A deed of trust is a legal instrument that serves as an
agreement between a lender and a borrower to place a piece of property into the
hands of a third party as a trustee. The third party holds the property until
the borrower can pay it off, but the borrow retains all of the responsibilities
for maintaining the property. The borrow also holds the title to the property
during this time.
This arrangement means that the trustee must be prepared to sell the property
in the event that the borrower does not meet their debt obligations on it. It
is not a common arrangement, but it is one that may still be explored. It is
the responsibility of the trustee to remain neutral in everything related to
this property, and they must view what they do as favoring the borrower nor the
lender in particular.