Glossary

Adjustable Rate Mortgages have fluctuating interest rates, but those fluctuations are usually limited to a certain amount. Those limitations may apply to how much the loan may adjust over a six month period, an annual period, and over the life of the loan, and are referred to as "caps." Some ARMs, although they may have a life cap, allow the interest rate to fluctuate freely, but require a certain minimum payment which can change once a year. There is a limit on how much that payment can change each year, and that limit is also referred to as a cap

Termination of a contract without undoing acts that have already been performed under the contract.

Legal ability to perform some act, such as enter into a contract or execute a deed or will.

California Association of Realtors.

Rules of law developed in court decisions as opposed to constitutional law, statutory law, or administrative regulations Also called decisional law.

Money expended on improvements and repair or prolong its life; not deductible

Method of estimating a property’s value by considering net annual income as a percentage of a reasonable rate of return on an investment.

Yearly and/or life-of-loan limitations on amounts of variations allowed when adjusting interest on variable-rate loans.

seller agrees to finance buyer in order to complete a property sale.

When a borrower refinances his mortgage at a higher amount than the current loan balance with the intention of pulling out money for personal use, it is referred to as a "cash out refinance."

Occurs when the mediator meets with each party individually.

A Latin phrase meaning “let the buyer beware.” It expresses the common law rule that a buyer is expected to examine the property carefully, instead of relying on the seller to disclose problems. The rule has lost most of its strength, particularly in residential transactions.

A declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions; usually recorded by a developer to create a common plan of private restrictions for a subdivision.

A time deposit held in a bank which pays a certain amount of interest to the depositor.

One of the indexes used for determining interest rate changes on some adjustable rate mortgages. It is an average of what banks are paying on certificates of deposit.

A document issued by the Veterans Administration that certifies a veteran's eligibility for a VA loan

A statement issued by a local government verifying that a newly constructed building is in compliance with all codes and may be occupied.

The document given to the purchaser at a mortgage foreclosure sale, instead of a deed; replaced with a sheriff’s deed only after the redemption period expires

Once the appraisal has been performed on a property being bought with a VA loan, the Veterans Administration issues a CRV.

The chain of deeds and other documents transferring title to a piece of property from one owner to the next, as disclosed in the public record. An analysis of the transfers of title to a piece of property over the years

A piece of personal property

property that is closely associated with real property, such as a lease.

The body of law concerned with the rights and liabilities of one individual in relation to another; includes contract, tort, and property law. Civil Rights* Fundamental rights guaranteed to all persons by the law. The term is primarily used in reference to constitutional and statutory protections against discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin

A title that is free of liens or legal questions as to ownership of the property.

The final stage in a real estate transaction, when the seller receives the purchase money and the buyer receives the deed. In some states a real estate transaction is not consider "closed" until the documents record at the local recorders office. In others, the "closing" is a meeting where all of the documents are signed and money changes hands

Expenses incurred in the transfer of real estate in addition to the purchase price; for example, the appraisal fee, title insurance premiums. Brokers commission, and transfer tax. Closing costs are separated into what are called "non-recurring closing costs" and "pre-paid items." Non-recurring closing costs are any items which are paid just once as a result of buying the property or obtaining a loan. "Pre-paids" are items which recur over time, such as property taxes and homeowners insurance

Final arrangements to transfer title of property, as well as allocate charges and credits..

Any conditions revealed by a title search that adversely affect the title to real estate. Usually clouds on title cannot be removed except by deed, release, or court action. A claim, encumbrance, or apparent defect that makes the title to real property unmarketable.

Collection and organization of piecemeal laws into a comprehensive code.

An additional individual who is both obligated on the loan and is on title to the property.

A FHA program that allows loan originators to directly underwrite housing projects loans, shortening processing time considerably.

Anything of value used as security for a debt or obligation. In a home loan, the property is the collateral. The borrower risks losing the property if the loan is not repaid according to the terms of the mortgage or deed of trust.

When a borrower falls behind, the lender contacts them in an effort to bring the loan current. The loan goes to "collection." As part of the collection effort, the lender must mail and record certain documents in case they are eventually required to foreclose on the property.

An agreement between two or more persons to defraud someone

Title that appears to be good, but which in fact is not.

Property zoned and used for business purposes, such as a store, restaurant or office building; as distinguished from residential, industrial or agricultural property.

Established primarily to serve the community’s bussiness needs.

A promise by a lender to make a loan at a future date on specified terms and conditions. A promise by an investor to purchase a specified amount of mortgages from the loan originator

Charge imposed for granting an agreement either to lend or to purchase at a future date

A third-party guarantee that the builder will complete construction.

Interest paid on the original principal and also on the accrued interest.

