FIND THE DEFINITION FOR ANY REAL ESTATE
TERM
Click on the letters above for terms beginning with that
letter, and then click on the term below.
Don’t see a term here?
Feel free to ask us. (Unfortunately, however, we cannot give you
real estate or legal advice.)
ABSTRACT OF TITLE – A condensed
history of the “chain of title” to a property, showing previous
ownership, liens, judgments and other transactions concerning
the property.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE – A clause
in a mortgage, which allows the lender to pursue the entire
amount of remaining debt if a borrower defaults on their loan
agreement. Without this,
lenders could only sue for the amount of late payments.
ACCESSION – The acquisition
of trade fixtures as real property by a landlord, because a
tenant does not remove them from the property at the end of
a lease
ACCRETION – The process where
soil is deposited from a river, lake, or sea.
The actual soil deposited is called ALLUVIUM.
ACCRUALS – Items on a settlement
sheet that will be owed, but are not being paid at settlement.
May appear as a credit to the buyer on the settlement
sheet. The buyer would then pay that complete expense
when it is due.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT – Basically
means that a deed or other legal document has been notarized,
or witnessed by a public official, such as a judge, or more
often, by a notary public.
The purpose is to verify that the signer of the document
is doing so of his or her own free will.
ACRE – An area of land measuring
43,560 square feet.
ACTUAL EVICTION – What one
would normally think of as an eviction.
When a landlord takes legal action to remove a tenant
from a property.
ADDENDUM – An additional form
included in a contract, and considered to be part of that contract.
The plural is ADDENDA.
ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE (ARM)
– A loan where the interest rate may be adjusted at periodic
intervals.
AD VALOREM TAX – A tax paid
according to a fixed percentage of a property’s value (Ad Valorem
means “according to value”).
ADVERSE POSSESSION – A means
of acquiring property by taking possession of someone else’s
property without their permission. Must meet the requirements of continuous occupation
(length of time varies by state), hostile occupation (meaning
they don’t have permission), actual occupation, notorious occupation
(meaning it’s open and visible) and benefiting one property
exclusively. The property must also be claimed in court.
AGENT – A person who represents
a principal or client.
ALLUVIUM, ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
– Soil deposited by accretion.
The soil left naturally on the banks of a river, lake
or stream.
APPRAISAL – An estimate or
opinion of value.
ARM (see Adjustable Rate Mortgage)
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