ABSTRACT
A first mortgage, by deed, under Old System Title, takes the form of a conveyance of the legal estate in the mortgagor’s land from the mortgagor to the mortgagee.
Although the mortgagee becomes the legal owner of the land, the mortgagor retains the right to have the property reconveyed, upon the repayment of the principal sum borrowed plus interest and plus costs (ie, the mortgage debt). This right to have the property reconveyed is known as the equity of redemption: Santley v Wilde (1899).
