Mortgage is a temporary, conditional pledge of property to a creditor as security for performance of an obligation or repayment of a debt.
The great jurist Sir Edward Coke, who lived from 1552 to 1634, has explained why the term mortgage comes from the Old French words mort, dead, gage and pledge. It seemed to him that it had to do with doubts as to whether or not the mortgagor will pay the debt. If the mortgagor does not, then the land pledged to the mortgager as security for the debt is taken back. “And so dead to him upon condition and if he doth pay the money, then the pledge is dead as to the [mortgager]”. This etymology of the old French term “mortgage” that we adopted may well be correct. The term has been in English much longer than the 17th century first recorded in Middle English with the form mortgage and the figurative sense pledge in a work written before 1393.
Mortgage as a law is a device for protecting a creditor by giving him an interest in the property of his debtor. In common law, a mortgage was a conditional sale; i.e., the mortgagor (debtor) sold realty (real property mortgage) or personal property (chattel mortgage. If the debtor paid the debt by a certain time, the sale was voided.
However, don't get overwhelmed by the process of applying for a Houston home loan. There are enough resources about the different types of Houston loans and Houston mortgage companies to know which one is best for you. Purchasing a home is a rewarding experience and Houston mortgage companies have the knowledge and resources to help you get through this process quickly and smoothly. Today’s market is expanding dramatically along with the availability of mortgage loans. Houston mortgage companies have hundreds of mortgage programs available, and more people are qualifying than ever before.
Houston Mortgages provides detailed information about Houston mortgages, Houston mortgage companies, Houston mortgage brokers, Houston mortgage lenders and more. Houston Mortgages is the sister site of Atlanta Interest Only Mortgages.
