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Original poster

What actually happens when you pay off your mortgage?

149 replies

Mindgone · 30/08/2019 00:21

We had a conversation about this, and neither of us actually knows! What about the deeds of the house? Does the lender have them? Do you need to find a safe place for them? Do you need a solicitor to pay off your mortgage? Genuinely haven’t a clue, so any advice gratefully received.

OP posts:
ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 30/08/2019 22:54

I also have the LR alert set up, it’s really easy to do.

Drabarni · 30/08/2019 22:57

Our deeds are in the loft, Edwardian house so it's like a full history of ownership. Tons of paper and quite interesting historically speaking.

Have a great time celebrating and congratulations. Thanks

Benjispruce · 30/08/2019 23:00

You get a letter from your lender and the title deeds get sent to you. Very miffed that after 20 years of never missing a payment the building society sent us no congratulatory letter, flowers or champagne. Had to buy it ourselves!Shock

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LellyMcKelly · 30/08/2019 23:02

My mum and dad had a ‘Last brick in the wall’ party. They took their kids, partners and all the grandchildren out to a swanky restaurant for a big champagne dinner. It was a great way to celebrate the end of the payments for a house we’d all grown up in and loved (and still love). I fully intend to do the same when I pay off mine (in about 4 million years time!).

june2007 · 30/08/2019 23:02

No deeds there kept on line and cost £50 to get. But very easy to pay off mortgage. AS said above.

Benjispruce · 30/08/2019 23:03

We got our deeds 3 years ago!

NotSorry · 30/08/2019 23:08

Thanks for the advice Scooby that’s what I was interested in - I’ve seen articles in the paper where people have had their houses sold by fraudsters - we paid ours off a couple of years ago, but the mortgage account is still open as I wasn’t sure what to do about the deeds.

Slazengerbag · 30/08/2019 23:12

I have years left on my mortgage but we got the seeds when we moved in. Should I not have them?

blahblahblahblahhh · 30/08/2019 23:14

The mortgage company will inform Land registry - you can then get a copy of the deed in your name from land registry online - think it's £4 for the title deed and £12 for the full deed.

NorbertHerbertGruntfuttock · 30/08/2019 23:20

About five weeks after I paid mine off I got a whopping parcel with all the paperwork and deeds going back to 1708. One piece was on a piece of leather ! I have stored it all with a solicitor.

78percentLindt · 30/08/2019 23:27

I just wanted to reiterate previous poster's advice- ensure that you join up to the Land Registry property alert scheme - we listed our house and parent's houses. You get an alert if there is an enquiry on your property and a quarterly report if there is no activity.
www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud
There is another scheme which costs about £40 if you live in the house- but we reckon that we can act quickly on the alert, although we might reconsider. TBH from what I read, property fraud is more likely if you don't live in the property ( or in the case of DH's parents could be viewed as vulnerable)

78percentLindt · 30/08/2019 23:29

@Slanzengerbag - you probably got a copy of the deeds from your solicitor when you moved in- we did!

gingergiraffe · 31/08/2019 00:01

Paid ours off about ten years ago. I don’t remember anything happening. I just think payments ceased being withdrawn from our account and we were so much better off. When I contacted Nationwide a few months later to query why we had not been sent the deeds I was told they go to Land Registry. However, two years ago we acted as guarantor for our daughter who was renting and we filled in a form to say we owned our house. We were contacted by landlord’s people to say the house was not registered in our names. Seriously wondered what we had been paying for, for the last 25 years! Contacted
Land Registry to find house was still registered in the name of the builder from 1970s and didn’t even mention the names of the previous owner who bought from new and later sold to us. Incredibly, Land Registry said they had not yet updated, but did so while I was on the phone so all is well. I would have liked some piece of paper to actually say we now own the house though!

Solo · 31/08/2019 00:21

I transferred almost the full amount over in the bank then phoned the mortgage lender who told me the final balance and I paid that by debit card. He congratulated me. I put the phone down and cried! A couple of hours later, I opened a bottle of Moet, and drank half of it on my own, by myself, alone. Because that was how I paid for my house. On my own. I'm told they will send me the deeds but, I don't know when.

TheRattleBag · 31/08/2019 00:22

I bought my house in 2006 and was given the old deeds, even though I had a mortgage. Since land registration became compulsory (when houses are sold) in the 1990s (ish) deeds are no longer needed to prove the chain of ownership, so they're a bit redundant apart from as historical curiosities.

