What actually happens when you pay off your mortgage?

[Mindgone]

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.

We’ve had situations of pre-term closure, either to sell or because of inheritance. Be aware that banks need to be checked on!

In one case we paid off our mortgage with a bridging loan in order to sell (10 days). The buyers’ solicitor insisted on a letter from the mortgage lender saying they would not make any claims to ownership of the house in the time it took to register the mortgage closure. That avoided a potentially tricky but not very likely situation!

In another case we got an income tax query three years after the declaration and had to go back to the lender for documents we had no idea existed, just to prove our case.

In the last case I found out that our in-case-of-death/incapacity mortgage cover insurance was still on standing order 2 years after we’d cleared the mortgage. Our oversight, you could argue, but still...

We paid ours off when the payments were 98% capital (as you know you pay mostly interest in the first few years, bloody banks!) and we looked on it like a savings scheme. But the feeling of freedom when it was gone was great!

Some land is still not registered land in the UK. When my father was ill and old he sensibly registered my parents' house after my mother died. They had bought it in 1961 and then it was unregistered land. He found the deeds he had kept for 50 years in his office and we could get it registered before he died which certainly made it easier once he died as it was by then registered land. If the property is not registered yet then you really do need to be very careful to find and keep the property deeds and documents very carefully indeed in England.

When I paid mine off I cannot remember exactly what happened. I got back something or may be just a letter (it was all registered land) and I did make sure the land registry record shows no mortgage. I cannot remember if I had to pay for that change - the change that the charge is discharged and no longer on the property. Nice feeling after 30 years of paying a mortgage.

I've paid my home 2014. I'm going to request my Deed. Still pay land taxes. At 65 you pay 50%. So far so good.

Hi Mindgone, we just a letter from our mortgage lender to confirm we had paid the balance of the mortgage off, and that the direct debit had been cancelled. We did not receive paper deeds, it’s all electronic records now. House was first sold in 1971, and we bought it in 2007 with a mortgage.Record on land registry has been updated.

When you pay off your mortgage, check that your mortgage holder takes their charge off the house with the Land Registry. I assumed they did this but Barclays don't. I only found out when I sold my house that, although the mortgage was paid off some years ago, Barclays still registered themselves as having an interest in it. Neither did they offer to send the deeds until after I sold it.

Like a poster upthread I recieved the paper deeds years ago, well before I paid off the mortgage. No covering note from the bank, just a massive pile of papers some going back a hundred years. I thought the bank had made a mistake (and giddily thought that I suddenly owned the house!) but someone explained some lenders did this as they updated to electronic records.

When overpaying and savings finally allowed me to pay off the mortgage early I just rang the bank and paid the outstanding amount by card over the phone. The woman I spoke with said it must be nice feeling, and it was but I had no-one close to share the news with so I went back to work with a little smile on my face knowing I free from one shackle at least.

Got a confirmation letter from the bank a few weeks later and that was that.

You feel a lot better off is one of the things that happen.

Ive got my deeds, worth reading for the odd little covenants that are sometimes on there. Apparently I'm not allowed to put up billboards or hold fairs in my garden. So Alton Towers can rest easy......

Wow thanks for sharing that NorbertHerbertGruntfuttock very interesting - does sound like it could have been gambling debts 😬

viques

We paid off ours last October - rang the bank (who was also our mortgage lender), asked how much to pay off completely and did so over the phone.

Our deeds were apparently "destroyed by enemy action" according to the single sheet printed off from the Land Registry. very disappointed as house was built 1888 and I would have loved reading the house history.

My niece bought a house recently and was given the full deeds by the vendor, as they had paid off mortgage many years ago.

@viques I'm not allowed to hold dances on Sundays or keep pigs in the garden - hope hedgehogs dont count or I'm in trouble!

I was expecting a parade of some sort and possibly a brass band... Not a squeak. We got the deeds and put them in the bank and that was that.

First mortgage I paid off I left £1 in so that the bank looked after the deeds. Second one I bought a fireproof safe and kept the deeds myself.
Didn’t use a solicitor either time - you get a letter stating that it is paid off so I’d keep that as evidence, just so as to feel extra secure.

The building society still has our deeds in their safe somewhere, if we want them back we have to pay a small fee I think, so we've left them where they are.

What mortgage company?

Put it this way, they didn’t give us the Xtra that their advertising offers....

We have been is the fortunate position of being able to pay our mortgage off for several years now.

We haven't, because we are earning more on the money than the mortgage is costing us. It doesn't make financial sense to pay it off early.

That's not to say I'm not looking forward to the final payment though.

When DH and I got married in 2000, we sold my house and were in the position to pay off the mortgage on his. The solicitor advised that we keep a small balance outstanding because the bank would then keep the deeds.

This we did, keeping just £100 outstanding. When we sold that house and bought another a few years later, everything was electronic - there are no deeds.

We paid off our mortgage years and years ago but the building society advised us to keep it open in case we decided to buy another property. We got a statement every year which showed a balance of £99 and over the years this crept up to around £240.

I didn't know if we owed them or they owed us, so I phoned up recently to finally finish it and have the deeds sent out. I was delighted to find that they owed us £240.

We live in Scotland so have been told to employ a solicitor to get things changed at the Land Registry. I think it is possible to do it yourself but I don't want to risk it.

I expected a brass band and a fireworks display. Just got a thick brown envelope of documents in the post. And the Direct Debit stopped. An underwhelming experience when you consider the significance of it all.

We had an offset mortgage and (having spoken to the bank) they suggested I turn up at the branch to instruct them to transfer the money from the current account to the mortgage account to pay it off. So I did, bristling with ID, which the manager checked.

All fine and dandy. Except later that day I got a call from the fraud department insisting that I confirm it was OK for the money to be transferred to pay off my mortgage. 85 security questions and the imminent loss of my sanity later the mortgage was finally paid off.

We've paid off our mortgage and the solicitor holds the deeds, though I understand it's all electronically handled these days.

If the land the house is built on is freehold, there is nothing further to pay, but if leasehold you still have that amount to pay.

I paid my mortgage off a long time ago. I was paying £4-10p per month. It was a blessing to get rid of this chain about my neck. Seriously, it was easy. Just gave the bank the money and soon after we received the deeds through the post. As I said, it was a while ago and there was no Bank transfer stuff, then. So pleased to actually own my house with no other parties. Get rid of your mortgage as soon as you can. I am informed that a mortgage is the cheapest way of raising money, should you require a loan. I can't confirm this, as I have always believed in saving money for something, so I can pay for it without any interest. Mortgage was different as, when in your twenties and newly wed, you don't always have the full amount to buy a house outright. My first mortgage was £58 per month, a lot of money in those days. I was so pleased to be able to reduce it, asap. There are no problems paying off the mortgage, your provider will guide you through it. Good luck.

We just got a letter from the lender confirming that the account was settled, along with a final account statement.

We paid ours off a few years ago. We have the deeds stuck in a cupboard.