What does “mortgage” mean?
What the heck does “mortgage” mean anyway?
Strangely enough, the word mortgage comes from the French word “mort” which means “dead” and “gage” from Old English, which means pledge. The term came from the doubtfulness of whether or not the mortgagor would pay the debt. In the 1500’s, if the mortgagor did not pay, then the land pledged as security for the debt was taken away. The land was then considered “dead” to the mortgagor. Nowadays, the term mortgage is used as a term for purchasing a property. We no longer associate anyone’s death with it. Although a few lucky people may be in a position to pay all cash for a property, home mortgages are required to purchase a home. Mortgages all have a term (typically 15, 20 or 30 years) representing the length of time before your home is paid off and a rate which determines the principal and interest payment that will be required to be paid during this term. Now that you know where the term mortgage came from and what it represents, we will discuss various types of mortgages in future articles.
Katherine Albano is the Sales Manager and Senior Loan Officer at Riverview Mortgage Corp. For any questions regarding mortgages, please call Kathy at 585-321-0020 ext. 211 or 585-303-3274. Or e-mail her at kathyalbano@frontiernet.net
Riverview Mortgage is a Registered New York State Mortgage Broker with the NYS Banking Department. Loans arranged through Third Party Lenders