mortgage

[nanunanu]

what is a mortgage

[ewand]

A formal document which proves the legal claim or lien (see Lien) on your property that your lender holds as security for the money you borrowed. There are two people involved in a mortgage, you and the lender. You pledge the property as security for the repayment of the money you borrowed, but you do not transfer title to the lender. However, if you do not pay the debt as agreed the lender, through a court proceeding, can compel the sale of your property to pay off your debt.

www.omsrates.com/mortgagedictionary.cfm

 

[Clanad]

Interestingly, a mortgage (MOR�gij, noun) is a pledge of property as security for the repayment of a loan. This is a strange word on two accounts. First, it's pronunciation seems a bit off, and second, the history of the word tells us that it means, literally, "dead pledge": mort is French for "dead" (and is pronounced MOR), and gage is an old word that means "pledge." The explanation for this is that if a person defaults on a mortgage, he ends up losing the property. It becomes, in effect, dead to him. So a mortgage is a do-or-die proposition... caution is recommended...

[Didwot]

We always assume that a mortgage is s disposition of land as security for a loan, although strictly it can be any propery.
Under the law of Engalnd and Wales you do not lose all entitlement to the property if you default. You would still be entitled to the balance of proceeds of sale after repayment of the mortgage and any costs. If one is dealing with residential property, and the mortgage is payable by installments then the court will always allow the borrower to pay off any arrears within a reasonable time.