Short answer. Yes. Article 2091 expressly allows a pledge or mortgage to secure all kinds of obligations — pure, suspensively conditional, or resolutorily conditional. The fact that the underlying obligation has not yet become enforceable, or might never become so, does not prevent you from putting up collateral for it now.
What the law says
The contract of pledge or mortgage may secure all kinds of obligations, be they pure or subject to a suspensive or resolutory condition.
Civil Code, Article 2091 — Obligations That May Be Secured. Read the full provision →
Why the type of obligation does not restrict collateral
A common question in secured transactions is whether the uncertainty of the underlying obligation affects the validity of the security. If someone promises to pay you only if a certain event occurs, can you take a pledge or mortgage right now to protect yourself? Article 2091 answers plainly: yes. The security instrument may be entered into immediately, even though the obligation it secures is contingent on something that has not yet happened. The law separates the existence of the security from the enforceability of the underlying debt.
Suspensive versus resolutory conditions — what each means
A suspensive condition is an event that must happen before the obligation becomes effective — for example, a payment obligation that arises only if a contract is completed. A resolutory condition is an event that, when it happens, extinguishes an already existing obligation — for example, a return obligation that disappears if the goods are accepted without complaint. Article 2091 covers both. This means you can use a pledge or mortgage whether you are dealing with a debt that has not yet started (suspensive) or one that might end early (resolutory). Both types of contingency are valid subjects for security arrangements.
What happens if the condition never occurs
If the obligation is subject to a suspensive condition and the condition fails to occur, the obligation never comes into force. In that event, there is nothing for the security to cover, and the pledged item or mortgaged property must be returned or the encumbrance lifted. The same logic applies if a resolutory condition extinguishes the obligation before it is fully performed. The security follows the obligation: when the obligation ends, the security's purpose is exhausted. The parties should think about these contingencies when drafting the security agreement and include clear provisions for what happens if the condition is not met.
Practical uses of this rule
Securing conditional obligations is common in business transactions: advance payment arrangements, purchase options, performance guarantees, and bank credit facilities that are triggered by specific events all involve obligations that may or may not ripen into full enforceability. Article 2091 gives parties the flexibility to lock in security at the time they agree on the deal, rather than waiting for the condition to occur. This matters because by the time the condition is satisfied and the debt becomes due, the debtor's assets may have changed significantly. Getting the pledge or mortgage in place early protects the creditor regardless of how the debtor's financial picture looks when the moment of enforcement arrives.