ABSTRACT OF TITLE
A concise history that summarizes the transfers of a particular parcel of real estate, including all claims that could be made against it. It determines that whether the seller of the property in fact owns the property and has a free-and-clear title.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE The provision in a credit agreement, such as a mortgage or deed of trust that can be enforced to make the entire debt due immediately if certain conditions arise before the time that payment would otherwise be due. The agreement may call for acceleration whenever there is a default of any important obligation.
ACCESSION The increase in value of property as a result of the annexation of fixtures or the accretion by means of natural growth and the right of a proprietor to ownership of subsequent addition or increase.
ACCRETION An increase of land by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion.
ACCRUED ITEMS Items for which the firm has been realizing revenue or expense without yet observing an actual transaction that would result in a journal entry. For instance interest on a mortgage loan or taxes on real property.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A formal declaration made to authoritative witnesses to ensure legal validity. It could be a duly authorized officer, usually a notary public.
ACRE A measure of land equal to 43,560 square feet, 4,840 square yards, 4,047 square meters, 160 square rods or 0.4047 hectares.
ACTUAL EVICTION The physical expulsion of a tenant from the leased premises; the tenant is relieved of any further duty to pay rent. ACTUAL NOTICE Conveying facts to a person with the intention to explain that person of a proceeding in which his or her interests are involved. It is a direct knowledge of some fact that he or she has a right to know and which the informer has a legal duty to communicate.
ADJUSTABLE-RATE MORTGAGE (ARM) A mortgage whose interest rate is starts fluctuating at periodic intervals according to the prevailing interest rates in the market, usually one tied to a bank or savings and loan association cost-of-funds index.
AD VALOREM TAX A tax based on the assessed value of real estate or personal property. Ad Valorem taxes can be real estate tax or even duty on imported items.
ADVERSE POSSESSION A method of gaining legal title to real property by the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of it to the exclusion of its true owner for the period prescribed by state law. Possession for a statutory period may be a means of acquiring title to real property by occupying it for a period of time.
AGENCY COUPLED WITH AN INTEREST When agent has vested interest in the s/matter of the agency & authority to exercise power over it; irrevocable during life & doesn't authority doesn't end on death.
AGENT An Agent is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another (called the Principal) to create a legal relationship e.g. they may hold a power of attorney or have a professional relationship, say, as lawyer and client.
AIR LOT A designated airspace over a piece of land. An air lot, like surface property, may be transferred.
AIR RIGHTS Air rights are a kind of development right in real estate to use or develop the open space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use the space above the property.
ALIENATION The act of transferring property or title to it to another. It may be voluntary, such as by gift or sale, or involuntary, as through eminent domain or adverse possession.
ALIENATION CLAUSE A provision in a document permitting or forbidding a person from transferring property that is the subject of the document. In effect this clause prevents the borrower from assigning the debt without the lender's approval.
ALLODIAL SYSTEM A system allowing free and full ownership of land with all rights pertaining to it by individuals. US real property law is based on an allodial system where ownership of rights in land are vested in a sovereign.
AMERICAN LAND TITLE ASSOCIATION (ALTA) POLICY A title insurance policy that protects the interest in a collateral property of a mortgage lender who originates a new real estate loan.
AMORTIZED LOAN The act of reducing a debt through installments, to reduce a financial obligation by making payments against the principal balance in installments or regular transfers over the term of the loan.
ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR) The relationship of the total finance charges associated with a loan. This must be disclosed to borrowers by lenders under the Truth-in-Lending Act.
ANTICIPATION The use or assignment of funds, especially from a trust fund, before they are legitimately available for use.
ANTITRUST LAWS Laws designed to preserve and maintain business competition by making illegal certain private conspiracies and combinations. Most violations of antitrust laws in the real estate business involve either price-fixing or allocation of customers or markets. Laws in the USA view economic competition as a condition in which fair prices can be determined through market forces without the interference from interests that would control them for private gain.
