HomeMy WebLinkAboutWhat is a chattel mortgageWhat is a Chattel Mortgage
In 1833, a new statute (Laws of 1833, Chap. 279. Sections 1 and 2) required mortgages of personal property to be filed in the clerks' offices. The instruments "shall be filed in the
several towns and cities of this State where the mortgagor therein, if a resident of this State, shall reside at the time of the execution thereof; and if not a resident, then in the
city or town where the property so mortgaged shall be at the time of the execution of such instrument." In addition, "the clerk of the city and county of Albany, shall respectively number
every such instrument or copy which shall be filed in their offices, and shall enter, in books to be provided by them, alphabetically, the names of all the parties to such instrument…"
As commercial trade and industry practices changed, several statutes relative to mortgages and conditional sales of personal property were added. In April 1858, an "act to provide for
the registry of liens and encumbrances upon boats and crafts (Laws of 1858, Chap. 247) navigating the canals of this State" was passed. After 1868, it no longer was "…necessary to file
as a chattel mortgage any mortgage which has been or shall hereafter be executed by any ra1lroad company upon real and personal property (Laws of 1868, Chap. 779) and which has been
or shall be recorded as a mortgage of real estate. In 1879, an act to provide for discharging chattel mortgages (Laws of 1879, Chap. 171) was passed mandating clerks to record and to
file a certificate discharging the mortgage i.e. "satisfaction of mortgage."
A chattel mortgage is a term used to describe a loan arrangement in which an item of movable personal property ("chattel") is used as security for the loan. In a traditional mortgage,
the loan is secured by the property itself. With a chattel mortgage, the lender holds a lien against the movable property until the loan has been satisfied, at which point the borrower
resumes full control of the chattel. Today, Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") filings, commonly called financing statements, have replaced chattel mortgages.
The information is recorded in a standardized format and typically includes date, name and address of mortgagor (borrower), name and address of mortgagee (lender), amount requested,
description of merchandise or other personal property to be used as collateral, terms, interest rate, date due, witnesses, and filing date. Early records are handwritten; later documents
are typed and assigned filing numbers which are sequential within each year. In addition, there are a variety of legal instruments which supplement some of the mortgages including; assignments
of mortgages, bills of sale, leases, renewals of mortgages and mortgage satisfactions.
http://www.albanycounty.com/Government/Departments/AlbanyCountyHallofRecords/findingaids/ChattelMortgages.aspx