Glossary

A payment that is not sufficient to cover the scheduled monthly payment on a mortgage loan. Normally, a lender will not accept a partial payment, but in times of hardship you can make this request of the loan servicing collection department.

The date when a new monthly payment amount takes effect on an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a graduated-payment mortgage (GPM). Generally, the payment change date occurs in the month immediately after the interest rate adjustment date.

For an adjustable-rate mortgage where the interest rate and the minimum payment amount fluctuate independently of one another, this is a limit on the amount that payments can increase or decrease during any one adjustment period.

For an adjustable-rate mortgage, a limit on the amount that the interest rate can increase or decrease during any one adjustment period, regardless of how high or low the index might be.

Any property that is not real property.

This stands for principal, interest, taxes and insurance. If you have an "impounded" loan, then your monthly payment to the lender includes all of these and probably includes mortgage insurance as well. If you do not have an impounded account, then the lender still calculates this amount and uses it as part of determining your debt-to-income ratio.

A cash amount that a borrower must have on hand after making a down payment and paying all closing costs for the purchase of a home. The principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI) reserves must equal the amount that the borrower would have to pay for PITI for a predefined number of months.

A type of ownership where individuals actually own the building or unit they live in, but common areas are owned jointly with the other members of the development or association. Contrast with condominium, where an individual actually owns the airspace of his unit, but the buildings and common areas are owned jointly with the others in the development or association.

A point is 1 percent of the amount of the mortgage.

A legal document that authorizes another person to act on one's behalf. A power of attorney can grant complete authority or can be limited to certain acts and/or certain periods of time.

A loosely used term which is generally taken to mean that a borrower has completed a loan application and provided debt, income, and savings documentation which an underwriter has reviewed and approved. A pre-approval is usually done at a certain loan amount and making assumptions about what the interest rate will actually be at the time the loan is actually made, as well as estimates for the amount that will be paid for property taxes, insurance and others. A pre-approval applies only to the borrower. Once a property is chosen, it must also meet the underwriting guidelines of the lender. Contrast with pre-qualification

Any amount paid to reduce the principal balance of a loan before the due date. Payment in full on a mortgage that may result from a sale of the property, the owner's decision to pay off the loan in full, or a foreclosure. In each case, prepayment means payment occurs before the loan has been fully amortized

A fee that may be charged to a borrower who pays off a loan before it is due.

This usually refers to the loan officer's written opinion of the ability of a borrower to qualify for a home loan, after the loan officer has made inquiries about debt, income, and savings. The information provided to the loan officer may have been presented verbally or in the form of documentation, and the loan officer may or may not have reviewed a credit report on the borrower.

The interest rate that banks charge to their preferred customers. Changes in the prime rate are widely publicized in the news media and are used as the indexes in some adjustable rate mortgages, especially home equity lines of credit. Changes in the prime rate do not directly affect other types of mortgages, but the same factors that influence the prime rate also affect the interest rates of mortgage loans.

The amount borrowed or remaining unpaid. The part of the monthly payment that reduces the remaining balance of a mortgage.

The outstanding balance of principal on a mortgage. The principal balance does not include interest or any other charges. See remaining balance

Mortgage insurance that is provided by a private mortgage insurance company to protect lenders against loss if a borrower defaults. Most lenders generally require MI for a loan with a loan-to-value (LTV) percentage in excess of 80 percent.

A written promise to repay a specified amount over a specified period of time.

A meeting in an announced public location to sell property to repay a mortgage that is in default.

A project or subdivision that includes common property that is owned and maintained by a homeowners' association for the benefit and use of the individual PUD unit owners.

A written contract signed by the buyer and seller stating the terms and conditions under which a property will be sold.

The acquisition of property through the payment of money or its equivalent.

A factory-built fireplace that is installed as a unit.

A heavy pigmented coating applied to a surface for decorative and/or protective purposes.

A form used to produce the cavity between joists in a one-way concrete joist system.

A broad, thin piece of wood; a sheet of building material such as plywood or particleboard; a pre-fabricated building component that is broad and thin, such as a curtain wall panel; an area within a truss consisting of an opening and the members that surround it.

A wood door in which one or more thin panels are held by stiles and rails.

A wood door in which one or more thin panels are held by stiles and rails.

A mechanical device that opens a door automatically if pressure is exerted against the device from the interior of the building.

The region of an exterior wall that projects above the level of the roof.

Portland cement plaster applied over masonry to make it less permeable to water.

A building panel composed of small particles of wood bonded together under pressure.

A substance applied to concrete formwork to prevent concrete from adhering.

An interior non-load-bearing wall.

Glass into which a texture has been rolled during manufacture.

A half-thickness brick used as finish flooring.

See pressure equalization chamber.

The gable end of a roof in classical architecture.

A device for testing the resistance of a material to penetration, usually used to make a quick, approximate determination of its compressive strength.

A kiln that is loaded and fired in batches, as differentiated from a tunnel kiln, which is operated continuously.

