T | RISMedia

Tacking – The adding together of successive periods of adverse possession of parties in privity with each other in order to create one continuous adverse possession to meet the legal time requirement to establish title.

Take-out loan – A loan typically arranged by a builder or developer for a buyer from which the proceeds of this more permanent type loan goes to pay the construction loan in full.

Taking – A concept which comes from the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which ensures that when land is taken for public use by the government’s power of eminent domain or condemnation that the property owner must be fairly compensated.

Tandem plan – A secondary mortgage market arrangement whereby GNMA purchases certain original mortgages for resale to FNMA or other investors.

Tangible – Anything that can be physically touched or handled.

Tangible property – A real or personal property that can be physically touched or handled or perceived by the senses such as land, its fixed improvements, furnishings, merchandise, cash, leases, etc.

Tax – An enforced charge demanded of persons, corporations and organizations by a government to be used to support government services and programs.

Tax abatement – The amount of a decrease or a deduction of a tax improperly levied.

Tax base – The sum of all taxable property which determines the financial capacity of a government to raise funds through taxation.

Tax cost basis – See Cost basis.

Tax credit – A credit received for a particular item like a solar energy credit that directly reduces the amount of tax owed.

Tax deed – A deed, executed by a city county or state tax collector following a public tax sale for nonpayment of property taxes when no redemption was made by the defaulting taxpayer, which is given to a purchaser and which conveys only as much title as the defaulting taxpayer held.

Tax liability –A tax that is owed to a taxing authority which could be real estate taxes, ordinary income tax or capital gains tax.

Tax lien – A claim against a property that arises out of the nonpayment of taxes which may be sold by the taxing authority to pay the amount due.

Tax participation clause – An agreement in a lease by which the lessee agrees to pay all or a part of any real estate tax increases.

Tax penalty – The amount to be paid as a result of nonpayment of taxes which is usually expressed as a percentage of the unpaid balance.

Tax Reform Act of 1986 – The Act which replaced the previous Internal Revenue Code Act of 1954.

Tax roll – A list of all taxable property which shows the assessed value of each parcel and its owner and is used to establish the tax base which in some states is also know as an assessment roll.

Tax sale – The sale of property on which current taxes have not been paid is said to be sold to the state after a set time period but where no actual sale takes place but where the title is transferred to the state and the taxpayer can redeem the property by paying all taxes, penalties and costs. If it has not been redeemed within five years, the tax sold property is actually deeded to the state.

Tax sale certificate – A certificate bought at a tax sale which transfers the lien but not the title to the purchaser by which the county gets its tax money and the owner keeps his or her property and the purchaser results in getting a high yield on the certificate.

Tax shelter – An investment motivated primarily to obtain an income tax deductions to apply against taxable income earned from other sources.

Tax title – The title that is transferred as a result of a tax sale.

Taxable gain – An amount received from the sale of a property that is greater than its purchase price which is subject to federal taxation.

Taxable value – The value upon which the taxes are computed after the tax rates have been determined.

Taxation – A forced contribution taken from persons, corporations and organizations that is levied by a government or municipal quasi-public body upon the owners of real property to be used to support government services and programs.

Tax-deferred exchange – A real estate transaction in which one real property in whole or in part is exchanged for another like kind property to defer the payment of capital gains tax. Also known as a Tax-free exchange. See Like kind property.

Tax-free exchange – See Tax-deferred exchange.

Taxing district – The geographical area over which a taxing authority levies taxes.

Taxpayer – The party who pays a tax.

Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 – An act that made significant changes in the capital gain provisions which eliminated the two year limitation for the $250,000 capital gain involving the sale of a principal residence, the rollover provision, and the senior exemption and made changes in long- term capital gain treatment.

Tenancy – An interest in real property giving the right to its possession and use.

Tenancy at sufferance – A wrongful holding by a tenant of a premise after his or her lease has terminated.

Tenancy at will – A possession of a premise by permission of an owner or landlord that has no fixed term.

Tenancy by the entireties – The ownership of property in some non community property states that is acquired by a husband and wife during marriage which is jointly and equally owned and which upon the depth of one spouse becomes the property of the survivor.

