Real Estate Glossary

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Tax Sale
Public sale of property at auction by governmental authority, after a period on nonpayment of property taxes.

Tenancy by the Entirety
A form of ownership by husband and wife whereby each owns the entire property. In event of death of one, the survivor owns the property without probate.

Temporary Buydown
A sum of money paid upon the closing of a mortgage loan to reduce the interest rate temporarily on the mortgage.

Tenancy
A holding of real estate under any of various rights of title.

Tenancy in Common
The type of title created in real estate when such title is granted to two or more persons or entities without the express creation of a joint tenancy, and without the right of survivorship.

Title
The group of rights that represent ownership of real property and the quality of the estate owned; evidence of ownership of property; legal title.

Title Company
A company that specialized in title searches and provides title insurance policies.

Title Insurance Policy
An insurance policy that protects purchasers and lenders against losses arising from defects in the title to real property.

Title Search
An investigation into the history of ownership of a property to check for liens, unpaid claims, restrictions or problems, to prove that the seller can transfer free and clear ownership.

Transfer of Ownership
Any means by which the ownership of a property changes hands. Lenders consider all of the following situations to be a transfer of ownership: the purchase of a property "subject to" the mortgage, the assumption of the mortgage debt by the property purchaser, and any exchange of possession of the property under a land sales contract or any other land trust device.

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. [Top]

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