Paper. Work.

We just refinanced our house, and I think that the pile of paperwork to buy, sell or refinance a home gets taller every time.

Okay, so we sign the papers that tell how much we're borrowing, what our interest rate is, and what our monthly payment will be. I understand the need for that. We sign papers that say what our closing costs are, what our taxes will be, what our homeowners insurance will be. I understand that, too, though since we pay our property taxes and homeowner's insurance every year I'm painfully aware of the amounts. And I'm reminded, once again, that Maryland has some of the highest closing costs in the country.

Then comes the fun stuff: that we live in the home. (Yes, we do.) That we agree to insure and maintain it. (As long as "maintain" doesn't mean "neat and clean.") That we don't secretly have other mortgages or any legal actions where someone could take our house (I'm sure we'd know if we did.) That we received all of the paperwork they sent us prior to the closing. (They certainly sent us a lot of paperwork, so probably, yes.)

Then came the last form, which turned out to be my favorite: the one that says that if they made any mistakes or typos we agree that they can fix them and we'll sign the revised forms.

This must be the mortgage equivalent of the Get Out of Jail Free card.

If only the rest of life had that kind of agreement.