Most salespeople earn commissions for the work that they do and there are many sales professionals involved in each transaction, including Realtors, loan officers, title representatives, and attorneys. The commissions are paid out of the charges paid by the seller or buyer in the purchase transaction

In some areas they are called Homeowners Association Fees. They are charges paid to the Homeowners Association by the owners of the individual units in a condominium or planned unit development (PUD) and are generally used to maintain the property and common areas.

Those portions of a building, land, and amenities owned (or managed) by a planned unit development (PUD) or condominium project's homeowners' association (or a cooperative project's cooperative corporation) that are used by all of the unit owners, who share in the common expenses of their operation and maintenance. Common areas include swimming pools, tennis courts, and other recreational facilities, as well as common corridors of buildings, parking areas, means of ingress and egress, etc.

An unwritten body of law based on general custom in England and used to an extent in some states.

Property owned jointly by a married couple in California; any property acquired through the labor or skill of either spouse during marriage. In some states, especially the southwest, property acquired by a married couple during their marriage is considered to be owned jointly, except under special circumstances

Recent sales of similar properties in nearby areas and used to help determine the market value of a property. Also referred to as "comps."

Of sound mind, for the purposes of entering a contract or executing a will; not suffering from mental illness, retardation, or senility. 2) Of sound mind and having reached the age of majority

The document a plaintiff files with the court to start a lawsuit.

Any form of ownership in which two or more people share title to a piece of property, holding undivided interests. Also call co tenancy.

Taking private property for public use, through the government’s power of eminent domain. 2) A declaration that a structure is unfit for occupancy and must be close or demolished.

A provision in an agreement or deed that makes the parties’ rights and obligations depend on the occurrence (or nonoccurrence) of a particular event. Also called a contingency clause.

A type of ownership in real property where all of the owners own the property, common areas and buildings together, with the exception of the interior of the unit to which they have title. .

Changing the ownership of an existing building (usually a rental project) to the condominium form of ownership.

* The organization that manages the operation of a condominium, imposing assessments and arranging for the maintenance of the common areas. The association’s members are the unit owners, and they usually elect a board of directors.

document that must be filed for record when property is developed as or converter to a condominium

Anything of value given to induce another to enter into a contract, such as money, services, goods or a promise. Sometimes called valuable consideration.

A fundamental document that establishes a government’s structure and set limits on its powers

Pertaining to or based on a constitution 2) Not in violation of the U.S. Constitution or state constitution.

A short-term, interim loan for financing the cost of construction. The lender makes payments to the builder at periodic intervals as the work progresses.

A condition that must be met before a contract is legally binding. For example, home purchasers often include a contingency that specifies that the contract is not binding until the purchaser obtains a satisfactory home inspection report from a qualified home inspector.

An agreement between two or more persons to do or not do a certain thing. The requirements for an enforceable contract are capacity, mutual consent, a lawful purpose, and consideration. In addition, many contracts must be in writing to be enforceable.

In a real estate transaction, the express revelation of a fact, e.g., matters of public record.

1) Changing an existing rental apartment building in to condominium, 2) Misappropriating property or funds belonging to another.

The transfer of title to real property from one person to another by means of a written document, such as a deed.

Mortgage loan made without any additional guarantees for repayment , such as FHA insurance, usually given at an 80 percent loan to value ratio Refers to home loans other than government loans (VA and FHA).

An adjustable-rate mortgage that allows the borrower to change the ARM to a fixed-rate mortgage within a specific time.

A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multiunit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit.

An association organized according to strict regulations in which individuals purchase ownership shares; regarded by the law as an artificial person, separate from the individual shareholders.

Adjustment lines used in the government survey systems to compensate for the curvature of the earth. They occur at 24-mile intervals (every fourth township line) where the distance between range lines is corrected to 6 miles.

any one who shares ownership of a piece of property with another; may be a joint tenant, a tenant in common, a tenant in partnership, or a spouse owning community property

A response to an offer to enter into a contract, changing some of the terms of the original offer. A counteroffer is a rejection of the offer(not a form of acceptance) and does not create a binding contract unless accepted by the original offeror

A direction, stated in terms of a compass bearing, in a metes and bounds description of property

1) A contract. 2) A promise. 3) a guarantee (express or implied) in a document such as a deed or lease. 4) A restrictive covenant.

A promise that a buyer or tenant’s possession will not be disturbed by the previous owner, the lessor, or anyone else claiming an interest in the property

1)An agreement in which a borrower receives something of value in exchange for a promise to repay the lender at a later date 2)A payment receivable (owed to you) as opposed to a debit, which is a payment due (owed by you).

Additional signers to a financial agreement adding their guarantees to that of the borrowers.

Process of appraising the value of a property by adding the estimated value of the land to the appraiser’s calculations of the replacement cost of the building, less depreciation.

Clause in a mortgage that warrants that the mortgagor has title to the property and authority to pledge it as collateral.

