Mortgage is a conditional conveyance of land designed as a security for the payment of money, the fulfilment of some contract, or the performance of some act, and to be void upon such payment, fulfilment or performance1. Mortgage is the translation of vadiummortuum – dead pledge, so named because the land was turned over to the mortgagee or lender of the money, who received the profits or revenues of it without applying them in satisfaction of his debt, and the land thus became dead to the mortgagor or borrower who derived no benefit from it. This was regarded as in the nature of usury on the part of the lender and was looked upon with disfavour, in modem phrase as contrary to public policy. A mortgage is a disposition of property as security for a debt, the security being redeemable on repayment or discharge of the debt or other obligation. Generally, whenever a disposition of an estate or interest is originally intended as security for money, whether this intention appears from the deed itself or from any other instrument or from parol evidence, it is considered as a mortgage and redeemable. Every mortgage implies a debt and a personal obligation by the mortgagor to pay it. This paper further explains three aspects of mortgages and intends to cover all aspects which related to mortgages in general.

Keywords: Mortgages, Definition of mortgage, Mortgage under Banking Law.