One of mine was so pretty I had it framed :-)

I was lucky enough to pay off the mortgage last year, and it was a bit of an anticlimax - just a simple bank transfer, then seeing a zero at the bottom of the mortgage statement online.

Having said that, I took great delight in paying the Land Registry £3 fee a couple of months later for a copy of the title entry showing that there are no charges against the property, and it's mine, all mine!

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 31/08/2019 00:29

About five weeks after I paid mine off I got a whopping parcel with all the paperwork and deeds going back to 1708. One piece was on a piece of leather!

Envy

Sooo jealous! Miffed our bank/solicitors binned ours for a bog standard two up two down - I love genealogy/local history stuff (aka nebby)

Iggity · 31/08/2019 01:03

It’s a bit of an anticlimax. We paid ours off last Christmas, 11 years early. I don’t give it much thought anymore. It was always our one debt and nice to be completely debt free and know we will have a roof over our heads and hopefully be able to leave it to our DS.

soulrunner · 31/08/2019 01:05

I read that in the US, people get the "ball" for the top of their bannister post when the house is paid off. None of my US friends were aware of this though so it can't be that widespread or maybe one of those things that just died out.

Tartyflette · 31/08/2019 01:14

We got sent the deeds for our house (built 1850s so quite old and interesting. )
But it's not on the Land Registry and will cost us £xxx to put it on!
We will do it prior to selling it.

NaomiFromMilkShake · 31/08/2019 01:37

We floated on air for days, nay weeks...

Japanesejazz · 31/08/2019 01:46

Your buyers solicitor will register when you sell it, you only pay the fee your solicitor charges to prepare the epitome. Your buyers will pay the land registry fee. And deeds are not redundant if your property is not registered with land registry, they are the only evidence you actually own the property. Even if you buy a new build hang onto your Transfer, you would be amazed how many times land registry don't hold a full copy or scan on a colour plan in black and white. Sometimes title deeds makes reference to another document which land registry have obviously seen and noted against the property but not retained a copy. Leases are sometimes really badly scanned, so keep any original leases you hold in a safe place. I love clients that have taken care of their property documents, makes my job easier and saves them money.
Lots of new builds come with all the docs on a CD, please don't lose it! Especially if you want to sell before the property is 20 years old.
Electronic deeds can be downloaded from land registry for £3 it's an extra £3 for the title plan. You need to create an account to get them.
OP you will get a letter from your lender confirming that your mortgage has been paid in full and that the lender is returning to you your deeds which were held as security against the property or that as your property is registered with land registry your title deed is stored electronically but we are returning to you any documents we hold. If your property is not registered you can apply for voluntary registration or lodge the deeds with a solicitor or you can store them in a safe place and drive your executors slightly bonkers searching for them when you die!
Congratulations for when you do it, it's an amazing feeling
Sometimes I still wander around my house saying to myself "it's all mine" 😊

Topseyt · 31/08/2019 01:59

We are planning to pay ours off in the next few months.

I just presume we will need a redemption statement from the lender when we have our financial ducks in a row, and will then make the transfer.

With deeds being largely held electronically now, many people who pay of their mortgages probably won't see them unless they ask for them or download them from the Land Registry. It will be best to check that all charges have been removed from the records and that everything is in the correct name, but that is it.

In some cases, usually for older people who have lived in the property for decades, it may be worth checking that the property is actually fully registered on the Land Registry. Not all are, as it didn't become compulsory until sometime in the early 1990s. So people like my own parents, who have been in their house since 1970, may wish to check that.

Otherwise, just have a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the greater financial freedom you are likely to now have.

BrokenLogs · 31/08/2019 02:04

@CouldBeOuting but you don't own your own, you've only paid the interest so why would you get the deeds to it Confused

We've just bought mortgage free. Solicitor is holding our deeds...I think.

Jesaminecollins · 31/08/2019 05:28

The deeds to your house are usually kept online now.

A friend of mine paid of her mortgage and wanted her deeds and was disappointed when a single sheet of paper arrived at her house. I did try to explain that because her house was only a few years old that was all she would get but she kept insisting that her previous property had a big fat file. I then said yes that is because your previous property was built in the 1940s and this house is under 10 years old

lovemenorca · 31/08/2019 05:29

@CouldBeOuting.

Baffled by your experience
Why were you asked to pay the outstanding balance to a different account than the one you’d been paying in to?Confused

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