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ABATEMENT OF NUISANCE
Extinction or termination
of a nuisance.
ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP
See FEE SIMPLE ESTATE.
ABSTRACT OF JUDGMENT
A condensation of the
essential provisions of a court judgment.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE
A summary or digest of
all transfers, conveyances, legal proceedings, and any other
facts relied on as evidence of title, showing continuity of ownership,
together with any other elements of record which may impair title.
ABSTRACTION
A method of valuing land. The
indicated value of the improvement is deducted from the sale
price.
ACCELERATED COST RECOVERY SYSTEM
The system
for figuring depreciation (cost recovery) for depreciable real
property acquired and placed into service after January 1, 1981.
(ACRS)
ACCELERATED DEPRECIATION
A method of cost
write-off in which depreciation allowances are greater in the
first few years of ownership than in subsequent years. This permits
an earlier recovery of capital and a faster tax write-off of
an asset.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE
A condition in a real
estate financing instrument giving the lender the power to declare
all sums owing lender immediately due and payable upon the happening
of an event, such as sale of the property, or a delinquency in
the repayment of the note.
ACCEPTANCE
The act of agreeing or consenting
to the terms of an offer thereby establishing the "meeting of
the minds" that is an essential element of a contract.
ACCESS RIGHT
The right of an owner to have
ingress and egress to and from owner's property over adjoining
property.
ACCESSION
An addition to property through
the efforts of man or by natural forces.
ACCRETION
Accession by natural forces, e.g.,
alluvium.
ACCRUED DEPRECIATION
The difference between
the cost of replacement new as of the date of the appraisal and
the present appraised value.
ACCRUED ITEMS OF EXPENSE
Those incurred expenses
which are not yet payable. The seller's accrued expenses are
credited to the purchaser in a closing statement.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
A formal declaration made
before an authorized person, e.g., a notary public, by a person
who has executed an instrument stating that the execution was
his or her free act. In this state an acknowledgment is the statement
by an officer such as a notary that the signatory to the instrument
is the person represented to be.
ACOUSTICAL TILE
Blocks of fiber, mineral
or metal, with small holes or rough-textured surface to absorb
sound, used as covering for interior walls and ceilings.
ACQUISITION
The act or process by which a
person procures property.
ACRE
A measure of land equaling 160 square
rods, or 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, or a tract
about 208.71 feet square.
ACTUAL AUTHORITY
Authority expressly given
by the principal or given by the law and not denied by the principal.
ACTUAL FRAUD
An act intended to deceive another,
e.g., making a false statement, making a promise without intending
to perform it, suppressing the truth.
ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE (ARM)
A mortgage
loan which bears interest at a rate subject to change during
the term of the loan, predetermined or otherwise.
ADJUSTMENTS
In appraising, a means by which
characteristics of a residential property are regulated by dollar
amount or percentage to conform to similar characteristics of
another residential property.
ADMINISTRATOR
A person appointed by the probate
court to administer the estate of a deceased person who died
intestate. (Administratrix, the feminine form.)
AD VALOREM
A Latin phrase meaning "according
to value". Usually used in connection with real estate taxation.
ADVANCE
Transfer of funds from a lender to
a borrower in advance on a loan.
ADVANCE COMMITMENT
The institutional investor's
prior agreement to provide long-term financing upon completion
of construction; also known as a "take-out" loan commitment.
ADVANCE FEES
A fee paid in advance of any
services rendered. Sometimes unlawfully charged in connection
with that illegal practice of obtaining a fee in advance for the
advertising of property or businesses for sale, with no intent
to obtain a buyer, by persons representing themselves as real estate
licensees, or representatives of licensed real estate firms.
ADVERSE POSSESSION
A method of acquiring
title to real property through possession of the property for
a statutory period under certain conditions by a person other than
the owner of record.
AFFIANT
One who makes an affidavit or gives
evidence.
AFFIDAVIT
A statement or declaration reduced
to writing sworn to or affirmed before some officer who has authority
to administer an oath or affirmation.
AFFIDAVIT OF TITLE
A statement, in writing,
made under oath by seller or grantor, acknowledged before a Notary
Public in which the affiant identifies himself or herself and affiant's
marital status certifying that since the examination of title on
the contract date there are no judgments, bankruptcies or divorces,
no unrecorded deeds, contracts, unpaid repairs or improvements
or defects of title known to affiant and that affiant is in possession
of the property.
AFFIRM
To confirm, to aver, to ratify, to
verify. To make a declaration.
AGENCY
The relationship between principal
and the principal's agent which arises out of a contract, either
expressed or implied, written or oral, wherein the agent is employed
by the principal to do certain acts dealing with a third party.
AGENT
One who acts for and with authority
from another called the principal.
AGREEMENT
An exchange of promises, a mutual
understanding or arrangement; a contract.
AGREEMENT OF SALE
A written agreement or
contract between seller and purchaser in which they reach a "meeting
of minds" on the terms and conditions of the sale. The parties
concur; are in harmonious opinion.
AIR RIGHTS
The rights in real property to
the reasonable use of the air space above the surface of the
land.
