If you are a first-time buyer, then you will likely have a never-ending list of questions surrounding buying a home. When you are new to owning property, there are so many things that are unknown to you, and so much that you don’t know.
One of these things that you might not know could be who keeps the title deeds to your home.
Before you bought your house, you might have expected the title deeds to be handed over to you upon purchase. But, as you probably now know, this isn’t the case.
Although you become the owner of your property upon closing, you will not be given the title deeds to your home if you purchased it with a mortgage. So, you might be wondering who actually keeps the title deeds to your house.
In this quick guide, we’ll be taking a look at who keeps the title deeds to your home, and why you are not given the title deeds to your home upon completion. So, let’s jump right in.
What Are The Title Deeds To A House?
First things first, let’s take a look at what the title deeds are for a house. Most of the time, title deeds are an old paper document that should date back to around the same time as when your house was built.
In a lot of cases, they are very old-fashioned and handwritten, and this is because the original document has been passed down throughout the years as the house has been sold.
In new builds, the title deed will still be produced, but it will be very different from the traditional title deeds that were created when old houses were sold.
The title deeds are a set of paper documents that detail your property’s history in terms of ownership. You will also get title deeds for the ownership of land.
Title deeds for a house could include a variety of different documents, including mortgages, leases, wills, contracts for sale, and conveyancing documents. While the original title deeds for a home will be paper, in most cases, the title deeds now-a-days are usually electronic.
So, upon purchase, the title deeds to the home will be sent over to the buyer. But, if this is the case, why don’t you receive the title deeds upon purchasing your home?
Who Keeps The Title Deeds To My House?
As we have said, the title deeds to a house are signed over to the buyer upon the purchase of a house. But, if you purchase your house with a mortgage, you might be wondering why you have not received your title deeds.
This is because even though you technically own the house, your mortgage lender put forward the capital for the house, and so they keep the deeds.
However, just because your lender keeps the title deeds for your home, this doesn’t mean that they are kept hidden from you. If you want to see the title deeds for your home, all you have to do is request them.
After a period of time, your mortgage lender will sign the title deeds of your home over to you. The length of time that this takes will depend on the terms of your mortgage.
Generally speaking, the mortgage lender will keep a hold of the title deeds for your home until you have completed the mortgage, and officially own all of that property.
If you do not pay off your mortgage, either because you change mortgage providers or sell your house before it is complete, then the title deeds will be passed onto the necessary people.
Where Are House Deeds Kept?
If your mortgage lender keeps the house deeds for your home, then you might be wondering where they keep them.
As we have said, title deeds are now available in both physical and electronic form, so where does your bank keep them to ensure that they are safe at all times?
In terms of physical house deeds, then your bank will likely store them in a safe deposit box. In most cases, banks will have to keep hold of a number of house deeds at one time, so they will have a dedicated space to store these documents safely.
Sometimes, depending on the bank that you are with, you might be required to pay for your title deeds to be stored there.
Alternatively, sometimes your title deeds might be given to your solicitor for safekeeping, which usually does not come with a charge.
With electronic title deeds, these will be stored on a hard drive. As a lot of the houses sold today are new builds, it is very common for title deeds to be stored electronically.
Most lenders will have a huge amount of title deeds stored on their servers, especially lenders who specialize in mortgages.
So, your title deeds will remain on these servers until you have finished repaying your mortgage, and the house is officially all yours.
How Do I Prove I Own My House?
As you have been reading this, you might have quickly become concerned that you will be unable to prove ownership of your house. In order to do this, you usually need to have your title deeds at hand.
So, you might be wondering how you can prove ownership of your house if your mortgage lender has the title deeds.
Well, as we mentioned earlier, if you need to have a copy of your title deeds for whatever reason, you can request these from your lender. As pretty much all modern title deeds are electronic, your lender can simply send you over a copy for you to use.
So, don’t worry, if you need to prove ownership of your house, simply speak to your lender, and they will be able to help you out.
Summary
In short, when you buy a house with a mortgage, you will not be given the title deeds to your home. Instead, these will be given to your mortgage lender, who will keep them until you have paid off your mortgage. Only then will the deeds be signed over to you.
