A mortgage loan is simply a loan taken out against a property that you own. The property in question could be you house, a shop, or even a non-agricultural piece of land. Mortgage loans are offered by banks and non-banking finance companies. The lender provides you the principal loan amount and charges you an interest on it. You can repay the loan in affordable monthly instalments. Your property serves as your collateral and it stays in possession of the lender until the loan is repaid in full. As such, the lender has a legal claim over the property for the tenure of the loan, and if the borrower defaults in paying off the loan, the lender has the right to seize it and auction it off.