IMPORTANT TERMS

Abandonment - The voluntary relinguishment or surrender of property.

Abstract of Title - A summary of all conveyances, such as deeds or wills and legal proceedings, giving the names of the parties, the description of the land and the agreements, arranged to show the continuity of ownership.

Acceleration Clause - A clause in a mortgage, lease or land purchase contract providing for the balance of the obligation to become due and payable at once when a payment due is in default.

Acceptance - Voluntary receipt of an item offered by another.

Accretion - An increase or addition to land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up naturally from a river, lake or sea.

Advance Fee - Fee paid in advance for services rendered.

Ad Valorem Tax - A tax based upon the value of real property

Adverse Interest - A purpose in opposition to the interest of another party.

Adverse Possession - The actual, exclusive, open notorious, hostile and continuous possession and occupation of real property under an evident claim of right or title.

Affidavit - A sworn statement in writing

Agency - Express or implied agreement by which one undertakes to represent the principal in a business transaction, using some degree of discretion.

Air Rights - A designeate airspace over a piece of land.

Alienation - Transfer of property from one owner to another.

Alloidal System - Absolute ownership of land, free from rent or service.

Amortization Mortgage - The act or process of extinguishing a debt, with equal payments at regular intervals over a specific period of time.

Annuity - A sum of money or its equivalent that constitutes one of a series of periodic payments. Any advantage that may be interpreted in terms of money and answer the requirements of regularity may be considered an annuity.

Appraisal - An estimate of quantity, quality or value. The process which conclusions of property value or property facts are obtained: also commonly ther report setting for the such estimate and conclusion.

Appurtenance - Anything that may be used with the land for its benefit and goes to the new owner when ownership of the land is transferred. Mineral rights, water, rights, easements, improvements, and natural attachements are appurtenant to the land.

Attachment - Legal seizure of property to force payment of a debt.

Baselines - Certain reference lines which run east and west; used in rectangular survey system to locate land.

Bilateral contract - Parties exchange reciprocal contracts. Each party agrees to perfomr an act of for the other.

Bill of Sale - Written agreement transferring personal property from one person to another.

Bundle of Rights - All of the rights a person can have in real property included in the bundle are the rights of possession, control, enjoyment, and disposition.

Convenant - A restriction in a lease or deed which specifies that the property will or will not be used in a certain manner. An examples of a convenant is a subdivision restriction. Convenants must be enforced by seeking an injunction or damages.

Deed Restriction - A clause in a deed that limits the use of land.

Easement - A legal right to use the land of another for a specfic purpose. The right only constitutes and interest in the land. It does not give the easement owner an estate.

Eminent Domain - The government's right to take private property for public use with or without the consent of the owner upon payment of a just compensation to the owner. The right may be with or a delegated to quasi-public corporation, such as utility companies.

Encroachment - The illegal instrusion of an improvement, building, or other attachment onto a neighboring land or into its airspace.

Encumbrance - Anything which affects the fee simple title or the use of land such as liens, easements, restrictions, and encroachments.

Escheat - A government right for land to go back to the state when the owner dies without leaving a will and without heirs.

Estate for Years - A tenant's interest in real property (leasehold estate) for a fixed period of time

Estoppel - A doctrine of law which prevents a person from exercising rights that are not consistent with his/her prior conduct or words.

Fee Simple Estate - An ownership in interest in land which is freely inheritable. the estate may be absolute derterminable or conditional.

Fixture - An item that was once personal property but has become real property because of the manner in which it was attached to the land or its improvements.

Freehold Estate - An ownership interest in land, the duration of which is uncertain. The estate may last for ever or its duration may be measured by one person's life.

Improvement - Any permanent man-made attachment to the land such as buildings, roads, or pipelines.

Intestate - The condition of a property owner who dies during the construction phase of a building project, often referred to as a construction loan.

Legal Description - A description of land legally sufficient to distinguish it from all other parcels.

Lis Pendens - Legal notice that lawsuit is pending, and the outcome could affect the title to certain real estate.

Mechanic's lien - A lien created by statue against real property. It exists for the purpose of securing payment to those persons who have performed work and/or furnished materials for the improvement, maintenance, or repair of real property against which the lien is recorded.

Mills - One-tenth of one cent. One Mill = .001. Used in property taxation.

Metes and Bounds - A method of legally describing land by mearsuring directions and distances of it boundary lines

Mortgage - A conditional transfer or pledge of real estate as security for a loan. Also, the document creating a mortgage lien.

Mortgagor - One who, having all or part of title to property, pledges that property as security for a debt, the borrower.

Party Wall - A wall that is located on or at a bounddary line between two adjoining parcels for the use of the owners of both properties

Personal Property - Anything of a movable nature capable of being owned and that is not considered real estate. Personal property is mobile and can move about with its owner.

Point of beginning - The starting point at one corner of a parcel of land described in metes and bound legal description.

Police Power - The government's right to enact and enforce legislation which regulates the use of real estate to provide for the public safety, health, morals, and general welfare of the community.

Power of Attorney - A written instrument authorizing a person to act on behalf of the maker to the extent indicated in the instrument.

Purchase Money Mortgage - A mortgage that is executed by the purchaser at closing as a part or all of the purchase price. The same as a second mortgage held by a seller.

Right of Redemption - A taxpayers right in some states, to get real property back within a specified period of time after it is sold at a tax sale by paying all past due taxes, penalties, and interest.

Riparian Rights - A landowners right to use and enjoy the water from a river, stream, or lake which adjoins the owned land.

Setback - An imaginary line which denotes the space required between any improvement and the front, sides and rear of the lot.

Special Assessment - A tax levied against real property owners who benefit from certain improvements.

Steering - Limiting a prospect's choice of certain neighborhoods because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status, or handicap. Also called slanting or channeling.

Subdivision - A parcel of land divided into a number of smaller lots, generally for the purpose of building new structures.

Survey - The process of locating the exact boundaries, shape, and area of a parcel of land.

Tenancy at Sufferance - A tenancy which arises when a tenant holds over after expiration of his lease.

Tenancy in Common - A tenancy shared by two or more parties.

Tax Assessment - Local and state governments have the right to levy taxes on real property according to its value in order to fund the operations of government.

Title Company - A corporation organized for the purpose of issuing or insuring title to real property.

Title Theory - System in which mortgagee has legal title to the mortgaged property and mortgagor has equitable title.

Urban Renewal - The process of rehabilitating city areas by demolishing, remodeling or repairing existing structures and buildings, public buildings, parks, roadways and individual areas on cleared sites in accordance with a more or less comprehensive plan.

Variance - Authorization form a zoning board, or similar body, for a property owner to deviate from the existing required use of the land. This right is generally granted only to property owners who are successful in demonstratiing that the required zoning creates a hardship and normally within the zoning classification.

Warranty Deed - Conveyance of title that contains certain assurances and guarantees by the grantor that the deed conveys a good and unencumbered title.