The phrase "death pledge" refers to a situation where a person owes money to another person or organization, and if they don't pay it back, they may face extreme consequences or lose their possessions. Full definition
Having a great credit score can sometimes save you an entire point on your interest rate, which could result in tens of thousands of dollars of savings over the life of your death pledge. (thebrokeprofessional.com)
This type of loan is called a mortgage (which literally means «death pledge») (thebrokeprofessional.com)
But you may not know that in the literal sense, it is defined as a «death pledge» in the French language. (thetruthaboutmortgage.com)