Typically a loan with a term of 15–30 years made for the purchase of a specific property. The borrower gives the bank a “lien” on the property. This is a legal term that entitles the bank to the title of the property in the event of the borrower failing to make payments as scheduled. Mortgages may be fixed rate, floating rate or some combination of the two forms, for example fixed for the first three years and then reverting to a floating rate based on some prespecified benchmark.