Sentence:  The bank which held the <WSD>mortgage</WSD> on the old church declared that the interest was considerably in arrears , and the real estate people said flatly that the land across the river was being held for an eventual development for white working people who were coming in , and that none would be sold to colored folk . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a conditional conveyance of property as security for the repayment of a loan