Deed: Written instrument which when properly executed and delivered conveys title to real property from one person (grantor) to another (grantee).
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure: A deed to real property accepted by a lender from a defaulting borrower to avoid the necessity of foreclosure proceedings by the lender.
Deed of Trust: (See trust deed.)
Deferred Payment Options: The privilege of deferring income payments to take advantage of statues affording tax benefits.
Deficiency Judgment: A judgment given by a court when the value of security pledged for a loan is insufficient to pay off the debt of the defaulting borrower.
Deposit Receipt: A term used by the real estate industry to describe the written offer to purchase real property upon stated term and conditions, accompanied by a deposit toward the purchase price, which becomes the contract for the sale of the property upon acceptance by the owner.
Documentary Transfer Tax: A state enabling act allows a county to adopt a documentary transfer tax to apply on all transfers of real property located in the county. Notice of payment is entered on face of the deed or on a separate paper filed with the deed.
Documents: Legal instruments such as mortgages, contracts, deeds, options, wills, bill of sale, etc.
Due on Sale Clause: An acceleration clause granting the lender the right to demand full payment of the mortgage upon a sale of the property.
Easement: A right, privilege or interest limited to a specific purpose which one party has in the land of another.
Effective Interest Rate: The percentage of interest that is actually being paid by the borrower for the use of the money, distinct from nominal interest.
Encroachment: An unlawful intrusion onto another’s adjacent property by improvements to real property, e.g. a swimming pool built across a property line.
Encumbrance: Anything which affects or limits the fee simple title to pr value of property, e.g., mortgages or easements.
Equity Build-Up: The increase of owner’s equity in property due to mortgage principal reduction and value appreciation.
Escrow: The deposit of instruments and/or funds with instructions with a third neutral party to carry out the provisions of an agreement or contract.
Estate: As applied to real estate, the term signifies the quantity of interest, share, right, equity, of which riches or fortune may consist in real property. The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real property.
Estate for Life: A possessory, freehold estate in land held by a person only for the duration of his or her life or the life or lives of another.
Estoppel: A legal theory under which a person is barred from asserting or denying a fact because of the person’s previous acts or words.
Exchange: A means of trading equities in two or more real properties, treated as a single transaction through a single escrow.
Executor: A man named in a will to carry out its provisions as to the disposition of the estate of a deceased person. (A woman is executrix.)