Buyer's Information

• Savings and loan association (S&Ls): Depository institutions that specialize in originating, servicing, and holding mortgage loans, primarily on owner-occupied residential property.
• Savings bank: A financial institution organized to hold individual depositors’ funds in interest-bearing accounts and to make long-term investments, such as home mortgage loans.
• Second mortgage/Second deed of trust/Junior mortgage or Junior lien: An additional loan imposed on a property with a first mortgage. Generally a higher interest rate and shorter term than a “first” mortgage.
• Severalty ownership: Ownership by one person only. Sole ownership.
• Shared equity mortgage: A home loan in which an investor is granted a share of the equity, thereby allowing the investor to participate in the proceeds from resale.
• Survey: The process by which a parcel of land is measured and its area ascertained.
• Tenancy in common: Ownership by two or more persons who hold an undivided interest without right of survivorship. (In the event of the death of one owner, his/her share will pass to his/her heirs.)
• Title: A document that’s evidence of ownership.
• Title defect: An outstanding claim or encumbrance on property that affects marketability.
• Title insurance: Protection for lenders and homeowners against financial loss resulting from legal defects in the title.
• Veterans Administration (VA): A government agency that provides services for eligible veterans of the armed forces. Among other programs, it guarantees mortgage loans made by private lenders to veterans.
• Variance: A special suspension of zoning laws to allow the use of property in a manner not in accord with existing laws.
• Zoning restrictions: Local municipal ordinances that classify property according to specific uses such a single family, residential, commercial, industrial, multi-family, etc.