Tenancy in common – The co-ownership of property by two or more persons whose interests need not be equal and who each hold an undivided interest in the entire property but without the right of survivorship.

Tenant – A party who has legal, temporary, possession and use of real property belonging to another.

Tenant improvements – The alterations made by a landlord to the interior of a building to meet the functional needs of the new tenant.

Tenant pur autre vie – A party who holds lands for the period of another’s life. See Pur autre vie.

Tenant selection – An evaluation process used by property managers to determine a rental prospects acceptability.

Tenantability – A specific list according to state guidelines of items which makes a property fit to live in.

Tender – An unconditional offer of money or performance by one of the parties to a contract to carry out his or her part of the contract which when unjustifiably refused may permit the party making the tender to exercise remedies for breach of contract.

Tenement – 1. All things which may be owned that are of a permanent nature such as land and buildings. 2. In a more restrictive sense, a house or a dwelling.

Tentative map – A map of a subdivision that is submitted to a local planning commission for study and anticipated approval.

Tenure – See Tenure in land.

Tenure in land – An American concept of real estate ownership that holds that all rights and title in and to the land rest with the owner.

Term – The length of a contract period.

Term mortgage – A specific type of loan having a stated length which is normally under 5 years on which only interest is paid and at the expiration of the term the entire principal is paid. See Straight loan.

Termination statement – A document under the Uniform Commercial Code that is recorded to cancel and remove a financing statement previously filed.

Termite shield – A shield of non-corrodible metal that is located on top of a foundation wall or around pipes to prevent the entrance of termites.

Termites – The ant-like insects which feed on wood which are highly destructive to wooden structures.

Terms – The conditions spelled out in an arrangement or agreement such as a mortgage or a contract.

Testament – A will.

Testamentary – The transfer of real estate after ones death under a will is called testamentary because the will cannot become operative until after ones death.

Testate – To have made and left a legally-valid will at death. See Intestate.

Testator – A man who makes or has made a will.

Testatrix – A woman who makes or has made a will.

Third party – 1. A party who is to be treated honestly and fairly, presented openly with material facts and given an accurate accounting of any funds received. 2. A party who is not owed fiduciary duties or responsibilities. 3. A customer of a licensee. 4. A party who is not a client of a licensee. 5. A person(s) who is not a party to a contract and who is able to hold a neutral position as to the object of the contract.

Three-quarter bath – A room in a home that contains a toilet, sink and a shower but no bathtub.

Threshold – A wooden or metal strip beveled on each edge and used above the finished floor under outside doors.

Tidelands – The lands that are covered and uncovered by the ebb and flow of the tide.

Tier – A township strip of land six miles wide, running east and west and numbered north and south according to its distance from the base line in the government survey system or rectangular survey system of legal descriptions.

Tier – An east-west row of townships which is the 6-mile strip of land between parallels.

Tight money market – An economic situation in which the supply of money is limited but the demand for money is great which results in high interest rates being charged.

Time – The duration of a loan.

Time is of the essence – A clause in a contract expressing a condition that the essential nature or performance of the contract by a party will be done within the specified period of time or the contract is voidable.

Time-interval maps – A series of maps that show land use or some other feature as of differing dates.

Timely manner – An act must be performed within certain time limits specified in a contract.

Time-share – A form of ownership interest that allows the use of a property for a fixed or variable time frame.

Time-share estate – An ownership interest in a time-share project or subdivision property which is coupled with a right of occupancy.

Time-share project – A form of a subdivision of real property into rights to the recurrent, exclusive use or occupancy of a lot, parcel, unit or segment of real property on an annual, monthly, weekly or other periodic basis for a specific periods of time.

Time-share use – A licensed or contractual or membership right of occupancy in a timeshare project which is not coupled with an estate in the real property.

Time-sharing – A method of ownership of real property that permits multiple purchasers to buy undivided interests in real property and get a reserved right to the use of the facility for a specific periods of time.

T-intersection lot – A lot that has its front facing head-on into a street and where the noise and glare from headlights might detract from its ownership.

