Acceleration Clause: In the event of default in the payment of any of the said installments or said interest when due as herein provided, time being of the essence hereof, the holder of this note may, without notice or demand, declare the entire principal sum then unpaid immediately due and payable.

 

Alienation Clause: A special type of acceleration clause that demands payment of the entire loan balance upon the sale or upon other transfer of title to the property.

 

Amortized loan: An amortizing loan is a loan where the principal of the loan is paid down over the life of the loan (that is, amortized) according to an amortization schedule.

 

Assessed Value: Value placed on the property by the County Tax Collector for the purpose of computing real property taxes: California properties that have sold since 1978, this is the fair market value of the property.  It is determined from the last sale price or else from the assessor’s appraisal.

 

Assumption of Mortgage: An assumable mortgage allows a buyer to take over a seller’s home loan. Not all loans are assumable — typically just some FHA and VA loans are assumable. An assumable mortgage is one that a buyer of a home can take over from the seller – often with lender approval – usually with little to no change in terms, especially interest rate. The buyer agrees to make all future payments on the loan as if they took out the original loan.

 

Attachment: Is a legal process by which a court of law, at the request of a creditor, designates specific property owned by the debtor to be transferred to the creditor, or sold for the benefit of the creditor.

 

Auction:  Public sale in which goods or property are sold to the highest bidder.

 

Bankruptcy: A legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay debts to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor.

 

Beneficiary: A person who derives advantage from something, especially a trust, will, or life insurance policy.

 

Beneficiary’s Demand: An estoppel letter from the financial institution that holds your promissory note and mortgage. It explains exactly what is required to release the borrower from debt and sets forth the following information: Name of the lending institution. … Account number of the existing loan.

 

Caveat Emptor: The principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.

 

Conditional Sale Contract: A contract for the sale of property stating that delivery is to be made to the buyer, while the title is to remain vested in the seller until the conditions of the contract have been fulfilled.

 

Contract: A promise to do or not to do certain things.

 

Conveyance:  The act of transferring an ownership interest in real property from one party to another. Conveyance also refers to the written instrument, such as a deed or lease that transfers legal title of a property from the seller to the buyer.

 

Community Property: A marital property regime under which most property acquired during the marriage (except for gifts or inheritances), the community, or communio bonorum, is owned jointly by both spouses and is divided upon divorce, annulment, or death.

 

Debtor: Person or institution that owes a sum of money.

 

Deed: Legal document that is signed and delivered, especially one regarding the ownership of property or legal rights.

 

Deed of Trust: In real estate in the United States, a deed of trust or trust deed is a deed wherein legal title in real property is transferred to a trustee, which holds it as security for a loan (debt) between a borrower and lender. The equitable title remains with the borrower.

 

Default:  A default in a real estate contract happens when one party to the contract fails to fulfill the terms of the agreement. It is not a crime to be in default of a real estate contract. However, the party found to be in default can be sued in court for failure to perform and for damages resulting from defaulting.

 

Deficiency Judgment: deficiency judgment is an unsecured money judgment against a borrower whose mortgage foreclosure sale did not produce sufficient funds to pay the underlying promissory note, or loan, in full.

 

Discount: To sell a promissory note for less than its face value.

 

Encumbrance: A burden or impediment. Anything that affects or limits the fee simple title to the property, such as mortgages, easements or restrictions of any kind. Liens are special encumbrances that make the property security fir the payment of a debt or obligation, such as mortgages and taxes.

 

Earnest Money: Earnest money is a deposit made to a seller showing the buyer’s good faith in a transaction. Often used in real estate transactions, earnest money allows the buyer additional time when seeking financing. Earnest money is typically held jointly by the seller and buyer in a trust or escrow account.

 

Escrow: An escrow account is a deposit of funds, a deed or other asset that one party to a contract will deliver to another party upon completion of a specific condition or event. The account is managed by a third party who is independent from the transaction. The most common form of escrow accounts are the ones used in real estate transactions.

 

Empathetic: Showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

 

Equity Purchase Agreement: The Seller desires to sell, and Buyer agrees to purchase, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Agreement, the Interests. … The purchase and sale of the Interests is referred to in this Agreement as the “Acquisition”.

 

Equity Partnership Agreement:  A partnership is a legal relationship between two or more individuals where each individual provides capital and labor for a business enterprise and each individual shares a proportion of the business’s profits and losses.

 

Eviction: Is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgage).

 

Forced Sale: Is a sale made without the consent of the owner of the property. It can be an execution sale, which is forced sale of a debtor’s property by a government official carrying out a writ of execution. Such as trustee, a sheriff, a judge, or another official. It can also refer to a hurried sale made by a debtor because of financial hardship or a creditor’s action.

 

Foreclosure Consultant: Anyone familiar with foreclosure laws and procedures who offers his services to either the borrower, lender, or both.  Credentials usually include a real estate brokers license and mortgage brokering experience.

 

Fraud: Intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right.

