MAI
Member of the Appraisal Institute. Designates a person who is a member of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers.

MARGIN OF SECURITY
The difference between the amount of the mortgage loan(s) and the appraised value of the property.

MARGINAL LAND
Land which barely pays the cost of working or using.

MARKET DATA APPROACH
One of the three methods in the appraisal process. A means of comparing similar type properties, which have recently sold, to the subject property. Commonly used in comparing residential properties.

MARKET PRICE
The price paid regardless of pressures, motives or intelligence.

MARKET VALUE
The highest price in terms of money which a property will bring in a competitive and open market and under all conditions required for a fair sale, i.e., the buyer and seller acting prudently, knowledgeably and neither affected by undue pressures.

MARKETABLE TITLE
Title which a reasonable purchaser, informed as to the facts and their legal importance and acting with reasonable care, would be willing and ought to accept.

MATERIAL FACT
A fact is material if it is one which the agent should realize would be likely to affect the judgment of the principal in giving his or her consent to the agent to enter into the particular transaction on the specified terms.

MECHANIC'S LIEN
A lien created by statute which exists against real property in favor of persons who have performed work or furnished materials for the improvement of the real property.

MERIDIANS
Imaginary north-south lines which intersect base lines to form a starting point for the measurement of land.

MESNE PROFITS
Profit from land use accruing between two periods as for example moneys owed to the owner of land by a person who has illegally occupied the land after the owner takes title, but before taking possession.

METES AND BOUNDS
A term used in describing the boundary lines of land, setting forth all the boundary lines together with their terminal points and angles. Metes (length or measurements) and Bounds (boundaries) description is often used when a great deal of accuracy is required.

MILE
5,280 feet.

MINOR
A person under 18 years of age.

MISPLACED IMPROVEMENTS
Improvements on land which do not conform to the most profitable use of the site.

MISREPRESENTATION
A false or misleading statement or assertion.

MOBILEHOME
As defined in Business and Professions Code Section 10131.6(c), "mobilehome" means a structure transportable in one or more sections, designed and equipped to contain not more than two dwelling units to be used with or without a foundation system. "Mobilehome" does not include a recreational vehicle, as defined in Section 18010.5 of the Health and Safety Code, a commercial coach, as defined in Section 18012 of the Health and Safety Code, or factory-built housing, as defined in Section 19971 of the Health and Safety Code.

MODULAR
A system for the construction of dwellings and other improvements to real property through the on-site assembly of component parts (modules) that have been mass produced away from the building site.

MOLDINGS
Usually patterned strips used to provide ornamental variation of outline or contour, such as cornices, bases, window and door jambs.

MONETARY CONTROLS
Federal Reserve tools for regulating the availability of money and credit to influence the level of economic activity, such as adjusting discount rates, reserve requirements, etc.

MONUMENT
A fixed object and point established by surveyors to establish land locations.

MORATORIUM
The temporary suspension, usually by statute, of the enforcement of liability of debt. Temporary suspension of development or utilities connections imposed by local government.

MORTGAGE
An instrument recognized by law by which property is hypothecated to secure the payment of a debt or obligation; a procedure for foreclosure in event of default is established by statute.

MORTGAGE BANKER
A person whose principal business is the originating, financing, closing, selling and servicing of loans secured by real property for institutional lenders on a contractual basis.

MORTGAGE CONTRACTS WITH WARRANTS
Warrants make the mortgage more attractive to the lender by providing both the greater security that goes with a mortgage, and the opportunity of a greater return through the right to buy either stock in the borrower's company or a portion of the income property itself.

MORTGAGE GUARANTY INSURANCE
Insurance against financial loss available to mortgage lenders from private mortgage insurance companies (PMICs).

MORTGAGE INVESTMENT COMPANY
A company or group of private investors that buys mortgages for investment purposes.

MORTGAGE LOAN DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The statement on a form approved by the Real Estate Commissioner which is required by law to be furnished by a mortgage loan broker to the prospective borrower of loans of a statutorily-prescribed amount before the borrower becomes obligated to complete the loan.

MORTGAGEE
One to whom a mortgagor gives a mortgage to secure a loan or performance of an obligation; a lender or creditor. (See definition of secured party.)

MORTGAGOR
One who gives a mortgage on his or her property to secure a loan or assure performance of an obligation; a borrower.

MULTIPLE LISTING
A listing, usually an exclusive right to sell, taken by a member of an organization composed of real estate brokers, with the provisions that all members will have the opportunity to find an interested buyer; a cooperative listing insuring owner property will receive a wider market exposure.

MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE
An association of real estate agents providing for a pooling of listings and the sharing of commissions on a specified basis.

MUTUAL SAVINGS BANKS
Financial institutions owned by depositors each of whom has rights to net earnings of the bank in proportion to his or her deposits.

MUTUAL WATER COMPANY
A water company organized by or for water users in a given district with the object of securing an ample water supply at a reasonable rate; stock is issued to users.