A promise to pay.

Mortgages now are most commonly associated with the purchase of land, but early Alberta settlers often used what were known as chattel mortgages to make gradual payments towards the purchase of movable goods, such as cattle or farm equipment. Failure to make payments could result in a lawsuit and the repossession of the mortgaged items. Registered in Alberta’s courts since the 1880s, chattel mortgages were replaced in the 1970s by other forms of credit.