Also known as: vadium mortua · dead pledge · mortgage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A historical security device by which real property is pledged to secure payment of a debt. The borrower grants the estate in fee to the lender on the condition that the estate remains the lender's if the debt is not repaid by the specified time.
Virgil Volpe borrows funds from Vista Manufacturing to purchase land. He executes a deed conveying title to a trustee who holds it for the lender until repayment. Upon default Vista Manufacturing initiates foreclosure to satisfy the debt from the property.
Veronica Villanueva grants a mortgage on land located in State X to secure a loan from Vitality Foods. When a dispute arises over the nature of the interest created, the courts of State X apply their own local law to determine the rights of the parties.
Valerie Voss faces foreclosure on her home during a severe economic downturn. State legislation imposes a temporary moratorium on mortgage foreclosures. The statute is upheld because it serves an important public purpose and is narrowly tailored to the emergency.
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Valdez Steel borrows funds and grants a mortgage on its real property to the lender. The board resolution authorizes the mortgage under the statute permitting a corporation to encumber any or all of its assets regardless of whether the transaction occurs in the usual course of business.
Vincente Vukovic executes a mortgage on his warehouse to secure repayment of a promissory note held by Voss Shipping. When the underlying note is later discharged in bankruptcy the mortgage is extinguished and Voss Shipping may no longer enforce the security interest.
Veronica Varela serves as president of Vitality Foods and authorizes a mortgage on corporate real estate to obtain financing. The corporate statute expressly permits the corporation to mortgage any part of its property in order to secure its obligations.
It refers to a dead pledge in which the borrower granted an estate in fee to the lender as security for a debt. If the debt was not repaid by the specified time the estate remained with the lender and was considered lost or dead to the borrower.
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The historical form transferred legal title in fee to the lender with the possibility of permanent loss upon default. Modern mortgages typically create only a lien or security interest while the borrower retains legal title and an equity of redemption.
Supporting sources
The estate was considered dead to the borrower once the time for repayment passed without payment because the property would then belong permanently to the lender.
Supporting sources
…Such are cases commenced by attachment against the property of debtors, or instituted to partition real estate, foreclose a mortgage, or enforce a lien. So far as they affect property in the State, they are substantially proceedings in rem in the broader sense which we have mentioned. It is hardly necessary to observe,…