What is a mortgage?
Mortgages are not Loans
Mortgages are often though of as loans from a bank or lender, this is inaccurate. A mortgage is a series of ‘rights’ which you grant the lender or bank in exchange for a loan.
These rights are usually the right to possess and sell the property (under the circumstances that the borrower falls behind repayment).
So in exchange for a loan, you provide the lender with the right to possess and sell the property. Although many mortgages entitle the lender to take possession of the property if the borrower has not fallen into arrears, this right is rarely exercised.
For the lender to take possession of the property (if you are currently living in it) they must seek a court order. The bank will not automatically be granted this order, if the borrower can make reasonable representation that payment will be made and a schedule of some sort agreed.
If the property is not your residence then the bank does not have to seek this order.