, it must reference the property address, and the names on it must match the names on the loan documents exactly.3Fannie Mae. Requirements for Use of a Power of Attorney A general POA giving someone broad authority over your affairs may not be enough. Many lenders and title companies want a specific POA drafted for the transaction.
Even with the right paperwork, expect extra scrutiny. An identity affidavit signed by a representative rather than the borrower raises obvious verification questions, and both the title company and the lender will review the POA closely before accepting the package.
Fixing Errors Caught Later
Mistakes happen. A middle name gets misspelled, a former surname is left off, the printed name doesn’t match the signature block. If someone catches the error before the loan funds, the fix is usually as simple as reprinting the page and re-signing. After closing, it gets harder.
For minor misspellings on the borrower’s printed name, a correction agreement paired with a new name affidavit often fixes the problem without starting over. Fannie Mae’s guidelines allow this approach for simple misspellings, adding a middle initial, or a missing suffix. If the error is more substantial, the lender may require an entirely new promissory note.4Fannie Mae. Correcting Errors in eNotes
For errors on documents already recorded with the county, a scrivener’s affidavit is the standard remedy. It’s a separate sworn statement in which the person who prepared or discovered the error attests to what went wrong and what the correction should be. The scrivener’s affidavit gets recorded alongside the original document, patching the public record without redoing the underlying deed or mortgage. A court order to correct a recorded document is always an option but is the slowest and most expensive path, usually reserved for errors too significant for an affidavit to fix.
Consequences of False Information
The oath before you sign isn’t ceremonial. Listing false name information on a document used to obtain a mortgage falls under federal fraud statutes with real weight. Under federal law, making a false statement to influence a mortgage lender can result in a fine of up to $1,000,000, a prison sentence of up to 30 years, or both.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally, Renewals and Discounts, Crop Insurance Those maximums are for the worst cases, but even a minor false statement on a sworn affidavit creates exposure to perjury charges at the state level.
In practice, the affidavit is more likely to protect you than trip you up. Honest mistakes on name variations aren’t what prosecutors go after. The people who face consequences are those who use a false identity to obtain a mortgage they wouldn’t otherwise qualify for. If you spot an innocent error at the closing table, flag it and get it corrected. That’s exactly what the document is built for.