Mortgage Deeds

horsey63

I hope this is the right forum for this query. We finished paying our mortgage earlier this year, long story short, we have been informed that the deeds have now been delivered to our nearest AIB bank for collection at our convenience. So, what to do now ? we have looked around and we see that there are a number of companies that you can have your deeds in their vaults and just wondering does anyone have any comments or advice on using these type of companies ? Thanks

CramCycle

Do you have a will? If so the solicitor who wrote up your will may be a good place to go.

horsey63

I am embarrassed to say we dont have a will done, so I think the deeds arriving might be the shove we need to get things moving, thanks

homer911

My solicitor wanted about €1 a week to hold my deeds. I bought a small fire-proof safe instead - now I put passports, insurance documents etc in it as well

CramCycle

homer911 wrote: »

My solicitor wanted about €1 a week to hold my deeds. I bought a small fire-proof safe instead - now I put passports, insurance documents etc in it as well

Mine included it as part of holding the will (which was a once off charge). Although I won't get mine back for awhile yet from the bank. Important things are to have someone else know where the deeds are, in case, something happened that you could not remember or tell anyone. If the solicitor does look for a fee when he gets them in a few years, then I will probably follow your lead.

Effects

Fire proof safe. They are relatively cheap these days.
I leave the key in mine just in case a burglar thinks there's valuables in it and takes the whole thing.

horsey63

Thanks all, fireproof safe it is and new years resolution is a Will will be done before end of January

Sue Pa Key Pa

I made my will this year and recently cleared my mortgage. Given that the terms of my will is closely linked to the house, I'll be leaving the deeds with my solicitor. Easier for the beneficiaries to know everything is at a 'one-stop shop'

Forbearance

Effects wrote: »

Fire proof safe. They are relatively cheap these days.
I leave the key in mine just in case a burglar thinks there's valuables in it and takes the whole thing.

Mortgage deeds are valuable !

skippy2

Can they not be registered digitally these days saving a lot of hassle ?

DMcL1971

A mortgage deed is not a small piece of paper. Mine was about the size of a telephone directory. And I only live in a newly built apartment, I would imagine the older the property the more paperwork it will accumulate.

Banks used to be happy to hold on to your deed (sometimes for free or for a small fee) when you paid of your mortgage but most of them have stopped doing that. Again some solicitors will provide this service but not al of them. In the case of both the banks and solicitors the hope was the holding your deed would lead to a long term relationship with you and therefore further business for them.

Many people now either place their deeds with a document storage company or buy a small fireproof document storage case or safe for their home. Replacing a lost deed is a bit of a nightmare.

A will is incredibly important to have and really should have been done as soon as you bought the house as that was probably the first time you had an asset worth bequeathing. It is very simple to do and can usually be done in one visit to a solicitor.

Forbearance

DMcL1971 wrote: »

A mortgage deed is not a small piece of paper. Mine was about the size of a telephone directory. And I only live in a newly built apartment, I would imagine the older the property the more paperwork it will accumulate.

Banks used to be happy to hold on to your deed (sometimes for free or for a small fee) when you paid of your mortgage but most of them have stopped doing that. Again some solicitors will provide this service but not al of them. In the case of both the banks and solicitors the hope was the holding your deed would lead to a long term relationship with you and therefore further business for them.

Many people now either place their deeds with a document storage company or buy a small fireproof document storage case or safe for their home. Replacing a lost deed is a bit of a nightmare.

A will is incredibly important to have and really should have been done as soon as you bought the house as that was probably the first time you had an asset worth bequeathing. It is very simple to do and can usually be done in one visit to a solicitor.

The reason why your deed was so large is that the deed was probably a leasehold title on unregistered land. This is not the norm. Most freehold title deeds are not that expansive and are usually contained within a few a4 pages.

Effects

Forbearance wrote: »

Mortgage deeds are valuable !

Not to the majority of house thieves. They are looking for cash or things they can turn into cash quite quickly. If they find the safe they'll probably take it to open elsewhere. At least if they open it in the house they won't bother taking your deeds. They are just worthless paper to them.

Forbearance

Not if the house thief knows anything about fraud ?

Effects

Forbearance wrote: »

Not if the house thief knows anything about fraud ?

The odds of that are really slim. Can you explain what route the thief will take to make money from a set of deeds?

Forbearance

Not on this open forum, in case anyone gets ideas.

Effects

That's pretty much an admission that it's a ridiculous idea so.

Forbearance

Effects wrote: »

That's pretty much an admission that it's a ridiculous idea so.

You obviously know absolutely nothing about mortgage deeds and why financial institutions house them in secure facilities until your mortgage is paid back, they don't do this for the crack, believe me!

Effects

Forbearance wrote: »

You obviously know absolutely nothing about mortgage deeds and why financial institutions house them in secure facilities until your mortgage is paid back, they don't do this for the crack, believe me!

And you clearly know nothing about the average burglar. Lets leave it at that.

Muahahaha

Effects wrote: »

And you clearly know nothing about the average burglar. Lets leave it at that.

He has a point. Deeds are a very valuable item, they are the legal proof that you own the house. Without them you could in theory find yourself as no longer the owner of that house and without the deeds it will be very difficult for you to prove otherwise.
So while the average burglar doesn't know what to do with them chances are he knows a man who does. It is no different to a pickpocket stealing smartphones. He doesnt know how to unlock it to make it valuable again, but he knows a man who does and sells it on to them. Thats how criminal networks work and somewhere within any criminal network will be lads who specialise in fraud. To them deeds would be very valuable, if done right they could covert that paperwork into a free house for themselves.

Keeping deeds in the house they refer to is not a good idea, fireproof safe or not. The reason you keep them in a solicitors or document storage is that they are like an insurance policy- if they are keeping your deeds on trust and get broken into/set on fire then you are insured and you have legal recourse to putting things right. If they get stolen from your house then be prepared for many years through the courts and huge legal fees to get them replaced.

Forbearance

Now there is a poster who is making sense

Sue Pa Key Pa

Having investigated countless burglaries for an insurance company, I can safely say that burglars will often destroy property that may have no financial value, just because they know the upset it will cause. Replacing deeds is a long and costly business