T

Tax
As applied to real estate, an enforced charge imposed on persons, property or income, to be used to support the State. The governing body in turn utilizes the funds in the best interest of the general public.

Tax Deferred
An investment with earnings and/or contributions that are taxed at a later date.

Tax Lien
A claim against real estate for the amount of its unpaid taxes.

Tax Sale
Public sale of property at an auction by a government authority as a result of nonpayment of taxes.

Tenancy by the Entirety
Joint ownership of a property by husband and wife. Ownership is passed to the surviving spouse, known as the right of survivorship.

Tenancy in Common
Co-ownership of a property by two or more people where each tenant has an equal interest and equal rights to the property. If one party dies, ownership can be passed to the remaining owner(s) via inheritance.

Tenant-stockholder
The obligee for a cooperative share loan, who is both a stockholder in a cooperative corporation and a tenant of the unit under a proprietary lease or occupancy agreement.

Third Party Fees
Fees collected by lender for services provided by other companies, such as an appraiser.

Third-Party Origination
A process by which a lender uses another party to completely or partially originate, process, underwrite, close, fund, or package the home loan.

Title
A legal document evidencing property ownership or a right of ownership.

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

Title Insurance
Insurance that protects the policyholder against loss arising from disputes or claims regarding ownership of a property.

Title Search
An examination of the pertinent title records to ensure that the seller is the legal owner of a property, and that there are no liens or other claims pending against the property.

Total Debt Ratio
Total monthly debt plus housing payments divided by your gross monthly income.

Trade equity
Equity that results from a property purchaser giving his or her existing property (or an asset other than real estate) as trade as all or part of the down payment for the property that is being purchased.

Transaction Fee
A fee charged each time the borrower draws on the credit line.

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.

Transfer Tax
State or local tax payable when title to a property 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.

Trustee
An individual or organization that is given legal responsibility to manage assets in the best interest of, or for, the benefit of another.

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