Definition
The mortgagor is the party who gives a mortgage — that is, the borrower or property owner who pledges real property as security for a debt or obligation. In a standard mortgage transaction, the mortgagor conveys a security interest in their property to the mortgagee (the lender), retaining possession and use of the property while the debt remains outstanding.
In equity, the mortgagor has historically been treated as the true and beneficial owner of the mortgaged property, notwithstanding the technical conveyance of legal title or a security interest to the mortgagee. This equitable ownership persists until a court enters a final decree of foreclosure, extinguishing the mortgagor's rights.
Common Confusion
MORTGAGOR vs. MORTGAGEE: These two terms are among the most routinely transposed in legal research and drafting. The mortgagor gives the mortgage and is the borrower or debtor. The mortgagee receives the mortgage and is the lender or creditor. A useful mnemonic: the "-or" suffix indicates the actor conveying the instrument; the "-ee" suffix indicates the party receiving it. Confusing the two in historical deed or court records can reverse the entire meaning of a transaction.
MORTGAGOR vs. MORTGAGER: These are simply spelling variants of the same term. "Mortgagor" is the predominant legal spelling and appears consistently across all major law dictionaries. "Mortgager" appears in general usage sources and is treated as an acceptable alternative, but researchers should expect "mortgagor" in legal instruments, court opinions, and statutes.
Why It Matters in Research
The term itself is stable — its core meaning has not shifted over centuries — but the legal status of the mortgagor has evolved considerably, and that evolution matters for corpus research.
In early common law under the title theory of mortgages, the mortgagor technically conveyed legal title to the mortgagee upon execution of the mortgage. The mortgagor's rights were fragile: failure to repay on the law day (the due date) could permanently forfeit the property. Equity courts intervened to protect mortgagors, developing the equity of redemption — the right to reclaim the property upon payment even after the law day had passed. The mortgagee's remedy against this equity was the foreclosure suit. This historical tension between law and equity is essential context when reading older cases or treatises that discuss the mortgagor's "ownership."
Modern American jurisdictions have largely moved away from strict title theory. Under the lien theory — which most states now follow — the mortgagor retains legal title throughout the mortgage, with the mortgagee holding only a lien. Under intermediate theory (a minority approach), title passes to the mortgagee only upon default. The legal rights and obligations of the mortgagor differ across these frameworks, so identifying a jurisdiction's theory is a necessary first step when researching mortgagor rights in historical or comparative materials.
Researchers working with deed records, equity court pleadings, or nineteenth-century treatises will encounter the mortgagor framed primarily as an equitable owner asserting redemption rights. Modern consumer protection statutes, foreclosure procedure codes, and bankruptcy materials reframe the mortgagor as a debtor with statutory protections — a conceptually different posture that generates different vocabulary in the sources.
The term also appears in trust deed jurisdictions (primarily western states) where the functional equivalent of the mortgagor is called the trustor or grantor. Sources from these jurisdictions may not use "mortgagor" at all, even when describing the same role.
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries are unanimous on the basic definition: the mortgagor is the party who gives the mortgage. Black's (both editions) and Bouvier's state this without elaboration. The entries are brief by design, treating the term as a relational label rather than a concept requiring extended treatment.
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the most substantive of the four, adding the critical equitable dimension: the mortgagor "in equity is considered as the real owner, until a decree of foreclosure." Burrill cites Kent's Commentaries (4 Kent's Com. 159), one of the foundational American treatise authorities on property law, grounding this principle in well-established equity doctrine. Burrill also preserves the historical spelling variant "morgageor" from the Year Books (M. 7 Hen. VI. 26), useful for researchers working with very early English sources.
None of the historical dictionaries address the title/lien theory distinction or the consumer-protective dimensions of modern mortgage law — gaps that reflect the era of compilation rather than oversight.
Jurisdictional Note
Whether the mortgagor retains legal title during the mortgage depends on whether the jurisdiction follows title theory, lien theory, or intermediate theory. This distinction affects the mortgagor's rights in bankruptcy, upon default, and during foreclosure proceedings, and it determines which vocabulary appears in jurisdiction-specific sources. Trust deed states (including California, Texas, and Oregon) use "trustor" for the party playing the mortgagor's functional role.