If you were to be asked to describe and give a definition for the word mortgage, would you be able to, because it is surprising how few people know what they really are. They are not for instance a loan, even though the vast majority of people believe they are and often refer to them as a mortgage home loan. A mortgage is a legal document between a mortgagor or the buyer and the mortgagee or the finance supplier and consists of a way for a person to purchase a property using it as security. More accurately, it is a document that protects your lender’s interest with your property itself and a legal agreement you have provided to a lender.
The facility that a mortgage creates means individuals and companies can acquire land or property without needing the full face value to purchase it at the time. There are also misconceptions about how they work so below is a description of how the process works. Unfortunately it is our own common use of word like Borrower and Lender that has mislead people into thinking a mortgage is a loan when they should be referred to as Mortgagor and Mortgagee respectively. The security is in fact a lien which means the mortgagee has legal possession of your property until the debt is repaid.
The mortgagee’s money is then protected by this knowing the property is in fact security against its own debt. Information about the lien is registered at a county courthouse, or similar, to ensure the contract is official and binding. This act makes the purchase and the ownership of the house official and no-one can transfer this ownership until the debt is fully paid off. This situation may seem strange but in essence what it means is that the property is owned completely by the mortgagor and not the mortgagee who also does not have the title.
The only right that your mortgage gives to the mortgagee over your property is to sell it to recover funds in the case that you do not pay off your debt. If in the unfortunate event this happens, the process whereby the funds are reclaimed is called foreclosure. This is done in order for it to be considered legal; this type of foreclosure is referred to as a judicial foreclosure. This is only a short introduction as the subject is much more complex but this information should make this important issue much clearer.