Title – That indicator recognized and protected by the law of the fee position of the lawful owner and his or her rights to the property and its bundle of rights to own, possess, use, control, enjoy and dispose of real estate or a right or interest therein and which combines of all elements constituting proof of ownership.

Title company – A corporation whose primary function is to insure titles to real property.

Title guarantee policy – The title insurance provided by the owner in lieu of an abstract of title.

Title insurance binder – A commitment by a title insurance company agreeing to issue a policy on specific terms once a transaction has been completed.

Title insurance policy – A statement as to the condition of the title of real property ownership and insuring it against claims by the payment of a one-time-only premium which protects the named insured and their heirs against title defects, liens and encumbrances existing as of the date of the policy and which have not been specifically excluded from it to provide a legal defense for the policyholder and pay any covered losses incurred.

Title plant – The storage facility of a title company which holds the accumulated complete title records of all of the properties in its area.

Title report – A report issued by a title company that is made prior to the issuance of title insurance policy which discloses the condition of the title. See Preliminary Report.

Title search – The process of checking of all recorded public records and legal proceedings affecting a specific parcel of land done by an experienced attorney or title officer which reviews and analyzes them to disclose the current state of real property ownership to determine the sufficiency and status of title prior to issuing a title insurance policy.

Title theory states – The mortgage arrangement held by some states which assumes that a lender has an interest in the title as collateral for the mortgaged real property in order to give the lender greater protection and which differs from lien theory states. See Lien theory states.

Title VIII of Civil Rights Act of 1968 – An act known as the federal Fair Housing Act which prohibits discrimination in housing based on a party’s race, color, religion or national origin.

Topographical map – A map that shows the physical features such as the slope and contour of a parcel of real estate or an area of land.

Topography – The nature and variation of the surface of land which might be level, rolling or mountainous.

Torrens certificate – A document issued by a registrar in accordance with Torrens law which identifies the title holder of a property.

Torrens system – A system used in certain states that was created by Sir Robert Torrens which gives evidence of land title by registration with a public authority usually called a registrar in which the state by law insures the quality of title against certain defects.

Tort – Any wrongful act such as a private injury or civil wrong doing that does not involve a breach of contract.

Townhouse – A house in a row of usually the same or similar design with common side walls or with a very narrow space between adjacent side walls.

Township – A 6-mile square of land bounded by parallels and meridians and composed of 36 sections.

Township – In the survey of U.S. public lands, a territorial subdivision that is six miles long, six miles wide and contains 36 sections, each one mile square and which is located between two range lines and two township lines.

Township and range survey system – A system of legal land description with a township as the basic unit of measurement.

Township lines – All the lines in a government survey or rectangular survey system that run east and west which are parallel to the base line and are six miles apart.

Township strips – See Tier.

Township tiers – The strips of land that are six miles wide and are parallel to a base line and which are identified by consecutive numbers to the north or south.

Tract home – A house built to a developer or contractor’s feel for the marketplace and sold to a buyer during the construction process or after completion.

Trade – A transaction in which multiple owners simultaneously convey the rights in their particular property to gain rights in another property and which this term is used synonymously with exchange.

Trade area – The geographical area from which purchasers of particular goods and services are ordinarily drawn.

Trade association – A voluntary organization of individuals or firms in a common area of economic activity whose purpose is the promotion of certain aspects of that common area of activity.

Trade fixtures – The articles of personal property attached by a business tenant to real property which are necessary to opperate the business and which are normally removed by the tenant at the end of the term.

Trade name – The name under which a company conducts its business.

Trade or business property – According to the Internal Revenue Code, property owned that is held as business inventory such as a builder’s speculation home or a car dealer’s cars.

Trade-in – A method of guaranteeing an owner a minimum amount of cash on the sale of his present property if it is not sold within a specified time at the listed price the broker agrees to arrange financing to purchase the property at an agreed-upon discount to permit the seller to purchase another property.

Trading on equity – The borrowing of funds at interest rates lower than the earning rate of the property.

Traditional design – A architectural home style incorporating the ideas of the past, reminiscent of Cape Cod, Colonial, Georgian.

Transaction broker – See Facilatator.

Transaction coordinator – A person employed by a brokerage office or licensee who oversees the transactions of that party.

Transactional broker – See Facilatator.

Transcript – A written record of a proceeding which may have been verbal like a record of testimony in a trial.

Transfer book – A book kept by the county recorder or the auditor in which all transfers of real estate within the county are maintained.

Transfer fee – A charge made by a lending institution holding or collecting on a real estate mortgage to change its records to reflect a different owner.

Transfer tax – The tax required by some cities, counties and states which under law must be paid when real estate is passes from one party to another.

Transferability – A potential for being conveyed from one owner to another and which is one of the four essential elements of value.

Transition – An action of deep or significant change.

Trapezoid – A four-sided plane figure of which only two sides are parallel.

Traverse rod – A rod on which to hang draperies or window curtains that has slides, pulleys and cords which permit draperies or curtains to be drawn.

Treads – The horizontal boards of a stairway.

Trend – A prevailing tendency over a long period of time despite intermittent fluctuations of the behavior of some observable phenomenon such as economic activity.

Trespass – An unauthorized entry by a person called a trespasser on another’s property. See Nuisance.

Triangle – A three-sided figure.

Trigger terms – The specific credit terms such as the down payment, monthly payment, amount of finance charge or term of loan having significance with a loan.

Trim – The various finishing materials such as moldings applied around openings, baseboards at the floor, cornices at the ceiling or picture moldings on the walls.

Trust – A fiduciary relationship in which an independent trustee, third party, holds legal title to property for the beneficiaries of the trust who hold the equitable title during the life of the trust and who may not deal with the property as his own but must deal with it in the best interests of the beneficiaries.

Trust account – An account established by a broker under the provisions of the license law that is apart and physically segregated from the broker’s own funds, in which the broker must deposit all funds collected for clients or any other persons until the completion or termination of a transaction or other legal disposition. Also known as an Escrow account.

Trust deed – A written instrument involving three parties used in many states, that takes the place of and serves a similar use as a common law mortgage, by which a trustor, borrower, places the legal title to real property with a trustee, neutral third party, as security for the repayment of a sum of money to the beneficiary, lender who benefits from the pledge agreement, or the performance of other named conditions. Also see reconveyance deed.

Trust deed lien – A lien on the property of a trustor that secures a trust deed loan.

Trust funds – The money received by real estate broke or salespersons on behalf of others.

Trust indenture – A document showing the trust agreement.

Trust ledger – A record of all trust funds received such as cash or checks whether placed in the broker’s trust account, placed in escrow or given to the seller.

Trust res – A property which is the subject of a trust.

Trustee – A third party holding legal title in trust for a beneficiary to secure the performance of an obligation by the trustor under a trust deed. See trust deed, trustor and beneficiary.

Trustee’s deed – A device used upon instructions from a beneficiary, lender, to transfer legal title from a trustee, neutral third party, back to the trustor, borrower, and which has a similar effect as a quitclaim deed.

Trustee’s Sale – The forced sale of real property under a trust deed, by a beneficiary, lender, to satisfy the debt

Trustor – The party who borrows money from a trust deed beneficiary, lender, and who transfers legal title to the real property securing the loan to a trustee, third party, to be held as security until the trustor, borrower, has performed, paid back, the obligation to the lender under terms of a trust deed. Also used for other purposes such as management. See trust deed, trustor and beneficiary.

Truth in Lending Act – The name given to that portion of the federal statute Public Law 90-231, the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and Regulation Z which are designed primarily to insure that prospective borrowers who purchase on credit receive information regarding the true cost of credit before entering into a transaction. See Regulation Z.

Truth-In-Lending – The federal law that requires lenders to disclose the terms and conditions of a mortgage, including the APR, based on certain charges incurred by the borrower.

Turnkey project – A form of housing that was typically built by private sponsors to be sold to local housing authorities for use by low-income families.

Turnover – The number of times a given amount of inventory sells over a given period of time.