Public Services

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") notices that there have been cases where mortgage borrowers have further mortgaged their properties without seeking prior consent from the original mortgagee Authorized Institutions ("AIs") (i.e. licensed banks, restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies). Such practices have increased the risks of the relevant AIs and may pose a threat to banking stability if left unchecked.

At the request of the HKMA, the Land Registry has launched an e-Alert Service for AIs from 1 February 2017 in order to help enhance AIs' credit risk management. Under the e-Alert Service for AIs, AIs will receive electronic notifications from the Land Registry when further charge/mortgage documents in respect of the properties mortgaged to the AIs concerned are lodged for registration with the Land Registry. The HKMA expects AIs engaging in mortgage lending business to subscribe to the e-Alert Service for all new mortgage loan applications (including top-up mortgage loans) from 1 February 2017.

To subscribe to the e-Alert Service, AIs must obtain written consent from the property owner concerned in compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486). As the property owner, if you give your consent by signing the consent form, you may also opt to receive same electronic notifications relating to your property issued by the Land Registry under the e-Alert Service for AIs.

e-Channel for the e-Alert Service for AIs

In line with the global trend towards electronic business and to provide greater security and convenience to the AIs for submission of service applications for the e-Alert Service as well as to increase the operational efficiency of both the AIs and the Land Registry, we have implemented an e-Channel for the e-Alert Service for AIs ("the e-Channel") under a two-phase approach.

The Land Registry has launched Phase 1 of the e-Channel on 14 January 2019 to accept subscriber AIs' online submission of their applications for subscription of service orders through the e-Channel website at www.ealert-ai.landreg.gov.hk which provides longer service hours as follows:

• Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm
• Saturday 8 am to 12 noon

With the launch of Phase 2 of the e-Channel on 20 July 2020, new facility for online submission of other service applications such as opening of branch account, transfer or termination of service orders; and more user functions including maintenance and enquiry of account information, payment by e-Cheque have been added to the e-Channel to bring even greater convenience to AIs in using the service.

Following the full implementation of the e-Channel on 1 February 2021, subscriber AIs can submit all their service applications online through the e-Channel. Manual submission of applications by subscriber AIs’ authorized representatives or by postal/courier service is no longer accepted.

Starting from 28 June 2021, AIs who want to open a subscriber account for the e-Alert Service can also submit their application online, as an alternative of submitting the application in person at the Land Registry.

To ensure safe and secure online transactions, only registered users of subscriber AIs are allowed to access the e-Channel and two-factor user authentication (i.e. a unique e-Channel Login ID assigned by the Land Registry to the registered user and a Digital Certificate (Organizational) issued by the Postmaster General (Hongkong Post Certification Authority) and registered by the subscriber AI concerned with the Land Registry) is adopted to strengthen the authentication control. Data transmission between subscriber AIs' workstations and our system is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access or tampering.

As the property owner, what can the e-Alert notification give you?

• You will receive an email alert when a charge/mortgage document is delivered to the Land Registry for registration against your property, normally on the day following the date on which the document is delivered to the Land Registry for registration.
• You will get relevant particulars of the document, including the date, memorial number, nature and date of delivery for registration, from the email notification.
• By using the memorial number provided in the email notification, you may order a copy of the charge/mortgage document for reference upon completion of registration and payment of the prescribed fee of HK$100.

How is the e-Alert notification useful for the property owner?

• It saves you time and money as well as provides an easy and convenient means for you to keep track of charge/mortgage documents delivered for registration against your property.
• It facilitates you to take appropriate and prompt action if unexpected charge/mortgage documents were submitted for registration against your property.

How much is the subscription fee for the e-Alert notification?

• The Land Registry will only charge AIs for their subscription to the Service. As the property owner, you may opt to receive the e-Alert notification relating to your property by simply signing the consent form and providing your email address in the consent form. The Land Registry will not charge you any fee for such a notification arrangement. The Service will cover the whole term of the mortgage as long as you do not withdraw the given consent.

What will follow after signing of the consent form by the property owner?

• Following your signing of the consent form and after completion of all the formalities of the AI and the Land Registry, the Land Registry will send an email to your email address for verification and privacy protection purposes within 3 calendar days from its approval of the service order application submitted by the AI.

Enquiries

For enquiries, please contact us by