The Real Estate License Professor

A wall erected on the line between two adjoining properties that are under different ownership for the use of both owners.

A rule of courtroom evidence that once the parties make a written contract, they may not then introduce oral agreements or statements to modify the terms of that written agreement. An exception exists for fraud or mistake, which will permit the parties to offer evidence to vary the terms of the writing.

Hardwood flooring laid in squares or patterns.

In a deed of trust or mortgage, a clause that permits release of a parcel or part of a parcel from the effects and lien of that security instrument. The release usually occurs upon the payment of a specified sum of money.

A legal action by which co-owners seek to sever their joint ownership. The physical division of property between co-owners, usually through court action.

An association of two or more persons to unite their property, labor or skill, or any one or combination thereof, in prosecution of some joint business, and to share the profits in certain proportions. An agreement of two or more individuals jointly to undertake a business enterprise. If it is a general partnership, all partners have unlimited liability and, absent other agreements, share equally in the management and profits of the business.

Conveyance of title to government land.

A provision in a promissory note, deed of trust, or mortgage, permitting the debtor to pay off the obligation before maturity.

The term, as applied to nails, that serves as a measure of nail length and is abbreviated by the letter d.

A lease on property, the rental for which is determined by the amount of business done by the tenant, usually a percentage of gross receipts from the business, with provision for a minimum rental.

Baseboard heating or any system in which the heat registers are located along the outside walls of a room, especially under the windows.

A leasehold estate that continues indefinitely for successive periods of time, until terminated by proper notice. When the periods are one month in duration, it is often called a month-to-month lease.

A term commonly used in tort (e.g. negligence cases) indicating an injury to one's being or body (for example, cuts or broken bones) as opposed to injury to his property.

Any property which is not real property.

A person who petitions the court on a special proceeding or a motion.

A column of masonry used to support other structural members.

The incline or rise of a roof.

The party who initiates a lawsuit; the person who sues another.

A horizontal board placed on a wall or supported on posts or studs to carry the trusses of a roof or rafters directly; a shoe or base member, as of a partition or other frame; a small flat board placed on or in a wall to support girders and rafters, for example.

Deposition of personal property by a debtor with a creditor as security for a debt or engagement.

One who is given a pledge as security. (See Security Party)

One who gives a pledge as security. (See Debtor)

The appreciation in unit value created by joining smaller ownerships into one large single ownership.

(1) Laminated wood made up in panels. (2) Several thicknesses of wood glued together with grains at different angles for strength.

(See Discount Points)

The right of the state to enact laws and regulations and its right to enforce them for the order, safety, health, morals, and general welfare of the public. The power of the state to prohibit acts that adversely affect the public health, welfare, safety, or morals. (Zoning and building codes are examples of exercise of the police power.)

A written instrument whereby a principal gives authority to an agent. The agent acting under such a grant is sometimes called an attorney in fact.

The future interest created whenever there is a grant of a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent estate. The future interest matures into a present interest estate only if the holder timely and properly exercises his right upon a breach by the current holder of the fee estate.

A house manufactured, and sometimes partly assembled, before delivery to the building site.

An attachment of property made before the trial, with the intent of holding that property as security, to have an asset to sell if the court judgment is favorable to the attaching party.

Penalty for the payment of a note before it actually becomes due. A fee or charge imposed upon a debtor who desires to pay off his loan before its maturity. Not all prepayment clauses provide for a penalty, and in many real estate transactions the law regulates the amount of penalty that may be changed.

Securing of an easement by open, notorious, and uninterrupted use, adverse to the owner of the land for the period required by statute. A method of obtaining an easement by adverse use over a prescribed period of time.

An estate in land that gives the owner the right to occupy his property immediately; as opposed to a future interest, which grants only the right to occupy the premises at some future date.

That which may be assumed without proof. A conclusion or assumption that is binding in the absence of sufficient proof to the contrary.

(1) Presumptive on its face. (2) Assumed correct until overcome by further proof. Facts, evidence, or documents that are taken at face value and presumed to be as they appear (unless proven otherwise).

The employer of an agent. Someone who hires an agent to act on his behalf. The term also refers to the amount of an outstanding loan (exclusive of interest).

That which comes first in point of time or right. superior, higher, or preferred rank or position.

Closeness or mutuality of a contractual relationship.

Court supervision of the collection and distribution of a deceased person's estate.

The law of how to present and proceed with legal rights (for example, laws of evidence, enforcement of judgments). It is the opposite of substantative law.

That event originating from another series of events that, without a break in continuity, results in an agent's producing a final buyer. Proximate cause. A broker is the procuring cause of a sale if his or her efforts set in motion an unbroken chain of events that resulted in the sale.

An easement coupled with a power to consume resources on the burdened property.

A written promise to pay a designated sum of money at a future date.

Everything capable of being owned and acquired lawfully. The rights of ownership. The right to use, possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing in every legal way and to exclude everyone else from interfering with these rights. Property is classified into two groups, personal property and real property.

To divide or prorate the taxes equally or proportionately to time and use, between seller and buyer.

Money awarded by the court for the sole purpose of punishing the wrongdoer, and not designed to compensate the injured party for his damages.

A mortgage or deed of trust that does not permit a deficiency judgment in the event of foreclosure and sale of the secured property for less than the amount due on the promissory note. It is called purchase money since the deed of trust and mortgage was used to buy all or part of the property.

A mortgage or deed of trust given as part or all of the consideration for the purchase of property or given as security for a loan to obtain money for all or part of the purchase price.