A mortgage is a lien on property for the performance of an obligation (i.e. paying a loan). In other words, the mortgage is not the loan, but the collateral held by the lender. The word mortgage is derived from a French law term used in Britain in the Middle Ages, meaning “death pledge” and refers to the pledge ending (dying) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure, a process whereby the lender forces the sale of the property used as the collateral for the loan.
