Discharging your home loan.

• 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. 
   

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.
 

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.

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.
 

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).
 

A full discharge occurs when you are discharging all securities and paying out all of the loan.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.