The mortgagor is the borrower in a mortgagor/mortgagee relationship, where the mortgagee is the lending institution that makes the mortgage loan. Mortgages are used to purchase real property, usually single family homes.

The purchase of a home with a mortgage and the payments on the mortgage are one of the largest financial decisions or obligations that a mortgagor will ever make.

If a mortgagor is delinquent on payments, he or she might be categorized as a home debtor, and the loan would be subject to foreclosure. If there is a foreclosure, the bank or lender will reposes the house, evict the former owner, and sell the house as quickly as possible, sometimes through an auction.

Other arrangements may be possible, such as a forbearance, where the mortgagor is given a temporary respite from making mortgage loan payments, to give him or her time to regroup after a financially devastating event such as a period of unemployment or the loss of a spouse.

Mortgages can also be modified or refinanced to change the structure of the loan’s components, which includes, principal payments, interest payments, a length of time and intervals in which the loan must be repaid, and there may be a variable component in which the interest due is pegged to some interest rate benchmark.

Fixed rate mortgages do not change, while adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) or variable rate mortgages do.

What is a Mortgagee?
What is a Mortgage Broker?