The concept of mortgage
A mortgage is a lien on immovable property that authorizes the creditor to, if the debtor does not pay the debt when due, demand payment of the claim secured by the mortgage from the value of the immovable property, before ordinary creditors and before late mortgage creditors, regardless of whose ownership the immovable property is.
Cancellation of the mortgage after paying off the loan to the bank
The mortgage ends when it is written off from the real estate cadastre. The bank is obliged to undertake appropriate activities after the loan has been paid to cancel the mortgage that was registered in its favor. This obligation of banks is prescribed by the latest amendments to the Law on the Protection of Users of Financial Services (Articles 49 and 79). With these amendments to the law, the banks were obliged to cancel the mortgages for which the debt has been paid by July 1, 2025. The bank may not charge any fee from its previous debtor for undertaking this obligation.
Deleting old mortgages
The mortgage can also be canceled on the basis of a legally binding court decision determining amortization if:
- 20 years have passed since the maturity of the secured claim
- the registered mortgage creditor no longer exists or cannot be found, nor his heirs (universal successors), nor persons who were later registered as receivers of the claim secured by the mortgage
- during the past time, the registered mortgage creditor did not request or receive payment of either the principal claim or the interest, nor was this requested by any authorized person registered in the real estate register
Therefore, if the registered mortgage creditor exists or if he does not exist but his universal successors are known, deletion in this way is not possible, but it is necessary to contact such a creditor or his universal successor with a request for the issuance of a deletion permit.
What is a deletion permit?
The deletion permit is the consent of the mortgage creditor (in practice it is usually a bank) that the mortgage can be deleted in the real estate cadastre. It has certain mandatory elements and the issuer certifies this statement with a notary public. It is a key document required for deletion. If the debtor has settled the debt secured by the mortgage, the mortgagor is obliged to issue a cancellation permit at his request, and if he does not do so, it is necessary to initiate court proceedings in order to solve this problem.
Can a lawyer file a request to cancel a mortgage?
Yes, a lawyer who has registered access to the cadastre through the E-counter application can submit a request to delete the mortgage. This also applies to the case if the bank has not fulfilled its obligation to cancel the mortgage upon payment of the loan.
Attorney Danilo Babić is at your disposal to submit a request to delete the mortgage in the real estate cadastre.
