FIND THE DEFINITION FOR ANY REAL ESTATE TERM

Click on the letters above for terms beginning with that letter, and then click on the term below.

Don’t see a term here? Feel free to ask us. (Unfortunately, however, we cannot give you real estate or legal advice.)

ABSTRACT OF TITLE – A condensed history of the “chain of title” to a property, showing previous ownership, liens, judgments and other transactions concerning the property.

ACCELERATION CLAUSE – A clause in a mortgage, which allows the lender to pursue the entire amount of remaining debt if a borrower defaults on their loan agreement. Without this, lenders could only sue for the amount of late payments.

ACCESSION – The acquisition of trade fixtures as real property by a landlord, because a tenant does not remove them from the property at the end of a lease

ACCRETION – The process where soil is deposited from a river, lake, or sea. The actual soil deposited is called ALLUVIUM.

ACCRUALS – Items on a settlement sheet that will be owed, but are not being paid at settlement. May appear as a credit to the buyer on the settlement sheet. The buyer would then pay that complete expense when it is due.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT – Basically means that a deed or other legal document has been notarized, or witnessed by a public official, such as a judge, or more often, by a notary public. The purpose is to verify that the signer of the document is doing so of his or her own free will.

ACRE – An area of land measuring 43,560 square feet.

ACTUAL EVICTION – What one would normally think of as an eviction. When a landlord takes legal action to remove a tenant from a property.

ADDENDUM – An additional form included in a contract, and considered to be part of that contract. The plural is ADDENDA.

ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE (ARM) – A loan where the interest rate may be adjusted at periodic intervals.

AD VALOREM TAX – A tax paid according to a fixed percentage of a property’s value (Ad Valorem means “according to value”).

ADVERSE POSSESSION – A means of acquiring property by taking possession of someone else’s property without their permission. Must meet the requirements of continuous occupation (length of time varies by state), hostile occupation (meaning they don’t have permission), actual occupation, notorious occupation (meaning it’s open and visible) and benefiting one property exclusively. The property must also be claimed in court.

AGENT – A person who represents a principal or client.

ALLUVIUM, ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS – Soil deposited by accretion. The soil left naturally on the banks of a river, lake or stream.

APPRAISAL – An estimate or opinion of value.

ARM (see Adjustable Rate Mortgage)