Classic Definition of a Mortgage
Lord Lindley considered the nature of a mortgage and said: ‘The principle is this: a mortgage is a conveyance of land or an assignment of chattels as a security for the payment of a debt, or the discharge of some other obligation for which it is given. This is the idea of a mortgage; and the security is redeemable on the payment or discharge of such debt or obligation, any provision to the contrary notwithstanding.
That, in my opinion, is the law. Any provision inserted to prevent redemption on payment or performance of the debt or obligation for which the security was given is what is meant by a clog or fetter on the equity of redemption, and is therefore void. It follows from this that ‘once a mortgage always a mortgage,’ but I do not understand that this principle involves the further proposition that the amount or nature of the further debt or obligation, the payment or performance of which is to be secured, is a clog or fetter within the rule.’
Lord Lindley MR said: ‘a clog or fetter is something which is inconsistent with the idea of security; a clog or fetter is in the nature of a repugnant condition.’
Lord Lindley MR
[1899] 2 Ch 474, 68 LJ Ch 681, 81 LT 393, 48 WR 90, 15 TLR 528
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Noakes and Co Ltd v Rice HL 17-Dec-2001
A charge on a public house provided that even after repayment of the principal, the owner continued to be obliged to purchase his beer from the brewery, and that any non-payment would be charged on the property.
Held: The clauses operated as a . .
Cited – Brighton and Hove City Council v Audus ChD 26-Feb-2009
The claimant was the proprietor of a fourth legal charge on a title. It sought a declaration that a second charge in favour of the defendant was void as a clog on the proprietor’s equity of redemption. An advance secured by a first charge, also in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Equity, Land
Leading Case
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.276435