Heritage Bank Discharge Authority: Form and Steps

To obtain a Heritage Bank discharge authority, call its Specialised Home Loans team on 13 14 22 and request the form for your client’s transaction. As at October 2026, Heritage requires the sale authority at least 20 working days before settlement. Arrange the signatures before lodgement, then track the payout and mortgage release through settlement.

Confirm the Loan Sits With Heritage Bank

Match the brand and legal lender name on your client’s latest statement to the loan you are discharging. Record the account number and each secured property’s address. A mortgagor is the property owner who gave the mortgage, and that person can differ from the borrower.

As at October 2026, Heritage’s merger information describes the merger with People’s Choice and the gradual move to People First Bank. It says Heritage customers can continue banking as they currently do. A new brand on a branch doesn’t identify the correct discharge authority for a particular loan.

If the statement shows People’s Choice, use the People’s Choice discharge process. If the branding has changed on the client’s documents, give Heritage the account details so it can direct the request correctly.

Identify the transaction before requesting the form:

• A sale releases the mortgage over the property being sold.
• A refinance pays out the existing loan with funds from another lender.
• A partial release removes one security while debt remains. A substitution replaces a security with another property.

For a client with several properties, list which mortgages must be released and which loans will remain. The mortgage discharge guides help you handle other lenders on the same file.

Obtain the Sale or Refinance Authority

Request the authority from Heritage’s Specialised Home Loans team on 13 14 22. As at October 2026, Heritage’s official forms index lists loan forms, while its mortgage release page directs discharge requests to that team.

1. For a property sale, ask for the Discharge Authority Property Sold Form.
2. For refinancing to another lender, ask for the Refinance Authority. For a loan already repaid, ask for the Loan Repaid Document Request Form.
3. If debt remains after a property release, request the Partial Release of Security or Substitution of Security application.
4. Give the team the proposed settlement date and ask it to provide the submission instructions with the form.

Save the issued form in the client file. Record its full title, printed version or revision date and the date you received or downloaded it. If it has no version identifier, retain the original file and the bank’s covering message.

Use a fresh form for a later transaction. A previous client’s signed authority or an old brokerage template isn’t a substitute for the bank’s current instructions. For broker access and contact routes, use the Heritage Bank broker portal guide.

Signatures, Guarantors and Notice

Collect every signature required by the issued authority before sending it to Heritage. As at October 2026, Heritage’s sale instructions require all loan parties, including guarantors, to sign. They require return of the sale form at least 20 working days before settlement.

Match the form against the loan and security documents. Identify every borrower, mortgagor and guarantor, then account for each person’s required signature. Include a guarantor whose property is security even when that property isn’t being sold.

For a company borrower, use its full legal name and have the authorised officers sign in the capacities required by the issued execution block. For a trust, identify the trustee and trust correctly. The trustee signs in that capacity, and a corporate trustee uses the company’s execution block.

Give the bank the company or trustee details when requesting the authority so it can supply the appropriate signing instructions. Resolve an absent signatory, power of attorney or changed trustee before lodgement. A broker’s authority to discuss the loan doesn’t replace the client’s discharge signatures.

Count back from the booked settlement date using working days:

1. Start with the working day before settlement.
2. Count backwards, excluding weekends and relevant public holidays, until you reach 20 working days.
3. Set an earlier internal deadline for collecting signatures and correcting errors.
4. Lodge using the bank’s supplied instructions and retain its acknowledgement of receipt.

For a hypothetical settlement on Friday 20 November 2026, 20 weekdays back is Friday 23 October 2026, assuming no relevant public holidays. If a holiday falls in that interval, move the lodgement date earlier. The bank must receive the authority by the required deadline.

Heritage says partial releases and substitutions need additional notice and processing time. Arrange that application before relying on the sale timetable. For a refinance, obtain the notice requirement with the Refinance Authority and schedule lodgement around it.

If a signature or security detail is missing, send the corrected authority and ask the team to confirm the revised settlement readiness. Keep the conveyancer or incoming lender informed if the deadline is at risk.

Payout Figures and Release of Mortgage

Have the incoming lender or conveyancer obtain Heritage’s payout figure for the booked settlement date under the client’s authority. The payout is the amount needed to repay the relevant debt and meet the bank’s release conditions. The current statement balance alone doesn’t establish that amount.

Give the settlement representative the loan accounts and security details from the signed authority. Ask for a payout breakdown showing interest and applicable charges, including any fixed-rate break fee. For a partial release, use Heritage’s approved release conditions and required payment.

Heritage’s break-fee flyer, effective March 2023 and retrieved in October 2026, explains that early fixed-rate repayment can incur a break fee. The disclosed figure is calculated for the payout-letter date. If payment occurs on another day, that figure is only indicative.

If settlement moves, tell Heritage and the settlement representative promptly. Obtain the figure for the revised date and update the funds required. Keep ordinary discharge charges separate from any break fee so the client understands what each payment covers.

After settlement, close the file only when the confirmations agree:

• Heritage holds the loan payout and closure records. Obtain the final loan statement or closure confirmation and reconcile it with the amount paid.
• The conveyancer or solicitor holds the settlement records. Ask them for confirmation that the mortgage discharge has been lodged and, when registration completes, evidence of the mortgage’s removal from title.
• The client and Heritage hold the linked account records. Confirm whether each offset account remains open or is closed, where any remaining balance goes and whether regular payments need moving.
• Confirm that a fully repaid loan’s redraw access has ended. For a partial release, record the continuing loan and any remaining redraw arrangements instead of treating the whole facility as closed.

An offset account is a separate deposit account, while redraw is access to repayments made ahead on the loan. Make those instructions explicit before settlement so the client doesn’t assume both balances transfer automatically.

If the debt is repaid but the title still shows the mortgage, give the conveyancer the payout confirmation and ask them to trace the discharge’s registration. If an account remains open unexpectedly, give Heritage the account number and the signed closure instructions. Keep the final statement and title evidence together with the authority and settlement records.

The general discharge process explains the shared settlement roles and fee types. For this Heritage file, the final evidence must show the agreed debt paid, the intended mortgage released and every linked account dealt with as instructed.