REAL ESTATE TERMS

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DAMAGES: The indemnity recoverable by a person who has sustained an injury, either in his or her person, property, or relative rights, through the act or default of another. Loss sustained or harm done to a person or property.

DATA PLANT: An appraiser's file of information on real estate.

DEBENTURE: Bonds issued without security, an obligation not secured by a specific lien on property.

DEBIT: A bookkeeping entry on the left side of an account, recording the creation of or addition to an asset or an expense, or the reduction or elimination of a liability or item of equity or revenue.

DEBT: That which is due from one person or another; obligation, liability.

DEBTOR: A person who is in debt; the one owing money to another.

DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION: A method of accelerated depreciation allowed by the IRS in certain circumstances. Double Declining Balance Depreciation is its most common form and is computed by using double the rate used for straight line depreciation.

DECREE OF FORECLOSURE: Decree by a court ordering the sale of mortgaged property and the payment of the debt owing to the lender out of the proceeds.

DEDICATION: The giving of land by its owner to a public use and the acceptance for such use by authorized officials on behalf of the public.

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.)

DEED RESTRICTIONS: Limitations in the deed to a property that dictate certain uses that may or may not be made of the property.

DEFAULT: Failure to fulfill a duty or promise or to discharge an obligation; omission or failure to perform any act.

DEFEASANCE CLAUSE: The clause in a mortgage that gives the mortgagor

the right to redeem mortgagor's property upon the payment of mortgagor's obligations to the mortgagee.

DEFEASIBLE FEE: Sometimes called a base fee or qualified fee; a fee simple absolute interest in land that is capable of being defeated or terminated upon the happening of a specified event.

DEFENDANT: A person against whom legal action is initiated for the purpose of obtaining criminal sanctions (criminal defendant) or damages or other appropriate judicial relief (civil defendant) .

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE: Existing but unfulfilled requirements for repairs and rehabilitation. Postponed or delayed maintenance causing decline in a building's physical condition.

DEFERRED PAYMENT OPTIONS: The privilege of deferring income payments to take advantage of statutes 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.

DELEGATION OF POWERS: The conferring by an agent upon another of all or certain of the powers that have been conferred upon the agent by the principal.

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.

DEPRECIATION: Loss of value of property brought about by age, physical deterioration or functional or economic obsolescence. The term is also used in accounting to identify the amount of the decrease in value of an asset that is allowed in computing the value of the property for tax purposes.

DEPTH TABLE: A statistical table that may be used to estimate the value of the added depth of a lot.

DESIST AND REFRAIN ORDER: An order directing a person to stop from committing an act in violation of the Real Estate Law.

DETERMINABLE FEE: An estate which may end on the happening of an event that may or may not occur.

DEVISE: A gift or disposal of real property by last will and testament.

DEVISEE: One who receives a gift of real property by will.

DEVISOR: One who disposes of real property by will.

DIRECTIONAL GROWTH: The location or direction toward which the residential sections of a city are destined or determined to grow.

DISCOUNT: To sell a promissory note before maturity at a price less than the outstanding principal balance of the note at the time of sale. Also an amount deducted in advance by the lender from the nominal principal of a loan as part of the cost to the borrower of obtaining the loan.

DISCOUNT POINTS: The amount of money the borrower or seller must pay the lender to get a mortgage at a stated interest rate. This amount is equal to the difference between the principal balance on the note and the lesser amount which a purchaser of the note would pay the original lender for it under market conditions. A point equals one percent of the loan.

DISCRETIONARY POWERS OF AGENCY: Those powers conferred upon an agent by the principal which empower the agent in certain circumstances to make decisions based on the agent's own judgment.

DISINTERMEDIATION: The relatively sudden withdrawal of substantial sums of money savers have deposited with savings and loan associations, commercial banks, and mutual savings banks. This term can also be considered to include life insurance policy purchasers borrowing against the value of their policies. The essence of this phenomenon is financial intermediaries losing within a short period of time billions of dollars as owners of funds held by those institutional lenders exercise their prerogative of taking them out of the hands of these financial institutions.

DISPOSABLE INCOME: The after-tax income a household receives to spend on personal consumption.

DISPOSSESS: To deprive one of the use of real estate.

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, bills of sale, etc.

DONEE: A person who receives a gift.

DONOR: A person who makes a gift.

DOUBLE DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION: (See DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION. )

DRAW: Usually applies to construction loans when disbursement of a portion of the mortgage is made in advance, as improvements to the property are made.

DUAL AGENCY: An agency relationship in which the agent acts concurrently for both of the principals in a transaction.

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.

DURESS: Unlawful constraint exercised upon a person whereby he or she is forced to do some act against his or her will.

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