Mortgage by legal charge

This special type of mortgage is most common in the US and the UK, since the the middle of the 1920’s. It is also known as a standard security or registered mortgage.

A mortgage by legal charge gives the creditor some additional rights over the property involved such as the right to gain an ownership over the real estate or to execute a sale of the property. However, until to creditor chooses to take advantage of one of these rights the debtor possesses the legal ownership of the subject of mortgage.

This type of mortgage deal is the most common type used by banks to secure their financing in case their client becomes insolvent and is unable to pay back a loan. If the owner fails to pay the sufficient taxes after the property the bank usually makes it up in order to keep the mortgage
If case of an event when a creditor acquires a legal charge over a mortgage, the rights have to be enrolled in the public register. Before enrollment the creditor must take a look at the current proprieties of the property to make sure that no other lenders are in possession of rights with a higher priority over the subject of mortgage.