Expanded volcanic glass, used as a lightweight aggregate in concrete and plaster, and as an insulating fill.

A unit of vapor permeability.

An insulating foam made from a thermosetting plastic.

A caisson foundation unit.

A vertical, integral stiffening rib in a masonry or concrete wall.

A long, slender piece of material driven into the ground to act as a foundation.

A thick slab of reinforced concrete poured across the top of a pile cluster to cause the cluster to act as a unit in supporting a column or grade beam.

A machine for driving piles.

A metal device used to transmit compressive forces between superimposed columns in Mill construction.

The slope of a roof or other plane, often expressed as inches of rise per foot of run; a dark, viscous hydrocarbon distilled from coal tar; a viscous resin found in wood.

A sloping roof.

Sawing a log into dimension lumber without regard to the direction of the annual rings.

Cutting a flitch into veneers without regard to the direction of the annual rings.

Smoothing the surface of a piece of wood or stone.

A cementitious material, usually based on gypsum or portland cement, applied to lath or masonry in paste form, to harden into a finish surface.

See gypsum board.

Pure calcined gypsum.

Intermittent spots or strips of plaster used to establish the level to which a large plaster surface will be finished.

The ability to retain a shape attained by pressure deformation.

Synthetically produced giant molecules.

A broad sheet of rolled steel 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) or more in thickness; a two-way concrete slab; a horizontal top or bottom member in a platform frame wall structure.

A large beam made up of steel plates, sometimes in combination with steel angles that are welded, bolted, or riveted together.

Glass of high optical quality produced by grinding and polishing both faces of a glass sheet.

A wooden building frame composed of closely spaced members nominally 2 inches (51 mm) in thickness, in which the wall members do not run past the floor framing members.

The space between the ceiling of a room and the structural floor above, used as a passage for ductwork, piping, and wiring.

Vertical.

A saw cut that produces a vertical (plumb) surface at the lower end of a sloping rafter.

The process of making a steel building frame vertical and square.

A layer, as a layer of felt in a built-up roof membrane or a layer of veneer in plywood.

A wood panel composed of an odd number of layers of wood veneer bonded together under pressure.

The process of applying mortar to the surface of a mortar joint after the masonry has been laid, either as a means of finishing the joint or to repair a defective joint.

An electrical outlet that is installed by drilling a hole through a floor, inserting the outlet from above, and bringing in the wiring from the plenum below.

A sticky, mastic-like tape used to seal nonworking joints, especially between glass and mullions.

An extremely tough, strong, usually transparent plastic used for window and skylight glazing, light fixture globes, door sills, and other applications.

A thermoplastic widely used in sheet form for vapor retarders, moisture barriers, and temporary construction coverings.

A large molecule composed of many identical chemical units.

A plastic formed by the polymerization of propylene.

A thermoplastic foam with thermal insulating properties.

A high-range gunnable sealant.

Any of a large group of resins and synthetic rubber compounds used in sealants, varnishes, insulating foams, and roof membranes.

A thermosetting foam with thermal insulating properties.

A thermoplastic material widely used in construction products, including plumbing pipes, floor tiles, wall coverings, and roofing membranes. Called "vinyl" for short.

A rigid frame; two columns and a beam attached with moment connections.

The gray powder used as the binder in concrete, mortar, and stucco.

The compressing of the concrete in a structural member by means of tensioning high strength steel tendons against it after the concrete has cured.

To cast concrete; an increment of concrete casting carried out without interruption.

A coating produced by applying a powder consisting of thermosetting resins and pigments, adhering it to the substrate by electrostatic attraction, and fusing it into a continuous film in an oven.

Inserted by a gun-like tool using energy provided by an exploding charge of gunpowder.

Concrete cast and cured in a position other than its final position in the structure.

Gypsum board finished at the factory with a decorative layer of paint, paper, or plastic.

A sealant inserted into a joint in the form of a compressed sponge impregnated with compounds that cure to form a watertight seal.

A strip of rubbery or spongelike material designed to fit snufly into a gap between two materials.

A sealant inserted into a joint in the form of a flexible strip of solid material.

A door that is hinged to its frame in a factory or shop.

The wind-pressurized cavity in a rainscreen wall.

Curtain wall design that utilizes the rainscreen principle.

Lumber that has been impregnated with chemicals under pressure, for the purpose of retarding either decay or fire.

Concrete that has been pretensioned or posttensioned.

Applying an initial compressive stress to a concrete strutural member, either by pretensioning or posttensioning.

The compressing of the concrete in a structural member by pouring the concrete for the member around stretched high-strength steel strands, curing the concrete, and releasing the external tensioning force on the strands.

Covering a surface with a coating that prepares it to accept another type of coating or sealant.

A membrane roof assembly in which the thermal insulation lies above the membrane.

A metal rod used in working with hot glass.

Beams that span across the slope of a steep roof to support the roof decking.

A simple glazing compound used with small lights.

See polyvinyl chloride.

A coating applied at a very high temperature.