Essentials of a Mortgage

A valid mortgage must have the following :

1. Should be in writing.
2. Parties to the mortgage must be clearly named.
3. Description of the property in as much detail as required to identify it.
4. Amount of Mortgage must be clearly stated.
5. A mortgage must be duly executed by the mortgagor or his agent.
6. A mortgage must be delivered by the mortgagor to the mortgagee. Without delivery a mortgage cannot take effect as a transfer of title.
7. Recording and Priority : A mortgage should be recorded in the county clerk or land record's office. If a lending institution does not record a mortgage, it may have lesser rights to proceeds from the same of the asset in case of default. Mortgages that are filed at the same time are equal in priority. Later mortgages will have lesser priority.

Good faith and fair dealing in Lender’s Liability- Research

 By Yasser Latif Hamdani

Principle: A party to a contract breaches the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by interfering with or failing to cooperate with the plaintiff in the performance of the contract.

Case: Solfanelli v. Corestates Bank, MA, 203 F. 3d 197

Court: United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Overview: The District Court concluded that Bank’s eleven month delay in selling the stock was commercially unreasonable. This was affirmed by the aforesaid court. It must be noted that in this case the debtor did not even request but rather withheld consent and yet the court ordered that the Bank’s delay was unreasonable.

Facts: The facts as far as they are relevant to our case here are that the plaintiff kept shares at collateral for debt. Unlike our case, the Bank sought the plaintiff’s consent to sell shares which was withheld. Yet the court ruled that the bank’s duty to conduct commercially reasonable sale was not waivable.