 

Foreclosure: Is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.  In California there are three steps in the foreclosure of a Trust Deed:

  • A 90-day notification of default; time during which the trustor may reinstate by paying the delinquent payments.
  • A 21-day publication. If the trustor has not reinstated within the 90-day period, the beneficiary must publish the time, place, and the date of the sale and wait 21 days.  During this publication period, the trustor may reinstate by paying the entire balance due
  • Trustee’s sale. The sale is conducted by the beneficiary but in the name of the trustee who has the title.  The successful bidder at the sale receives a trustee’s deed.

 

Grantee: A person to whom a grant or conveyance is made.

 

Grantor: A person or institution that makes a grant or conveyance.

 

Grant Deed:  grant deed is used in some states and jurisdictions for the sale or other transfer of real property from one person or entity to another person or entity. Each party transferring an interest in the property, or “grantor”, is required to sign it.

 

Involuntary Lien: lien against the property is a very common step taken by a creditor after it receives a judgment. With court approval, the creditor files a document with the county recorder’s office that places an involuntary lien against your property.

 

Joint Tenancy: Joint ownership by two or more persons with the right of survivorship.  All joint tenants own equal interest and have equal rights in the property.

 

Judgment Liens:judgment lien is a type of nonconsensual lien (a lien that attaches to your property without your agreement). It is created when someone wins a lawsuit against you and then records the judgment against your property.

 

Judicial Foreclosure: Foreclosure is the process where a home is sold to pay off an unpaid debt. Usually foreclosures happen when a homeowner falls behind in home loan payments. In certain states, foreclosures are always judicial, which means they go through the court system.

 

Junior Lien: junior lien is a subordinate debt that could affect your real estate closing. Junior liens can be a second mortgage or judgement from any creditor that files a judgement against you. These liens create flaws in title that require that they be paid off prior to the real estate transaction closing.

 

Junior Lien Holders:junior lien holder is a person or entity who obtains a lien interest after there is already an existing lien on the property. The most common example of this is with mortgages. Let’s say you take out an initial mortgage on the property, which is associated with a lien.

 

Legal Description: A legal description of property is a way to define or accurately pinpoint where a particular piece of property is located. A street address also identifies a physical location but not in the same way that a legal description defines it

 

Lis Pendens: A pending legal action, or a formal notice attached to a property.

 

Lien: A lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation.

 

Mortgage: A mortgage loan, or simply mortgage, is used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or alternatively by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose, while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged.

 

Mortgagor: The borrower in a mortgage, typically a homeowner.

 

Non Judicial Foreclosure: Nonjudicial foreclosures happen when a mortgage agreement has a “power of sale” clause that gives the lender the right to foreclose on a property by itself. Without that clause, the lender has to take the borrower to court in order to foreclose; hence the term. Many states require judicial foreclosures.

 

Note: In the United States, a mortgage note (also known as a real estate lien note, borrower’s note) is a promissory note secured by a specified mortgage loan. Mortgage notes are a written promise to repay a specified sum of money plus interest at a specified rate and length of time to fulfill the promise.

 

Notice of Cancelation:notice stating the intent to imminently cancel an agreement.

 

Notice of Default:  A notice of default is a notification given to a borrower stating that he or she has not made their payments by the predetermined deadline. It dictates that if the money owed (and sometimes an additional legal fee) is not paid in a given time, the lender may choose to foreclose the borrower’s property.

 

Notice of Sale: The NOD serves as public notice that the borrower is in default. … the action required to cure the default. the date by which the default must be cured, and. a statement that if the default is not cured by the deadline, the lender intends to sell the mortgaged property at a public sale.

Notice of Trustee’s Sale: The trustee sale is the event that concludes the foreclosure process. In states that have deeds of trusts as opposed to mortgages, the trustee is named in the deed of trust, which is the document that the borrower sign in addition to the loan documents.

 

Owner: Ownership of property may be private, collective, or common, and the property may be of objects, land or real estate, or intellectual property. 

 

Payoff Request: Your payoff amount is how much you will actually have to pay to satisfy the terms of your mortgage loan and completely pay off your debt. … Your payoff amount also includes the payment of any interest you owe through the day you intend to pay off your loan.

 

Power of Sale:  What is ‘Power of Sale‘ A clause written into a mortgage authorizing the mortgagee (lender) to sell the property in the event of default, in order to repay the mortgage debt. As a mortgage termpower of sale is equivalent to the term foreclosure.  Also, could be a Notarized document conferring a power of attorney status on a third party for the purpose of legally representing either party n a buyer/seller transaction.

 

Preliminary Title Report:  A preliminary report is a report prepared prior to issuing a policy of title insurance that shows the ownership of. a specific parcel of land, together with the liens and encumbrances thereon which will not be covered under a subsequent title insurance policy.

 

Prepayment Penalty:  prepayment penalty is a clause in a mortgage contract stating that a penalty will be assessed if the mortgage is prepaid within a certain time period. The penalty is based on a percentage of the remaining mortgage balance or a certain number of months’ worth of interest.