Usually included in a junior loan instrument; stipulates that a default in the senior encumbrance also triggers a default in the junior loan.

One of the indexes that is used to determine interest rate changes for certain adjustable-rate mortgages. It represents the weighted-average cost of savings, borrowings, and advances of the financial institutions such as banks and savings & loans, in the 11th District of the Federal Home Loan Bank.

A record of an individual's repayment of debt. Credit histories are reviewed my mortgage lenders as one of the underwriting criteria in determining credit risk.

A person to whom money is owed

A report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness.

An organization that gathers, records, updates, and stores financial and public records information about the payment records of individuals who are being considered for credit.

To remedy a default, by paying money that’s overdue or fulfilling other obligations.

A prospective property buyer or client.

A period of time within which the economic ups and downs of bussiness or real estate take place.

A cylindrical sitecast concrete foundation that penetrates through unsatisfactory soil to rest upon an underlying stratum of rock or satisfactory soil; an enclosure that permits excavation work to be carried out underwater.

The driving off of the water of hydration from gypsum by the application of heat.

A slight initial curvature in a beam or slab.

The thin layer beneath the bark of a tree that manufactures cells of wood and bark.

A beam, truss, or slab that extends beyond its last point of support.

A strip of material with a sloping face used to ease the transition from a horizaontal to a vertical surface at the edge of a membrane roof.

The pulling of water through a small orifice or fibrous material by the adhesive force between the water and the material.

Drill bits, saws, and other tools with cutting edges made of an extremely hard alloy.

Low-carbon or mild steel.

One who makes things of wood.

A window that pivots on an axis at or near a vertical edge of the sash.

The wood finish pieces surrounding the frame of a window or door; a cylindrical steel tube used to line a drilled or driven hole in foundation work.

A steel wide-flange section whose web has been cut along a zigzag path and reassembled by welding in such a way as to create a deeper section.

Pouring a liquid material or slurry into a mold whose form it will take as it solidifies.

A permanent, fixed form in which precast concrete elements are produced.

Concrete that is poured in its final location; site-cast.

Iron with too high a carbon content to be classified as steel.

A low-range sealant.

A masonry wall that includes a continuous airspace between its outermost wythe and the remainder of the wall.

Panels made of steel sheets corrugated and welded together in such a way that hollow longitudinal cells are created within the panels.

A rectangular tube cast into a contrete floor slab for the purpose of housing electrical and communications wiring.

The material of which the structural fibers in wood are composed; a complex polymeric carbonhydrate.

A temperature scale on which the freezing point of water is established as 0 and the boiling point as 100 degrees.

A substance used to adhere materials together; in concrete work, the dry powder that, when it has combined chemically with the water in the mix, cements the particles of aggregate together to form concrete.

Having cementing properties; usually used with reference to inorganic substances, such as portland cement and lime.

Temporary formwork for an arch, dome, or vault.

Small blocks of synthetic rubber or plastic used to hold a sheet of glass in the center of its frame.

Small, flat, thin clay tiles intended for use as wall and floor facings.

A device used to support reinforcing bars.

A flattening of a longitudinal edge of a solid member on a plane that lies at an angle of 45 degrees to the adjoining planes.

A steel or aluminum section shaped like a rectangular box with one side missing.

A plastic material used in roof membrances.

A plastic material used in roof membranes.

A member of a truss.

A steel wall framing member whose profile resembles a combination of the letters C and H, used to support gypsum panels in shaft walls.

A device for holding a steel wire, rod, or cable securely in place by means of steel wedges in a tapering cylinder.

A steel tool used with an up-and-down motion to cut through rock at the bottom of a steel pipe caisson.

A material used as the exterior wall enclosure of a building.

A tool for holding two pieces of a material together temporarily; unfired bricks piled in such a way that they can be fired without using a kiln.

Roof covering materials classified according to their resistance to fire when tested in accordance with ASTM E108. Class A is the highest, and class C is the lowest.

An opening at the base of a masonry wall through which mortar droppings and other debris can be removed prior to grouting the interior cavity of the wall.

The dimension between opposing inside faces of an opening.

A heavy-duty lifting machine that raises itself as the building rises.

A fused mass that is an intermediate product of cement manufacture; a brick that is overburned.

The last masonry unit laid in a course; a partial masonry unit used at the corner of a header course to adjust the joint spacing; a mechanical devise for regulating the closing action of a door.

See concrete masonry unit.

See building code.

A soil such as clay whose particles are able to adhere to one another by means of cohesive and adhesive forces.

Steel rolled to its final form at a temperature at which it is no longer plastic.

Steel formed at a temperature at which it is no longer plastic, as by rolling or forging.

The vertical mortar joint between wythes of masonry.