ALIENATION
The transferring of property to
another; the transfer of property and possession of land, or
other things, from one person to another.
ALIENATION CLAUSE
A clause in a contract
giving the lender certain rights in the event of a sale or other
transfer of mortgaged property.
ALLODIAL TENURE
A real property ownership
system where ownership may be complete except for those rights
held by government. Allodial is in contrast to feudal tenure.
ALLUVIUM
The gradual increase of the earth
on a shore of an ocean or bank of a stream resulting from the
action of the water.
ALTA OWNER'S POLICY
An owner's extended coverage
policy that provides buyers and owners the same protection the
ALTA policy gives to lenders.
ALTA TITLE POLICY
(American Land Title Association)
A type of title insurance policy issued by title insurance companies which expands
the risks normally insured against under the standard type policy to include
unrecorded mechanic's liens; unrecorded physical easements; facts a physical
survey would show; water and mineral rights; and rights of parties in possession,
such as tenants and buyers under unrecorded instruments.
AMENITIES
Satisfaction of enjoyable living
to be derived from a home; conditions of agreeable living or a beneficial influence from
the location of improvements, not measured in monetary considerations but rather
as tangible and intangible benefits attributable to the property, often
causing greater pride in ownership.
AMORTIZATION
The liquidation of a financial
obligation on an installment basis; also, recovery over a period of cost or value.
AMORTIZED LOAN
A loan to be repaid, interest
and principal, by a series of regular payments that are equal or nearly equal, without any
special balloon payment prior to maturity. Also called a Level Payments Loan.
ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE
The relative cost
of credit as determined in accordance with Regulation Z of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System for implementing the Federal Truth in Lending Act.
ANNUITY
A sum of money received at fixed
intervals, such as a series of assured equal or nearly equal payments to be made over a period
of time, or it may be a lump sum payment to be made in the future. The installment
payments due to the landlord under a lease is an annuity. So are the
installment payments due to a lender.
ANTICIPATION, PRINCIPLE OF
Affirms that value
is created by anticipated benefits to be derived in the future.
APPELLANT
A party appealing a court decision
or ruling.
APPRAISAL
An estimate of the value of property
resulting from an analysis of facts about the property. An opinion of value.
APPRAISER
One qualified by education, training
and experience who is hired to estimate the value of real and personal property based on
experience, judgment, facts, and use of formal appraisal processes.
APPR0PRIATION OF WATER
The taking, impounding
or diversion of water flowing on the public domain from its natural
course and the application of the water to some beneficial use,
personal and exclusive, to the appropriator.
APPURTENANCE: That which belongs to something,
but not immemorially; all those rights, privileges, and improvements which belong to and
pass with the transfer of the property, but which are not necessarily a part
of the actual property. Appurtenances to real property pass with the real
property to which they are appurtenant, unless a contrary intention is manifested.
Typical appurtenances are rights-of-way, easements, water rights, and
any property improvements.
APPURTENANT
Belonging to; adjunct; appended
or annexed to. For example, the garage is appurtenant to the house, and the common
interest in the common elements of a condominium is appurtenant to each apartment. Appurtenant items pass with the land when the property is transferred.
APR
See ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
Generally the appearance
and character of a building's design and construction.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
An instrument setting
forth the basic rules and purposes under which a private corporation is formed.
ASSESSED VALUATION
A valuation placed upon
a piece of property by a public authority as a basis for levying taxes on the property.
ASSESSMENT
The valuation of property for
the purpose of levying a tax or the amount of the tax levied. Also, payments made to a common
interest subdivision homeowners- association for maintenance and reserves.
ASSESSOR
The official who has the responsibility
of determining assessed values.
ASSIGNMENT
A transfer to another of any property
in possession or in action, or of any estate or right therein. A transfer by a person
of that person's rights under a contract.
ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS
A provision in a deed
of trust (or mortgage) under which the beneficiary may, upon default by the trustor,
take possession of the property, collect income from the property and apply it
to the loan balance and the costs incurred by the beneficiary.
ASSIGNOR
One who assigns or transfers property.
ASSIGNS, ASSIGNEES
Those to whom property
or interests therein shall have been transferred.
ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT
An undertaking or adoption
of a debt or obligation primarily resting upon another person.
ASSUMPTION FEE
A lender's charge for changing
over and processing new records for a new owner who is assuming
an existing loan.
ASSUMPTION OF MORTGAGE
The taking of a title
to property by a grantee wherein grantee assumes liability for
payment of an existing note secured by a mortgage or deed of trust
against the property, becoming a co-guarantor for the payment of
a mortgage or deed of trust note.
ATTACHMENT
The process by which real or personal
property of a party to a lawsuit is seized and retained in the custody of the court
for the purpose of acquiring jurisdiction over the property, to compel an appearance
before the court, or to furnish security for a debt or costs arising out
of the litigation.
ATTEST
To affirm to be true or genuine; an
official act establishing authenticity.
ATTORNEY IN FACT
One who is authorized by
another to perform certain acts for another under a power of attorney; power of attorney
may be limited to a specific act or acts or be general.
AVULSION
A sudden and perceptible loss of
land by the action of water as by a sudden change in the course of a river. |
