What is a Mortgagor?

Mortgagor Definition

A mortgagor is an individual or a business entity providing a mortgage or security lien to real estate in exchange for the lender providing funds to the mortgagor.

Often, the mortgagor is referred to as the borrower while the lender is referred to as the mortgagee.


The Bank loans $200,000 to Mr. McGillicuddy for the purchase of a home. Mr. McGillicuddy is referred to as the mortgagor in the transaction, and the Bank is referred to as the mortgagee.

In mortgage loan documents, the buyer is often referred to as the borrower in the note, and mortgagor in the mortgage document. The difference between being a borrower and a mortgagor is that the mortgage provides security, or a lien in real estate, for the money borrowed. In a typical mortgage loan transaction, they are the same person.

A mortgage may be given for other reasons. For instance, if a homeowner owes money to a third person, but cannot pay it back right away, the third person may ask for a mortgage in exchange for the additional time to pay back the loaned funds.

However, the most common situation of a person becoming a mortgagor is if they need to borrow funds for the purchase of real estate, or use equity from real estate for borrowing additional money.

The term mortgagor is a technical term used in the financial industry to describe a special form of borrower, and most often your bank will merely refer to you as a borrower.

At First Foundation, we understand that real estate transactions can be complex, using terms that aren’t often used in common conversation. We use our expertise to take the complexity out of the process for our customers. We take care to explain the process to our customers, and counsel them on terms and conditions with which they might not be familiar.

Related Terms

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a mortgagor, please feel free to contact us today!




Last updated Jul 17, 2014