Discharge of Mortgage
Clear legal advice when your mortgage has been paid off
Legal advice on mortgage discharge and property titles
If you’ve paid off your mortgage in full, you may be wondering whether you should remove the lender’s security from your property title.
In Scotland, this is called a Discharge of Standard Security.
The right option will depend on your circumstances and Ronald can advise on the best approach for you.
What is a Discharge of Standard Security?
When you take out a mortgage in Scotland, your lender registers a standard security over your property.
Even after the mortgage has been fully repaid, the standard security will remain on the title until a formal discharge is signed by the lender and registered with the Land Register of Scotland.
Simply having confirmation that the mortgage has been paid off is not enough to remove it from the title.
Do I need to discharge the standard security?
Not necessarily. Many people choose to leave the standard security in place after their mortgage has been repaid.
In most cases, this :
- doesn’t stop you selling your property
- shouldn’t affect your credit rating
Sometimes, there can be advantages to leaving the security in place, particularly if you may wish to borrow again from the same lender in the future.
However, there can also be disadvantages. e.g. if the security remains on the title, it may take extra time to obtain the discharge paperwork when you sell or transfer your property in the future.
Why legal advice matters
Whether or not you should discharge a standard security will depend on your own personal circumstances.
Before making a decision, it’s important to understand the possible advantages, disadvantages and future implications.
Ronald can provide clear, straightforward advice to help you decide what’s best for you.
How we can help
We can :
- advise you on whether a discharge is appropriate
- deal with your lender if required
- prepare the legal documents
- register the discharge with the Land Register of Scotland
- confirm once the title has been updated
If you’ve paid off your mortgage and would like advice on discharging your standard security, please get in touch. We’ll be happy to help.
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Our reception team will deal with any initial questions where they can and arrange an appointment with Ronald if needed.