Tax sale |
A sale of real property ordered by the court in
order to raise money to cover delinquent taxes |
Tenancy in common |
A version of joint tenancy of a property, but
without any right of succession by survivorship among the
owners |
Testate |
To die having prepared and left a valid
will |
Testator |
The individual who makes out a last will and
testament |
Time is of the essence |
A condition in a contract requiring the
completion of a certain act within a designated period of time |
Time-share |
A form of ownership interest which allows use of
the property only for a fixed or variable period of time |
Title |
A legal document that evidences a person's
ownership of and right to possess a property |
Title insurance |
Insurance that protects the owner or mortgagee
against loss arising from disputes over or defects in the title to a parcel of
real estate that arise after ownership has been transferred |
Title search |
Research into public title records to determine
the current status of ownership of a piece of property; a licensed attorney
must provide any legal interpretation of the records found |
Torrens Title |
Now a dated system (only used in a few US
states) whereby the court issues a certificate establishing the extent of an
individual's estate, including any exceptions noted |
Township |
A division of land that is six miles square,
containing 36 square-mile sections |
Tract |
A specific parcel of land |
Transfer of ownership |
Any circumstance in which the ownership of a
property changes hands, e.g., via outright, titled purchase, or the assumption
of an existing on a property, or possession of the property via a land sales
trust, even any transfer of a beneficial interest in the trust |
Transfer tax |
State or local taxes imposed on a transfer of
ownership of real property |
Trust |
A right to a piece of property that is held for
the benefit of another |
Trust deed, or a Deed of
trust |
A written document that grants the trustee the
title to a piece of property for the benefit of another, and which gives the
trustee the power to sell, mortgage or subdivide the property |
Trustee |
A party who holds property for the benefit of
another |
Trustee's deed |
A deed conveying land ownership executed by the
trustee who holds the land in trust |
Trustor |
The borrower in a trust loan
transaction |
Truth-in-Lending |
A federal law that requires disclosure by a
credit institution or lender of the terms and conditions of a loan or mortgage,
including the annual percentage rate and any other charges, to the borrower
when they apply for the loan. Also see Regulation Z |
Two-step mortgage |
An adjustable-rate mortgage that charges a
below-market interest rate for a designated number of years (usually 5 or 7)
after which the interest rate is adjusted to the current market
conditions |