mortgage is a security interest in real property held by a lender as a
security for a debt, usually a loan of money. While a mortgage in itself is not
a debt, it is the lender's security for a debt. It is a transfer of an interest
in land (or the equivalent) from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the
condition that this interest will be returned to the owner when the terms of the
mortgage have been satisfied or performed. In other words, the mortgage is a
security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower.
The word comes from the Old French word for "dead pledge," apparently meaning
that the pledge ends (dies) either when the obligation is fulfilled or the
property is taken through foreclosure.[1]
In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans secured on
real estate rather than on other property (such as ships) and in some
jurisdictions only land may be mortgaged. A mortgage is the standard method by
which individuals and businesses can purchase real estate without the need to
pay the full value immediately from their own resources. See mortgage loan for
residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against
commercial property.
.