Ask the lender the right question

Who can I safely pay, and who can actually close my mortgage?

Six separate questions hide inside 'who owns my mortgage'. Separating them turns a vague suspicion into an investigation you can actually finish.

All playbooks

What this problem looks like

Letters arrive from a servicer whose name is not on your mortgage deed.
You are redeeming or refinancing and your conveyancer wants to know who to pay.
You have read that your mortgage was securitised and you do not know what that means for you.

What you are trying to establish

Who is registered at HM Land Registry as proprietor of the charge. This is a matter of public record and is the easiest question to answer.
Who asserts the present legal entitlement to enforce the mortgage and receive repayment. This can differ from the registered proprietor after a portfolio sale.
Any beneficial owner, where that is relevant to explaining who can receive repayment or give discharge — for example where the economic benefit sits with a securitisation vehicle while legal title stays registered elsewhere. You do not need to identify every economic interest to know whom you can safely pay.
Who the servicer (for example BCM Global) acts for, in what capacity, and from what date.
Who is entitled to issue the redemption figure.
Who can receive the redemption money so that paying it extinguishes the debt — this is what lawyers mean by 'good discharge': proof that once you have paid, nobody else can come back and say the debt is still owed.
Who can procure the discharge of the registered charge at the Land Registry, so the mortgage comes off your title.

Evidence to collect

Official copy of the register of title, showing the charge and its proprietor.
Official copy of the filed charge, where the register notes a copy is filed.
Any notice of assignment or transfer sent to you, and the date you received it. Under section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925 written notice to the borrower is part of a legal assignment.
The servicer's own letters, which usually state the capacity in which it writes — keep every version, because the wording changes over time.
Published securitisation or investor material naming the legal title holder, where it exists.
The redemption statement, and the covering letter that came with it.

What to ask for

Confirmation of the current registered proprietor of the charge.
Confirmation of which entity asserts the present legal entitlement to enforce and receive repayment, and of any beneficial owner where that is relevant to who can receive repayment or give discharge.
Confirmation of which entity is entitled to receive redemption monies and to give a good and valid discharge.
Confirmation of which entity can procure removal of the charge from the title, and how long that takes after redemption.
The capacity in which the servicer acts, the party it acts for, the date it began acting, and whether notice of that arrangement was sent to you.
Whether the servicer's authority extends to decisions on forbearance, charges and enforcement, or only to administering the account.

What a useful answer looks like

Named entities, with company numbers, for each of the questions asked, and a date for any transfer.
A clear statement that payment to the named entity discharges your obligation, and confirmation of who will apply to the Land Registry after redemption.
Consistency with the register and with the letters you have received.

What an inadequate answer looks like

'We are the servicer of your account' — which answers none of the six questions.
An answer about the registered charge only, with silence on beneficial ownership or on who can give good discharge.
An answer that names an entity not appearing anywhere on the register, with no transfer date and no notice ever sent to you.

What this does not do

None of this is a reason to stop paying. A servicer acting for the lender is normal and lawful, and withholding payment while you investigate simply adds arrears and charges.
Confusion about ownership is not, on its own, evidence that nobody can enforce.

Next escalation

Put the unanswered questions in a short numbered list and ask for a final response to a complaint about the failure to answer them.
Where the dispute genuinely turns on a document you have been refused, the pre-action route is the next stage — see Court and disclosure.

Example letters for this stage

Request for confirmation of entitlement to receive redemption and give good discharge — Used before a redemption or refinance, to establish who should be paid, who can release the charge, and who can procure its removal from the title.
Request for clarification of servicer authority — Used where correspondence comes from a servicer or administrator rather than the entity named on the mortgage.
Request for named mortgage and security documents — An ordinary document request. Use it for the deed, the conditions, a transfer or an appointment — not a subject access request.

Official sources

Elsewhere in this archive

This is information, not legal advice

Nothing here is legal advice and no professional relationship arises from reading it. Time limits apply to complaints and to court steps. Free help is available from Citizens Advice, StepChange and Shelter.