Daily AncestorForeclosure
Foreclosure is the court process by which a lender takes or sells mortgaged land after the borrower fails to pay, ending the borrower's right to redeem it.
Originally a foreclosure was a suit in chancery that cut off the mortgagor's equity of redemption and made the land the mortgagee's property. The word later covered any method, by statute or otherwise, of selling mortgaged land to pay the debt. Mechanic's liens and other liens could also be foreclosed.
Foreclosure suits are found among chancery or equity cases, and the decree often orders the land sold.
As seen in a recordChancery court docket, 1800s
Bill to foreclose. Wm. Bell, complainant, vs. Hiram Speck and Lydia Speck his wife, defendants
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Daily Ancestor. "Foreclosure." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/foreclosure. Last checked 2026-10-12.