Mortgage security and equity of redemption: non-parties in possession were not bound by the decree or sale.

A simple mortgage creates only a security interest, leaving the mortgagor with ownership and the equity of redemption until a valid sale becomes absolute. Persons with an interest in the security or redemption right should be joined in a mortgage suit; where the equity of redemption is not represented, a mortgage sale does not extinguish a non-party's possessory rights and the purchaser acquires no title against that person. Because the mortgage lien was already barred by limitation, the plaintiff could not treat the defendants' unexercised redemption right as an enforceable liability or eject them on the basis of the decree and sale.

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Issues: Whether defendants who were not parties to the mortgage suit and were in possession as permanent tenants were bound by the mortgage decree and sale, and whether the plaintiff could eject them or insist on redemption of the mortgage in full.

Analysis: A simple mortgage creates only a security interest, while the mortgagor retains ownership and the equity of redemption until a valid sale becomes absolute. In a mortgage suit, all persons having an interest in the security or the right of redemption should be joined. Where the equity of redemption is not represented in the suit, the mortgage sale does not extinguish the non-party's possessory rights, and the purchaser acquires no title as against that person. The plaintiff's right to enforce the mortgage lien was already barred by limitation, so she could not convert the defendants' unexercised right to redeem into an enforceable liability against them.

Conclusion: The defendants were not bound by the mortgage decree or sale so as to be ejected by the plaintiff, and the plaintiff was not entitled to compel full redemption against them.

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