APPRAISAL An examination that formulates and helps support an opinion about the quantity, quality or value of real property. Usually a professional appraiser is required to perform an examination and render an opinion using various methods like cost approach, income approach, market approach, arbitrage etc.
APPRECIATION A rise in value or price, of a property due to economic or related causes, especially over time. It can be either temporary or permanent; opposite of depreciation.
APPURTENANCE A right, privilege, or property that is considered incident to the principal property for purposes such as passage of title, conveyance, or inheritance.
APPURTENANT EASEMENT An appurtenant easement is a right attached to the benefited property (dominant estate). Because an appurtenant easement is viewed as attached to the property, an appurtenant easement is unaffected by a change in ownership.
ASSEMBLAGE The combining of two or more adjoining lots into one larger tract to increase their total value.
ASSESSMENT An expert or official valuation of real property for tax purposes based on appraisal.
ASSIGNMENT The transfer of a claim, right, interest, or property from one to another in writing of interest in a bond, mortgage, lease or other instrument.
ASSUMPTION OF MORTGAGE An obligation undertaken by the purchaser of property to be personally liable for payment of an existing mortgage. "Assumption of Mortgage" may be used when a mortgagor is in financial difficulty and desires to sell the property to avoid foreclosure.
ATTACHMENT Legal seizure of property. The document by which a court orders such a seizure may be called a writ of attachment or an order of attachment.
ATTORNEY'S OPINION OF TITLE An abstract of title examined by an attorney and certified, in his or her opinion, to be an accurate statement of the facts concerning the property ownership. The attorney's opinion of title does not insure against undisclosed defects nor does it insure marketable title.
AUTOMATIC EXTENSION A section in a listing agreement that states that the agreement will remain in existence automatically for a certain period of time after its expiration date. In many states, use of this clause is discouraged or prohibited.
AVULSION The sudden and unexpected tearing away of land, due to a violent action of nature, such as a flood, earthquake, volcanic action or when a river redirects.
A concise history that summarizes the transfers of a particular parcel of real estate, including all claims that could be made against it. It determines that whether the seller of the property in fact owns the property and has a free-and-clear title.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE The provision in a credit agreement, such as a mortgage or deed of trust that can be enforced to make the entire debt due immediately if certain conditions arise before the time that payment would otherwise be due. The agreement may call for acceleration whenever there is a default of any important obligation.
ACCESSION The increase in value of property as a result of the annexation of fixtures or the accretion by means of natural growth and the right of a proprietor to ownership of subsequent addition or increase.
ACCRETION An increase of land by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion.
ACCRUED ITEMS Items for which the firm has been realizing revenue or expense without yet observing an actual transaction that would result in a journal entry. For instance interest on a mortgage loan or taxes on real property.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A formal declaration made to authoritative witnesses to ensure legal validity. It could be a duly authorized officer, usually a notary public.
ACRE A measure of land equal to 43,560 square feet, 4,840 square yards, 4,047 square meters, 160 square rods or 0.4047 hectares.
ACTUAL EVICTION The physical expulsion of a tenant from the leased premises; the tenant is relieved of any further duty to pay rent. ACTUAL NOTICE Conveying facts to a person with the intention to explain that person of a proceeding in which his or her interests are involved. It is a direct knowledge of some fact that he or she has a right to know and which the informer has a legal duty to communicate.
ADJUSTABLE-RATE MORTGAGE (ARM) A mortgage whose interest rate is starts fluctuating at periodic intervals according to the prevailing interest rates in the market, usually one tied to a bank or savings and loan association cost-of-funds index.
AD VALOREM TAX A tax based on the assessed value of real estate or personal property. Ad Valorem taxes can be real estate tax or even duty on imported items.
ADVERSE POSSESSION A method of gaining legal title to real property by the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of it to the exclusion of its true owner for the period prescribed by state law. Possession for a statutory period may be a means of acquiring title to real property by occupying it for a period of time.
