Mortgage

A mortgage is a two-party instrument: borrower (mortgagor) and lender (mortgagee). The mortgagor gives the mortgagee a security interest in the property. In a default, the mortgagee must typically file a lawsuit to foreclose - a judicial process that can take 1-3 years in states like New York, New Jersey, and Florida. The term 'mortgage' is also used colloquially to mean any home loan, regardless of whether the security instrument is technically a deed of trust or mortgage. In seller-financed transactions, the promissory note is the debt obligation and the mortgage or deed of trust is the security instrument attached to it.