October 27, 2023
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discharging a mortgage in scotland
When you are in the fortunate position that your mortgage has been paid off, your mortgage lender will usually contact you to advise you that your account is cleared. They will also give you the opportunity to have the security discharged. You may recall when you arranged your Mortgage that you required to sign a Standard Security which gave the lender a charge over your property as collateral for your debt. The lender then had the right to repossess your home if you failed to comply with your mortgage conditions. Once the loan balance has been repaid, you should arrange for the lender to discharge their Standards Security.
the legal process
of discharging a mortgage
Discharging a mortgage is a legal process which requires instructing a solicitor to prepare a document called a Discharge on your behalf.
The property solicitor will recover the title deeds from the lender which will enable them to draw up a Discharge. The Discharge is then sent to the lender for execution. The lender will sign or seal the deed which acts as a formal receipt confirming that the mortgage has been paid off in full and no further sums are due. The lender will then return the deed to us. When we receive the executed Discharge back from the lender we will then register this with the Registers of Scotland. The effect of this is that the deed removes the Standard Security over your property. The Land Register’s records will then show that there is no mortgage over the property. This process does not require to be carried out immediately after a mortgage is paid off, however most clients prefer to do so as this clears the mortgage from the Land Certificate and shows you have a clear and free title to your home.
Occasionally some lenders will offer to store your title deeds in their safe storage unit in exchange for an annual fee. McSherry Halliday offers a free storage service to clients. We can retain your title deeds to ensure they are kept safe. This prevents the possibility of the deeds being misplaced which is common when they are retained at home. However if clients choose to store their title deeds at home, and deeds are lost or misplaced, we can obtain registered copies if necessary.
If you have received a letter from your lender advising that your mortgage is due to come to an end soon, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can guide you through the process.
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