What is a debt consolidation loan?

Debt consolidation involves taking out a loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing a single loan. 

Taking this into account

Debt consolidation can simply be a series of unsecured loans into another unsecured loan, but more often it is a secured loan against an asset that serves as collateral, plus a house. In this case, a mortgage is secured against the house.