Did you know there is a difference between paying off your mortgage and having your mortgage radiated?
When you contract a mortgage loan, this loan is secured by a registered mortgage, or “hypothec”. This means that your financial institution has registered rights against your property. These rights appear at the Land Registry and allow your financial institution to act to protect their interest, should you ever be in default of your obligations towards them.
Once you have completely reimbursed your mortgage loan, these rights remain registered against the property until the formal process of radiating (or “discharging”) the mortgage is undertaken. In Québec, this process is commonly referred to as a “quittance”. Your financial institution will not automatically undertake this procedure.
Just as your Notary is the professional to contact to register your mortgage, you should contact them to radiate it as well. They will contact your financial institution to request an official statement, prepare the paperwork for signature by the bank’s representative, and send it to the Land Registry for publication. Once this is published, your mortgage will be radiated.
If you are selling your property and your mortgage loan balance is at zero dollars but you have not already undertaken the procedure of having your mortgage radiated, this will be done by the Notary at the time of the transaction. This is required to sell your property free and clear or any liens or hypothecs which may cause issue to your purchaser’s title. If you have a balance on your mortgage loan, the Notary will reimburse the loan in its entirety with the proceeds of the sale before completing the same procedure.
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