A conveyance of property will be subject to an existing mortgage if the purchaser has actual or constructive notice of it, e.g., if a mortgage of
real property has been recorded in the land records. If there is a default in mortgage payments, the mortgagee may fore-close. The new owner usually keeps up the mortgage payments in order to preserve his interest in the property. But if he decides not to do so (if, for example, the property’s value drops below that of the amount still unpaid on the mortgage), he is not personally liable to make the mortgage payments unless he has agreed to do so. See
assumption of mortgage.