What Is a Promissory Note in a Mortgage?

Short answer

A promissory note is the document where you personally promise to repay the loan: the amount, interest rate, payment schedule and late charges. The mortgage is a separate document that pledges the home as collateral so the lender can foreclose if you stop paying. In Florida, documentary stamp tax on the debt is $0.35 per $100 (F.S. 201.08, as of November 2026).

Definition

A signed written promise to pay a specific sum on stated terms. In a home loan it creates the debt and your personal liability; the mortgage secures that debt with the property.

Worked example

Example only: a $400,000 purchase loan in Miami. Doc stamps: $400,000 / 100 x $0.35 = $1,400. Florida's nonrecurring intangible tax adds 2 mills: $400,000 x 0.002 = $800. Both appear on your Loan Estimate. The tax is paid on the mortgage when it is recorded, with a notation on the note, and F.S. 201.08(7) says it is not charged twice on the same debt.

Note vs mortgage at a glance

• The note: your promise to pay. It sets the rate, term, payment and late fee, and makes you personally liable.
• The mortgage: the lien on the home. It lets the lender foreclose and holds rules on insurance, taxes, occupancy and the due-on-sale clause.
• Who signs: every borrower signs the note. A spouse who is not on the loan may still sign the mortgage on a Florida homestead.

When a loan is sold, the note is endorsed to the new owner. Your mortgage servicer may change, but your note terms do not.

What happens when you pay it off

The lender records a satisfaction of mortgage in the county records to release the lien, and the note is marked paid. Keep both. If a satisfaction never gets recorded, it can hold up a future sale or refinance.

In South Florida

Florida uses a recorded mortgage, not a deed of trust, as the security document. The note itself is usually not recorded. F.S. 201.08(1)(a) caps the tax at $2,450 for a note that stands alone, but when a mortgage secures the debt the tax is paid on the mortgage at recording, and the statute states no cap for mortgages. That is why doc stamps on a large jumbo loan can be several thousand dollars. See Florida doc stamp tax and intangible tax.