People who have taken out obligations secured by a mortgage, such as a home loan or a mortgage loan, must expect that after paying off the obligation in full, they will need a mazal letter, through which they will remove the creditor from the land register. What is a mazal letter? How to get it and how much time does the creditor have to issue it?
Security in the form of a mortgage
The establishment of a mortgage is nothing more than a security for the creditor’s claims. It can be either a bank providing a mortgage, but also a city or municipal authority, the Tax Administration, the Social Security Administration or even a person entitled to alimony.
Whenever we talk about a mortgage, we are dealing with a mortgage creditor and a mortgage debtor. As is not hard to guess, a mortgage debtor is a person who is under a certain contract, which he must fulfill. If he fails to do so, the mortgage creditor can sell the mortgaged property and get his money back.
The establishment of a mortgage entails an appropriate entry in the land register of the property, with the result that the property cannot be sold or transferred to another person without the knowledge / consent of the mortgage creditor. The apartment or house is therefore a kind of pledge to guarantee full and timely repayment of the outstanding obligation.
Removal of a mortgage from the mortgage book
The cancellation of a mortgage from the real estate register takes place, as we have already mentioned, only after payment of the entire debt and only at the request of the debtor, that is, the owner of the property. When dealing with, for example, a home loan, the request for deletion of the mortgage should be made after all mortgage installments have been paid.
However, this does not mean that the deletion from the mortgage register is automatic after the debt is paid off. In order to do this, you must submit to the court all documents confirming the repayment of the debt, as well as the creditor’s statement removing the mortgage from the apartment or house.
IMPORTANT: The mortgage creditor will not spontaneously remove the entry from the land register. The court will do this only at the request of the debtor, who must first provide a set of documents confirming the fulfillment of the contract / repayment of the debt.
What is a mazal letter / mazal voucher?
The document we mentioned above, that is, the creditor’s statement confirming the payment of the entire debt is the so-called mazal letter. The creditor issues it at the request of the debtor after repayment of the debt. In practice, most banks provide such a document automatically after all loan installments are paid and the obligation is closed, but it happens that you need to request it yourself.
The mazal letter is issued by the existing mortgage creditor, so for example:
- The bank that granted the mortgage.
- The loan company that granted the mortgage loan.
- The private person in whose favor the mortgage was established.
- The municipality that benefited from the official mortgage security.
- The Treasury, for example, in a situation where a court has established a mortgage security.
Find out who can become a mortgage creditor.
What must a mazal letter contain?
A mazal letter, also known as a mazal voucher, is a document that is not particularly complicated in its construction, but must contain the information necessary to remove the mortgage from the land register.
These include:
- Details of the property (apartment, house, plot, premises) to which the voucher relates.
- Information on the repaid obligation (number of the loan agreement, settlement agreement, identification of the court judgment, administrative decision, etc.).
- Type of mortgage established (forced or contractual mortgage).
- Details of the recipient of the mazal receipt.
- Confirmation of termination of the obligation secured by the mortgage.
- Consent to the removal of the entry on the established mortgage from the real estate register.
- Signature of the person authorized to issue the mazal letter.
IMPORTANT: The mazal letter must be issued in writing, allowing it to be submitted to the court keeping the land register.
Does the bank (or other creditor) issue the mazal letter automatically?
As a general rule, a creditor issues a mazal letter after paying off the debtor’s outstanding obligation, which was secured by a mortgage. In the case of a loan, after all installments are paid and the loan agreement is closed. However, the current regulations in Poland are structured in such a way that a mazal letter should be applied for by the debtor, i.e. the borrower. Only on this basis will the bank prepare the appropriate document and give it to us.
Fortunately, most banks in Poland do this automatically, and the mazal letter usually reaches bank customers by mail, but it is worth making sure what this looks like for a particular institution. It is also common for a bank to inform correspondent customers that the mazal letter can be picked up in person at a bank branch.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the creditor may refuse to issue a mazal letter if the obligation has not been paid in full. If no agreement can be reached with the creditor on this issue, the case will have to be heard in a court of law.