A piece of wood nailed across two opposing rafter near the ridge to resist wind uplift.

An upright structural member acting primarily in compression.

An assembly of vertical reinforcing bars and ties for a concrete column.

A system of cladding in which panels of material cover the columns and spandrel, with horizontal strips of windows filing the remaining portion of the wall.

A continuous coil of steel reinforcing used to tie a concrete column.

The zone of a two-way concrete floor or roof structure that is centered on a line of columns.

A single loop of steel bar, usually bent into a retangular configuration, used to tie a concrete column.

A door with interchangeable inserts of glass and insect screening, usually used as a second, exterior door in the same opening with a conventional door.

An ordinary carbon steel bolt.

Brickwork laid with each five courses of stretchers followed by one course of headers.

A material or assembly made up of two or more materials bonded together to act as a single structural unit.

An upright structural member, acting primarily in compression, that is composed of concrete and a steel structural shape, usually a wide-flange or a tube.

Any element in which concrete and steel, other than reinforcing bars, work as a single structural unit.

Corrugated steel decking manufactured in such a way that it bonds securely to the concrete floor fill to form a reinforced concrete deck.

A masonry wall that incorporates two or more different types of masonry units, such as clay bricks and concrete blocks.

A squeezing force.

A synthetic rubber strip that seals around sheet of glass or a wall panel by being squeezed tightly against it.

The ability of a structural material to withstand squeezing forces.

A mortar joint tooled into a curved, indented profile.

A suspended ceiling framework that is completely hidden by the tiles or panels it supports.

A structural material produced by mixing predetermined amounts of portland cement, aggregates, and water, and allowing this mixture to cure under controlled conditions.

A concrete masonry unit, usually hollow, that is larger than a brick.

A sold concrete masonry unit the same size and proportions as a modular clay brick.

A block of hardened concrete, with or without hollow cores, designed to be laid in the same manner as a brick or stone; a concrete block.

Water formed as a result of condensation.

The process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid state, especially as applied to water.

A steel or plastic tube through which electrical wiring is run.

A screened, water-shielded ventilation opening that runs continuously along the ridge of a gable roof.

A person or organization that undertakes a legal obligation to do construction work.

An intentional, linear discontinuity in a structure or component, designed to form a plane of weakness where cracking can occur in response to various forces so as to minimize or eliminate cracking elsehwere in the structure.

A heat exchange device that uses the heat in steam, hot water, or an electric resistance element to warm the air in a room; often called, inaccurately, a raditor.

A joint in which the end of one member is cut to match the profile of the other member.

A protective cap on the top of a masonry wall.

A handsaw with a thin, very narrow blade, used for cutting detailed shapes in the ends of wood moldings and trim.

A large molecule composed of repeating patterns of two or more chemical units.

A spanning device in which masonry units in successive courses are cantilevered slightly over one another; a projecting bracket of masonry or concrete.

A thick gypsum panel used primrily in shaft walls.

A metal or plastic strip used to form a neat, durable edge at an outside corner of two walls of plaster or gypsum board.

The exterior detail at the meeting of a wall and a roof overhang; a decorative molding t the intersection of a wall and a ceiling.

Oxidation, such as rust.

A concrete admixture intended to prevent oxidation of reinforcing bars.

Pressed into a fluted or ribbed profile.

A flasing turned down from above to overlap another flashing turned up from below so as to shed water.

A horizontal layer of masonry units one unit high; a horizontal line of shingles or siding.

Laid in courses with straight bed joints.

A flexible strip of plastic or synthetic rubber used to finish the junction between resilient flooring and a wall.

A space that is not tall enough to stand in, located beneath the bottom floor of a building.

A permanent inelastic deformation in a material due to changes in the material caused by the prolonger application of structural stress.

A wood wall-framing member that is shorter than full-length studs because it is interrupted by a header or sill.

Wood incorporated into a structure in such a way that its direction of grain is perpendicular to the direction of the principal loads on the structure.

Horizontal compression members running from one side of an excavation to the other, used to support sheeting.

Glass sheet formed by spinning an opened hollow globe of heated glass.

A framing member cut from a bent tree so as to form one-half of a rigid frame.

A curl in the cross section of a board or timber caused by unequal shrinkage or expansion between one side of the board and the other.

The hardening of concrete, plaster, gunnable sealant, or other wet materials. Curing can occur through evaporation of water or a solvent, hydration, polymerization, or chemical reactions of various types, depending on the formulation of the material.

A liquid that, when sprayed on the surface of newly placed concrete, forms a water-resistant layer to prevent premature dehydration of the concrete.

An exterior building wall that is supported entirely by the frame of the building, rather than being self-supporting or loadbearing.

Glass sheet produced by blowing a large, elongated glass cylinder, cutting off its ends, slitting it lengthwise, and opening it into a flat rectangle.