I used to live in Scotland, and when I paid off my mortgage I received "the deeds". I had very little idea what to expect, but it turned out to be a bundle of

I used to live in Scotland, and when I paid off my mortgage I received "the deeds". I had very little idea what to expect, but it turned out to be a bundle of papers almost three inches thick, detailing every sale since the property had been built in 189x. Having the paper-records was fascinating, and I seeing the initial owners staying there for 10-20 years, then a few periods where the property changed hands every 1-3 years, for ever increasing sums of money. At the time I received them I was told "Yeah you don't need these, really, they're registered in the Scottish land registry". But when I came to sell the place - from abroad, no less - the first demand from the solicitors who I'd hired to manage the sale was "Please mail us the deeds". I was almost tempted to keep them and say "Sorry, they're lost" to see what would happen. But selling a property from a foreign country was enough of a hassle that I didn't go through with it. I do wish I'd taken photographs though, as the legalese was very nice to read.