This might sound like quite a silly question, but most people are simply unaware that paying off your mortgage doesn’t automatically clear the title to your home. When you take out a mortgage to help you buy your house or if you re-mortgage your existing home, your lender will insist on taking a Standard Security over the title to your property. When you have repaid your mortgage, the Standard Security needs to be legally discharged.
What is a Standard Security?
A Standard Security is a legal document lenders use to secure their interest in your property. It is a document you sign when you take out a mortgage from a lender and it is registered in the Land Register against the title to your house.
The lender can use the powers contained in the Standard Security to repossess and sell the house if you breach the conditions of your mortgage or stop making repayments.
The Standard Security is shown as a charge against your property in the Securities Section (Section C) of your Title Sheet. When you repay your mortgage, you must discharge the Standard Security form the Title Sheet to clear your title.
How do you discharge a Standard Security?
Once you have repaid your mortgage, you should instruct your solicitor to contact your lender to arrange to have the Standard Security discharged.
Your solicitor will prepare a Discharge document and send this to your lender for execution. Your lender may charge a fee for executing the Discharge.
When the Discharge is returned to your solicitor, they will then send it to the Registers of Scotland for registration. The effect of registration of the Discharge is that it removes the Standard Security from the Securities Section of your Title Sheet. This then means that you have a clear title which is not encumbered by a charge. In other words, you own the property outright.
What should you do if you’ve repaid your mortgage?
If you’ve repaid your mortgage, you should contact us. Please provide us with the details of your lender and mortgage account number, and, if you’ve received a letter from them confirming that your mortgage has been repaid, please give us a copy.
It is important to deal with this when you have repaid your mortgage because over time, it might take longer to arrange a Discharge, if, for instance, your lender has merged with another lender and they might be difficult to trace. When that happens, it can cause delay should you wish to sell, re-mortgage your house or enter into an equity release scheme.
Property specialists in Dunfermline and Kinross, Fife
Our solicitors deal with all aspects of residential property on a daily basis in Dunfermline and Kinross, throughout Fife.
If you have repaid your mortgage, they will be able to help with the discharge promptly and without any fuss. They can also look after any other sale or purchase and answer any property related questions you might have. Just get in touch with us and let us know how we can help.
