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Discharging your home loan.
Explain to ME what a home loan discharge is.
A discharge occurs when paying out a loan(s), including any fees and releasing all security relating to the loan(s).
To kick off the discharge process, start by completing a Discharge Authority Form.
What is a Discharge Authority Form required for?
- selling your home
- refinancing your home loan away from ME to another lender
- paying out your home loan and closing it
- releasing a security (e.g. when a home loan is secured against more than one property and you wish to release one of the properties).
Refinancing to another bank?
Refinancing to another bank?
If you require a Discharge Authority Form for a refinance, you'll need to call ME on
1300 654 997.
We’re available to help from Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 6:00pm (AEST).
Ready to discharge your home loan?
Ready to discharge your home loan?
If you’re selling your home, paying out your loan and closing it, or releasing the security, you can download the
Discharge Authority Form here.
Once you've filled out the form, email it to us with any other required documents.
Alternatively, you can call ME on
13 15 63 to request that we email you the form.
Please note that requests for a discharge authority form must come from the person(s) who have their name on the title – brokers or third parties are unable to call us to request the form.
The discharge process.
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Steps for discharging and closing a home loan.
Good to know: Completing a discharge can take up to 21 business days from the date we receive the correctly completed Discharge Authority Form.
Step 1
If you are refinancing your loan to another bank.
Obtain a discharge authority form.
Call ME
Step 3
You will receive an email from our Discharges Team within 10 business days after submitting the correct form.
Step 4
You or your representative will need to contact our solicitor partner to request a settlement date.
Step 5
Settlement is completed.
Your ME home loan is officially closed. You will receive an email once the discharge has been completed.
Settlement day.
Settlement day.
A payout figure is provided about two days before the settlement day and may contain:
- any remaining principal balance
- any interest. The amount is calculated by determining interest charged between the last interest payment and settlement.
- ME discharge fee
- our solicitor partner fee
- government Fees & Charges (as applicable)
- break cost. A break cost may be payable if the loan or loan portion is on a fixed rate.
- pending repayment/bills.
Good chat.
Have home loan questions? We offer a number of ways to get in touch with us for a high quality support, including a call centre located right here in Australia.
Want to find out more? Just let us know a few things about yourself and we will be in touch.
Enquire now
Monday to Friday 8am–8pm
Saturday 9am–5pm
(AEDT) Excluding public holidays.
1300 540 181
Find a local home loan specialist in your area – then meet in a way that best suits you.
Meet our bankers
What fees can I expect?
- ME charges a fee of $245 for processing a discharge request. This fee covers the admin charges for preparation requirements for settlement to occur.
- Our solicitor partner charges a fee of $105 per individual property title discharged.
- Government and title registration fees (this may differ per state) are applicable and will be charged in the final payout figure at settlement.
- Break cost fee may be payable if the loan or loan portion is on a fixed rate.
Can I pay my variable loan before settlement?
If you have a variable loan, you can pay down the loan balance to $0 at any time in order to avoid interest being calculated until the loan is discharged.
Important note: Once your loan balance is paid out you cannot access the funds or any redraw you may have had in your loan. As a redraw is your advance position on your loan balance once you have paid down your loan balance, the loan is considered paid minus any residual interest and fees.
Can I pay my fixed loan before settlement?
If the loan is on a fixed rate, a break cost fee may apply.
You can request a break cost by calling
13 15 63. A break cost quote will be sent upon receipt of a discharge request.
The break cost can be paid prior to settlement or on settlement day:
- Prior to settlement - If a Break Cost quote is signed and returned, the loan will switch to a variable rate. You will then be able to pay the full balance on the account before settlement.
- On settlement day - If the Break Cost quote is not signed and returned, the loan will remain on a fixed rate, and will be paid at settlement.
What happens after settlement day?
At settlement, the title along with a Discharge of Mortgage (to remove ME from the title) is lodged at the Land Titles Office in the state where the property is located.
Depending on the type of discharge, after ME is removed from the title, the title information is provided to either the:
- authorised representative (Releasing a security or sale)
- the purchaser of the property (Sale)
- new financial institution (Refinance)
If the loan is paid out in full and closed, the title will be returned by our solicitor partner once the Land Titles Office has completed the Discharge of Mortgage. Please note, this process can take up to six weeks.
Closing the loan account after settlement is a manual process. Please be aware that loans that have settled can take up to 5 business days to formally close and to be removed from your profile and list of accounts.
Statements will continue to be produced according to the statement cycle.
What happens to surplus funds?
If there are surplus funds they will be transferred to your elected account that was listed on the Discharge Authority form.
Surplus fund will be transferred the next business day after settlement. These funds will be returned directly by our solicitor partner. You can expect standard transfer times between financial institutions (up to 3 business days from time of transfer).
What is a full discharge?
A full discharge occurs when you are discharging all securities and paying out all of the loan.
What is a partial discharge?
A Partial Discharge occurs when there is one mortgage secured by two or more properties and you wish to release one (or more) of the properties.
What is a loan portion payout?
A loan portion payout occurs when you have sufficient funds to pay out one of the loans, leaving one or more loans still secured against a property. This occurs if you have a split loan. As no properties are being discharged, there is no change to the title and no involvement of solicitors. You do not require a form for this, simply call ME on
13 15 63 to submit your request.
What is a security substitution?
A security substitution occurs when a request is made to substitute one or more security properties held by ME with a new security and the existing loan(s). The new security must be fully valued and a contract of sale for the new security must be provided before an assessment can begin.
What is a Section 27?
A Section 27 deposit release statement is a document that allows a solicitor to release the deposit funds originally paid for a property. This statement is used to free up funds for purchasing another property and is applicable only for property sales in Victoria.
To release the funds as part of a property sale, a Section 27 deposit release statement is prepared once a completed discharge and home loan closure authority form is received.
Customers or authorised representatives can send an email to
discharge.requests@mebank.com.au requesting Section 27, alongside their Discharge Authority form.