Puisne mortgage meaning

A puisne mortgage is a second or subsequent legal mortgage where the lender does not hold the borrower’s title deeds. In England and Wales the term appears in the Land Charges Act 1972. For unregistered land a puisne mortgage must be protected by registration as a Class C(i) land charge to bind purchasers; failure to register renders it void against a purchaser for money or money’s worth and risks loss of priority. The label distinguishes it from a mortgage where the mortgagee holds the title deeds. In registered land in England and Wales the expression is seldom used; practitioners refer to a second legal charge, with priority governed by the order of registration and any agreed priorities, not by possession of deeds. In Northern Ireland and Ireland the expression is used descriptively in conveyancing for a subsequent legal mortgage not accompanied by a deposit of deeds. Protection is by registration in the Registry of Deeds or by registering a charge in the Land Registry, and priority follows the relevant registration rules. The term is not used in Scotland, where the nearest equivalent is a second‑ranking standard security; priority is determined by the date and time of registration.