Seen your neighbours doing cartwheels round the garden recently?
and spraying bottles of champagne about like Lewis Hamilton?
If you have, it’s probably because they have been lucky enough to have paid off their mortgage. That is a major achievement in anyone’s book and, like a lot of such achievements, the question that follows is – what now?
Now you are Mortgage free
Some lenders will write and send you the title deeds for your property which they may well have been holding onto; others say that they will only send the title deeds to solicitors nominated by you to act on your behalf. Why? Well, when you take out a mortgage you will normally sign what is called a Standard Security over the property. This deed is registered against the title to the property and is effectively a means to ensure that the lender is repaid the money in the event of a sale of the property and also gives the lender the right to repossess the property where mortgage payments have not been maintained.
Removing the Standard Security
Once a mortgage is paid off, the borrower is entitled to have that Standard Security removed from the title to the property. This is done with a deed called a Discharge which is signed by the lender and is then registered against the title to the property. There is a cost involved in this.
Safekeeping your Title Deeds
The other matter to consider is what you are going to do with the title deeds. Many banks will charge a safe custody fee for keeping title deeds; you can keep them yourself (but I wouldn’t recommend it); or (wait for the drum roll) most solicitors will not charge for storing your title deeds and they are usually able to do so in secure, fireproof cabinets.
Yet another reason to go and see your friendly, local solicitor. Give us a call.