Glossary R-Z

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A-C D-F G-K L-Q R-Z
R
RECORDING: The filing of documents or details of a legal document to make them a matter of public record. Usually requires the witnessing and notarizing of the document or instrument to be recorded.
REFINANCING: The repayment of a debt from the proceeds of a new loan using the same property as security.
REGULATION Z: Regulation written by the Federal Reserve Board to implement the Truth-In-Lending Act, requiring full written disclosure of the credit portion of a purchase, including the annual percentage rate.
RELEASE OF LIABILITY: An agreement by a lender to terminate personal obligation of a mortgagor in connection with payment of a debt.
RELEASE OF LIEN: An instrument discharging secured property from alien.
RELEASE OF RECORD: The act of recording a release deed or satisfaction of a mortgage.

RELEASE PRICE: The amount of compensation, either partial of full, needed for a mortgagee to remove a lien.
REAL ESTATE OWNED (REO): Property a lender acquires as the result of foreclosure.
RESCISSION: The cancellation of a transaction or contract by law or by mutual consent.
RESPECTIVE COVENANT: A clause in a deed or lease that denies the buyer or lessor full rights to the property in question.
RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP: The survivor's right to the property of a deceased person. In the case of joint tenancy or tenancy by entirety (husband and wife), the undivided property passes to the survivor.

RIGHT OF WAY: The right to pass over land owned by another. Also, a strip of land used for a street or railway.
S
SATISFACTION OF MORTGAGE: The recorded instrument the lender provides to evidence payment in full of the mortgage debt.
SECOND MORTGAGE: A mortgage that has rights subordinate to a first mortgage.
SETTLEMENT: The closing of a mortgage loan. Also, the delivery of a loan or security to a buyer.
SETTLEMENT COST: Money paid by borrowers and sellers to effect the closing of a mortgage loan, including payments for title insurance, survey, attorney fees and such prepaid items as taxes and insurance escrow.

SUBORDINATION: The act of a party acknowledging, by written record, that a debt is inferior to the interest of another in the same property. Subordination may apply not only to mortgages, but to leases, real estate rights and any other types of debt instruments.
SURVEY: A measurement of land, prepared by a registered land surveyor, showing the location of the land with reference to known points, its dimensions and the location and dimensions of any improvements.
T
TAX LIEN: A claim against property for unpaid taxes.
TENANCY IN COMMON: A form of undivided ownership interest by two or more persons that provides for no right of survivorship. The interest need not be of equal percentage.
TITLE: Written evidence of the right to or ownership in property. In the case of real estate, the documentary evidence of ownership is the title deed that specifies in whom the legal estate is vested and the history of ownership and transfers. Title maybe acquired through the purchase, inheritance, devise, gift or through foreclosure of a mortgage.
TITLE BINDER: Written evidence of a temporary title insurance coverage that runs for a limited time and must be replaced by a permanent policy.

TITLE DEFECT: Any legal right held by others to claim property or to make demands upon an owner.
TITLE EXCEPTION: An exclusion appearing in a title insurance policy against which the insurance company does not insure.
TITLE INSURANCE POLICY: A contract by which the insurer agrees to pay the insured a specific amount for any loss caused by defects of title to real estate, wherein the insured has an interest as purchaser, mortgagee or otherwise.
TITLE SEARCH: An examination of public records, laws and court decisions to ensure that no one except the seller has a valid claim to the property and to disclose past and current facts regarding ownership of the subject property.
TRUST: A fiduciary relationship whereby legal title to a property is transferred to a trustee with the intention that such property be administered by the trustee for the benefit of another, the beneficiary, who holds equitable title to such property.
TRUST DEED: The instrument given by a borrower (trustor) to a trustee vesting title to a property in the trustee to ensure the borrower's fulfillment of an obligation. A mortgage.
TRUSTEE: One who holds legal title to a property for the benefit of another, or to secure performance of an obligation.

TRUTH-IN-LENDING LAW: The Truth-In-Lending Act (PL 90-321; 15 USC 1601 et seq.). Part of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, a federal law that requires lenders to provide full written disclosure of credit terms and conditions, the finance charge, the annual percentage rate and other charges incurred in a loan contract.
U
UNDERWRITING: In mortgage banking, the analysis of the risk involved in making a mortgage loan to determine whether the risk is acceptable to the lender. Underwriting involves the evaluation of the property as outlined in the appraisal report and of the borrower's ability and willingness to repay the loan.
V
VA: See Veteran's Administration.
VA FUNDING FEE: A fee the VA charges to guarantee a mortgage loan.
VARIABLE RATE MORTGAGE (VR): See adjustable rate mortgage.

VETERAN'S ADMlNISTRATION (VA): The Department of Veteran's Affairs, a cabinet-level agency of the federal government. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 authorized the agency to administer a variety of benefit programs designed to facilitate the adjustment of returning veterans to civilian life. Among the benefit programs is the VA Home Loan Guarantee program, which encourages mortgage lenders to offer long-term, low down payment financing to eligible veterans by partially guaranteeing the lender against loss.
W
WRAP AROUND MORTGAGE: A refinancing technique involving the creation of a second mortgage which includes the balance due on any existing mortgages, plus the amount of the new secondary or junior lien.
XYZ
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