| Damages - |
The indemnity recoverable by a person who has
sustained an injury either in his person, property or relative rights, through the act or
default of another. |
| Deed - |
A written instrument which, when properly executed and
delivered, conveys title to real property. |
| Deed in
Lieu of Foreclosure - |
A deed to real property accepted by a lender from a
defaulting borrower to avoid the necessity of foreclosure proceedings by the lender. |
| Default - |
Failure to fulfill a duty or promise or to discharge
an obligation, or to perform any act in an instrument in writing, that has been agreed
upon. |
| Deferred Maintenance - |
Existing but unfulfilled requirements for repairs and
rehabilitation. |
| Deficiency Judgment - |
A judgment given when the security pledged for a loan
does not
satisfy the debt upon its default. |
| Depreciation - |
Loss of value in real property brought about by age,
physical deterioration or functional or economic obsolescence. |
| Deterioration - |
Reflecting the loss in value brought about by wear and
tear, disintegration, use in service, and the actions of the elements. |
| Discount Fee - |
Sometimes referred to as "points," a fee
charged by the lender in order to obtain a higher earning than the interest stated in the
mortgage note. |
| Documentary Transfer Tax - |
A state enabling act allows cities and counties to
adopt a
documentary transfer tax to apply on all transfers of real property located within their
jurisdictions. |
| Duress - |
Unlawful constraint exercised upon a person whereby he
is forced to do some act against his will. |
| Easement - |
Created by grant or agreement for a specific purpose,
an easement is the right privilege or interest which one party has in the land of another.
(Example: right of way.) |
| Economic Life - |
The period over which a property will yield a return
on the investment, over and above the economic or ground rent due the land. |
| Eminent Domain - |
The right of the government to acquire private
property for public use by condemnation. The owner must be compensated fully. |
| Encroachment - |
Trespass; the building of a structure or construction
of any improvements partly or wholly on the property of another. |
| Encumbrance - |
Anything which affects or limits the fee simple title
to property, such as mortgages, trust deeds, easements or restrictions of any kind which
do not prevent alienation of the fee title by the owner. Liens are special encumbrances
which make the property security for the debt. |
| Enforceable - |
That which can be made to effective; to cause to take
effect. An agreement or contract between persons in which one or other party can legally
compel the performance of another or other parties. |
| Equity - |
The interest or value which an owner has in real
estate over and above the liens against it. |
| Escheat - |
The reverting of property to the state in the absence
of heirs or other claimants. |
| Escrow - |
The deposit of instruments and funds with instructions
to a third party to carry out the provisions of an agreement or contract; when everything
is deposited to enable carrying out the instructions, it is called a complete or perfect
escrow. |
| Estate - |
The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest
which a person owns in real property. |
| Estoppel - |
A legal theory under which a person is barred from
asserting or denying a fact because of the person's previous acts or words. |
| Exchange - |
A means of trading equities in two or more real
properties, treated as a single transaction through a single escrow or as a deferred
exchange through two or more escrows. |
| Exclusive Agency Listing - |
A written instrument giving one agent the right for a
specified
time to sell a property, but reserving the right of the owner to sell the property himself
without payment of a commission to the agent. |
| Exclusive Right to Sell Listing - |
A written agreement between an owner and an agent
giving the agent the right to collect a commission if the property is sold by anyone
during the term of his agreement. |
| Execute - |
To complete, to make, to perform, to do, to follow
out. To execute a deed is to make a deed, including especially the signing, sealing, and
delivery; to execute a contract is
o perform the contract, to follow it out to the end, to complete it. |
| Executed Contract - |
A contract that is fully performed. |
| Execution of Contract - |
To sign a contract. |
| Executory Contract - |
A contract not yet fully performed. |
| Executor - |
A person named in a will to carry out its provisions
as to the disposition of the
estate of a deceased person. |
| Executor's Deed - |
A legal deed to real property given by an executor of
an estate. |
| Fee Simple - |
The terms "fee" and "fee simple"
are substantially
synonymous. The term "fee" is of old English derivation. "Fee simple
absolute" is an estate in real property by which the owner has the greatest power
over the title which it is
possible to have, being an absolute estate. In modern use, it expressly established the
title of real property in the owner, without limitation or end. They may dispose of it by
sale, or
trade or will, as he chooses. |
| FHA Loan - |
A loan that is underwritten to the standards of the
Federal Housing Administration, which grants approval of the loan and insures the lender
against financial loss. |
| Fiduciary - |
A person in a position of trust and confidence, as
between principal and broker; broker as fiduciary owes certain loyalty which cannot be
breached under rules of agency. |
| Fixtures - |
Appurtenances affixed to buildings or land, usually in
such a way that they cannot be moved without damage to themselves or the property;
plumbing, electrical fixtures, fences, trees, shrubbery, etc. Fixtures are real property. |
| FNMA (Fannie Mae) - |
A private corporation dealing in the purchase of first
or second mortgages, at discounts. |
| Foreclosure - |
procedure whereby property pledged as security for a
debt is sold to pay the
debt in event of default in payments or terms. |
| Forfeiture - |
Loss of money or anything of value due to failure to
perform, such as a deposit given to insure performance. |
| Fraud - |
The intentional and successful employment of cunning,
deception, collusion; or artifice used to cheat or deceive another person whereby that
person acts upon it to the loss
of his property and to his legal injury. |
