Mortgages Company


	OPERATION OF THE MORTGAGE

The borrower (also called the mortgagor) uses a mortgage to pledge real property to the lender (also called the mortgagee) as security against the debt (also called hypothecation) for the rest of the value of the property. In legal terms, the creation of a mortgage gives the legal title of the land to the mortgagee and an equitable title (called "equity of redemption") to the mortgagor. The legal title, however, only exists as a security for a debt and does not convey any title or powers associated with real property.

The mortgage instrument contains two parts:
- the mortgage, which is the pledge
- the promissory note (or simply note ) which is the actual evidence of the debt and promise to repay

To protect the lender, a mortgage is recorded in the public records creating a lien (when there are multiple liens, order of recording determines priority). Since mortgage debt is often the largest debt owed by the debtor, banks and other mortgage lenders run title searches of the real property to make certain that the lien of the mortgage is prior to anyone else's claim. Tax liens, in some cases, will come ahead of mortgages. For this reason, if a borrower has delinquent property taxes, the bank will often pay them to prevent the lienholder from foreclosing and wiping out the mortgage.


	HISTORY

At common law, a mortgage was a conveyance of land that on its face was absolute and conveyed a fee simple estate, but which was in fact conditional, and would be of no effect if certain conditions were not met --- usually, but not necessarily, the repayment of a debt to the original landowner. Hence the word "mortgage," Law French for "dead pledge;" that is, it was absolute in form, and unlike a "live gage", was not conditionally dependent on its repayment solely from raising and selling crops or livestock, or of simply giving the fruits of crops and livestock coming from the land that was mortgaged. The mortgage debt remained in effect whether or not the land could successfully produce enough income to repay the debt. In theory, a mortgage required no further steps to be taken by the creditor, such as acceptance of crops and livestock, for repayment.

In many U.S. states, however, a mortgage has been converted by statute to a device for creating a security interest in land. When the landowner fails to perform on the obligation secured by the mortgage, the mortgage holder may file a foreclosure to cause the property to be sold at auction, usually by the sheriff.

In 2003, total U.S. residential mortgage production reached a record level of $3.8 trillion through record low interest rates (though these continue to vary according to credit rating).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgages