Real Estate Glossary

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Tax Sale: A sale of property, usually at auction, for non-payment of taxes assessed against it.

Taxes: A forced contribution of wealth to meet the public need for government.

Tenancy at Sufferance: A tenancy which arises when a tenant holds over after the termination of a lease without consent. 

Tenancy at Will: A tenancy for an indefinite period which may be terminated at the will of either the lessee or the lessor.

Tenancy in Common: Ownership by two or more persons which does not pass ownership to the others in the event of death. 

Tender: An offer of money.

Third-Party Origination: A process by which a lender uses another party to completely or partially originate, process, underwrite, close, fund, or package the mortgages it plans to deliver to the secondary mortgage market. 

Time is of the Essence: A clause in a contract contemplating performance by a specified date. 

Title: A legal document showing rights of ownership.

Title Company: A company that specializes in examining and insuring titles to real estate. 

Title Insurance: Insurance issued by a title company to protect the property owner against loss if the title is questionable.

Title Search: A check of the title records to ensure that the seller is the legal owner of the property and that there are no liens or other claims outstanding. 

Tort: Damage, injury, or a wrongful act done willfully, negligently, or in circumstances involving strict liability, but not involving breach of contract, for which a civil suit can be brought.

Townhouse: A single family attached dwelling unit with common walls.

Transfer of Ownership: Any means by which the ownership of a property changes hands. 

Transfer Tax: State or local taxes that must be paid when title passes from one owner to another. 

Treasury: index An index that is used to determine interest rate changes for certain adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) plans. It is based on the results of auctions that the U.S. Treasury holds for its 
Treasury bills and securities or is derived from the U.S. Treasury's daily yield curve, which is based on the closing market bid yields on actively traded Treasury securities in the over-the-counter market. 

Trust Deed: An instrument which transfers (conveys) the bare legal title of a property to a trustee to be held pending fulfillment of an obligation, usually the repayment of a loan to a beneficiary.

Trustee: A person who holds or controls property for the benefit of another in order to meet an obligation. 

Trustee's Sale: A sale at auction by a trustee under a deed of trust, pursuant to foreclosure proceedings.

Trustor: The borrower of money secured by a trust deed. One who transfers his bare legal title to a trustee to be held as security until he has performed his obligation to a lender under terms of a note secured by a deed of trust. 

Truth-in-Lending: A federal law that requires lenders to fully disclose the terms and conditions of a mortgage, in writing, including the annual percentage rate (APR) and other charges. 

Two- to Four-Family Property: A property that consists of a structure that provides living space (dwelling units) for two to four families, but the property is under one ownership.

Two-Step Mortgage: An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) that has one interest rate for the first five or seven years of its mortgage term AND a different interest rate for the remainder of the amortization term.