Understanding the history behind mortgage loans can allow us to fully understand the many facets of a mortgage loan. The word mortgage can be broken down into two Latin terms ‘mort’ and ‘gage.’ ‘Mort’ comes from the Latin term mortuus which means ‘death’ and the latter half of the word is middle English and means ‘pledge’. Mortgages have been around for centuries with evidence of usury throughout history as well as in todays present era. This may be why the term is rooted in such grim verbiage. Imagine being a tomato plant growing in the Sahara Desert and the neighboring cactus (lenders) refuse to share water! I feel parched thinking…