Appraisal Vocabulary

• Equitable right of redemption


  Gives a delinquent tax payer a grace period prior to the tax sale to pay property taxes
• Executed


  Means all finished
• Unilateral


  One promise for an act
• Bilateral


  Two promises for a promise; listing agreement (example)
• Power of attorney


  Gives someone power to sign for you
• Bill of sale


  Used for personal property (not real estate)
• Grantor


  Giver of the deed (seller)
• Grantee


  Receiver of the deed (buyer)
• Lessor


  Owner (has the keys? landlord)
• Lessee


  Tenant (receives the keys)
• Statute of Frauds


  In writing
• Trustor


  Fiduciary agreement
• Trustee


  Fiduciary agreement
• Novation


  Release of liability; new
• Riparian rights


  Flowing water, owned to midpoint of water
• Littoral rights


  Nonflowing water (Sea, Lake, Ocean)
• Emblements


  Crops grown in the year of sale (cherries/apples on a tree)
• Servient tenement


  Property over which an easement crosses
• Dominant tenement


  Property that benefits from an easement
• Mechanic's lien


  Right of redemption
• Clouded title


  Title with problems
• Nonconforming use


  Grandfathered zoning changed, but prior use is still allowed
• Buffer zone


  Separates two incompatible zoning districts
• Frontage


  Land adjacent to the street
• Front foot


  Width of the parcel
• Redlining


  Refusing loans based on ethnic makeup
• Alienation clause


  If property is transferred by deed the mortgage becomes due and payable immediately
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)

  Prevents discrimination in lending
• Lock


  Lender confirms loan amount and agrees to an interest rate
• Executor's deed


  Signed by an executor of an estate
• Quitclaim deed


  No promises, ownership is charged of given up
• Special warranty deed


  Warrants the buyer against encumbrances during the seller's period of ownership
• General warranty deed


  Makes lots of promises
• Holographic will


  Entirely handwritten, signed by testator, must follow state law
• Eminent domain


  Right for government to take ownership, for just compensation
• Escheat


  State takes ownership if no will
• Condemnation


  Government process that puts eminent domain into action
• Title insurance


  Protects against defects in the title; paid all at once at closing
• Periodic tenancy


  A lease that automatically renews at the end of each period
• Non-disturbance clause


  Protects tenant from losing the lease due to foreclosure