 

Pre Foreclosure: Be aware that a preforeclosure property is not necessarily for sale. The preforeclosure stage is the period between the time in which a Notice of Default (in non-judicial foreclosure) or lis pendens (in judicial foreclosure) has been issued to the homeowner and after the property is sold at a foreclosure auction.

 

Principal:  A person who is acting him or herself in a transaction.  Also, could be the full amount of a loan, note, or debt, exclusive of interest.

 

Property Profile:Property profile is a great place to start when you are. in need of information to understand a subject property’s. makeup such as: • Who the owner of the property is. • Apparent loans and liens that may.

Promissory Note: promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument  (more particularly, a financial instrument  and a debt instrument), in which one party (the maker or issuer) promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms. “Promise to Pay Back”.

 

Quit Claim Deed:quitclaim deed is a legal instrument which is used to transfer interest in real property. The entity transferring its interest is called the grantor, and when the quitclaim deed is properly completed and executed, it transfers any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, called the grantee.

 

Refinancing: Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under different terms.

 

Reinstatement Period: Reinstatement period is a phase where a borrower has an opportunity to stop a foreclosure by paying money which the borrower owes to a lender. The mortgage reinstatement period begins when the lender files legal document with the court to start foreclosure proceedings.

 

R.E.O: Abbreviation for “Real Estate Owned” This term is used to describe properties owned by institutional lenders (Banks) after foreclosing on loans secured by the properties.

 

Rescission: Rescission is the cancellation of a real estate contract between the buyer and seller. The act of rescinding a contract will “unwind” the transaction specified in the contract. A real estate contract may be rescinded at varying points during a transaction.

 

ROE: Return On Investment.

 

Security Interest:  A security interest is a legal right granted by a debtor to a creditor over the debtor’s property (usually referred to as the collateral) which enables the creditor to have recourse to the property if the debtor defaults in making payment or otherwise performing the secured obligations.

 

Sheriff’s Deed: Deed given by court order in connection with the sale of a property to satisfy a judgment.

 

Subject To: Sometimes called a subject 2 deal, the existing financing that a homeowner has setup is taken over by an investor. This route is basically paying for the mortgage already in place through an agreement with a homeowner.

 

 

Successor Trustee: The person who assumes control of the trust after the initial trustee dies or becomes unable to continue with his or her responsibilities. Once the successor trustee has assumed control, he or she is responsible to ensure that your property is distributed to your beneficiaries according to the trust terms.

 

Subordination Clause:  subordination clause is a clause in an agreement which states that the current claim on any debts will take priority over any other claims formed in other agreements made in the future. Subordination is the act of yielding priority.

 

Sympathetic: Feeling, showing, or expressing sympathy.

 

Tax Liens:  A tax lien is a lien imposed by law upon a property to secure the payment of taxes. A tax lien may be imposed for delinquent taxes owed on real property or personal property, or as a result of failure to pay income taxes or other taxes.

 

Title: In property law, a title is a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document, such as a deed, that serves as evidence of ownership.

 

Title Guarantee: Title Guaranty Law and Legal Definition. … Title insurance is a policy issued by an insurance company guaranteeing that the title to a parcel of real property is clear of any claims or liens and properly in the name of the title owner and that the owner has the right to sell or otherwise transfer the property to another.

 

Title Report: For a buyer, the title report will reveal various liens, encroachments, easements and anything else recorded against the property. The title company compiles the report from a search of county records in order to issue title insurance, and any liens against the property are listed as “exceptions” to title insurance.

 

Trustee: An individual person or member of a board given control or powers of administration of property in trust with a legal obligation to administer it solely for the purposes specified.

 

Trustee’s Deed: In real estate in the United States, a deed of trust or trust deed is a deed wherein legal title in real property is transferred to a trustee, which holds it as security for a loan (debt) between a borrower and lender. The equitable title remains with the borrower.

 

Trust Deed: A deed of conveyance creating and setting out the conditions of a trust.

 

Trustor: The trustor or “grantor” of a trust is the person who creates the trust. The trustor is the one who contributes property to the trust. The trustee is the person who manages the trust, and is usually appointed by the trustor. The trustor is also often the trustee in living trusts.

 

Vesting: Definition and How It Works. When it comes to different types of deeds, and the rights transferred through them, a Vesting Deed is one of the best to get. It’s generally a part of the Warranty Deed. The “vesting term” refers to the fact that the seller has absolute right of title as well as ownership rights.

 

Unlawful Detainer Action: Lawsuit to evict a tenant or former owner who unlawfully remains in possession of the real property.

 

Usury: An illegal rate of interest.

 

Vendee: Purchaser, buyer.

 

Vendor: Seller; one who disposes of a thing in consideration of money.

 

Voluntary Lien: Liens are attached to the property and not to a person. A voluntary lien is contractual or consensual, meaning that the lien is created by an action taken by the debtor, such as a mortgage loan to buy real estate.

 

Wrap-Around Mortgage: wraparound mortgage, more commonly known as a “wrap“, is a form of secondary financing for the purchase of real property. The seller extends to the buyer a junior mortgage which wraps around and exists in addition to any superior mortgages already secured by the property.