AGENCY COUPLED WITH AN INTEREST When agent has vested interest in the s/matter of the agency & authority to exercise power over it; irrevocable during life & doesn't authority doesn't end on death.
AGENT An Agent is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another (called the Principal) to create a legal relationship e.g. they may hold a power of attorney or have a professional relationship, say, as lawyer and client.
AIR LOT A designated airspace over a piece of land. An air lot, like surface property, may be transferred.
AIR RIGHTS Air rights are a kind of development right in real estate to use or develop the open space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use the space above the property.
ALIENATION The act of transferring property or title to it to another. It may be voluntary, such as by gift or sale, or involuntary, as through eminent domain or adverse possession.
ALIENATION CLAUSE A provision in a document permitting or forbidding a person from transferring property that is the subject of the document. In effect this clause prevents the borrower from assigning the debt without the lender's approval.
ALLODIAL SYSTEM A system allowing free and full ownership of land with all rights pertaining to it by individuals. US real property law is based on an allodial system where ownership of rights in land are vested in a sovereign.
AMERICAN LAND TITLE ASSOCIATION (ALTA) POLICY A title insurance policy that protects the interest in a collateral property of a mortgage lender who originates a new real estate loan.
AMORTIZED LOAN The act of reducing a debt through installments, to reduce a financial obligation by making payments against the principal balance in installments or regular transfers over the term of the loan.
ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR) The relationship of the total finance charges associated with a loan. This must be disclosed to borrowers by lenders under the Truth-in-Lending Act.
ANTICIPATION The use or assignment of funds, especially from a trust fund, before they are legitimately available for use.
ANTITRUST LAWS Laws designed to preserve and maintain business competition by making illegal certain private conspiracies and combinations. Most violations of antitrust laws in the real estate business involve either price-fixing or allocation of customers or markets. Laws in the USA view economic competition as a condition in which fair prices can be determined through market forces without the interference from interests that would control them for private gain.
APPRAISAL An examination that formulates and helps support an opinion about the quantity, quality or value of real property. Usually a professional appraiser is required to perform an examination and render an opinion using various methods like cost approach, income approach, market approach, arbitrage etc.
APPRECIATION A rise in value or price, of a property due to economic or related causes, especially over time. It can be either temporary or permanent; opposite of depreciation.
APPURTENANCE A right, privilege, or property that is considered incident to the principal property for purposes such as passage of title, conveyance, or inheritance.
APPURTENANT EASEMENT An appurtenant easement is a right attached to the benefited property (dominant estate). Because an appurtenant easement is viewed as attached to the property, an appurtenant easement is unaffected by a change in ownership.
ASSEMBLAGE The combining of two or more adjoining lots into one larger tract to increase their total value.
ASSESSMENT An expert or official valuation of real property for tax purposes based on appraisal.
ASSIGNMENT The transfer of a claim, right, interest, or property from one to another in writing of interest in a bond, mortgage, lease or other instrument.
ASSUMPTION OF MORTGAGE An obligation undertaken by the purchaser of property to be personally liable for payment of an existing mortgage. "Assumption of Mortgage" may be used when a mortgagor is in financial difficulty and desires to sell the property to avoid foreclosure.
ATTACHMENT Legal seizure of property. The document by which a court orders such a seizure may be called a writ of attachment or an order of attachment.
ATTORNEY'S OPINION OF TITLE An abstract of title examined by an attorney and certified, in his or her opinion, to be an accurate statement of the facts concerning the property ownership. The attorney's opinion of title does not insure against undisclosed defects nor does it insure marketable title.
AUTOMATIC EXTENSION A section in a listing agreement that states that the agreement will remain in existence automatically for a certain period of time after its expiration date. In many states, use of this clause is discouraged or prohibited.
AVULSION The sudden and unexpected tearing away of land, due to a violent action of nature, such as a flood, earthquake, volcanic action or when a river redirects.