Paying Off My Primary Mortgage

On May 1, I started sliding into a period of quasi-retirement. There were a few matters to take care of first, however. Today, I mailed in the last payment on my primary mortgage. There is a home equity loan outstanding, so I'm not debt free by any means, but at least the debt is consolidated.

The history of my mortgage hints at some of the turmoil in the mortgage business in the last two decades. I assumed the Norwest mortgage (ARM, 6 to 8%) on Jan. 1, 1998. It was passed on like a hot potato to Wells Fargo in December, 2000, and passed on again for a hot minute to Fleet Mortgage in April, 2001. Was it refinanced in 2001? I can't tell anymore, but from July, 2001 to December, 2002, it was managed by Washington Mutual. The mortgage was refinanced by ABN AMRO mortgage (conventional, 5.375%) in December, 2002, and passed on again to the bargain barn of the American economy, CitiMortgage, in September, 2007, where it's been ever since.

I think my mortgage broke the back of the economy. I apologize. My bad.