- Interest
The fee charged for borrowing money.
- Interest accrual rate
The percentage rate at which interest accrues on the
mortgage. In most cases, it is also the rate used to calculate the monthly
payments.
- Interest Cap
- A
consumer safeguard that limits the amount the interest rate on an
adjustable-rate mortgage may change per year and/or over the life of the loan.
- Interest Payment
The portion of a monthly payment that goes to interest
based on the amortization schedule.
- Interest Rate
The percentage rate of return charged for use of a sum
of money. This percentage rate is specified in the mortgage note. See note
rate.
- Investment Property
A property that is not occupied by
the owner and is generally rented to a tenant to produce income.
- Joint Tenancy
A form of co-ownership that gives each tenant equal
undivided interest and rights in the property, including the right of
survivorship. Contrast with tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety.
- Judgment
A decree by a court of law that one person, a debtor,
is indebted to another, a creditor, in a specified amount. The court may place
a lien against the debtor's real property as collateral for payment of the
judgment to the creditor.
- Judgment Lien
A lien on the property of a debtor resulting from a
judgment.
- Judicial Foreclosure
A type of foreclosure proceeding used in some states that is handled as a civil lawsuit where the court confirms the sales price for the property and the distribution of the sale proceeds.
- Jumbo Loan
A loan that exceeds Fannie Mae's
legislated mortgage amount limits of $417,000. Also called a nonconforming
loan.
- Land Loans
- This
type of loan involves only land on which a structure has yet to be built.
- Late charge
The penalty a borrower must pay when a payment is made
a stated number of days (usually 10-15) after the due date.
- Lease
A written agreement between the property owner and a
tenant that stipulates the conditions under which the tenant may use the real
estate for a specified period of time and the amount of rent to be paid.
- Leasehold estate
A tenant's interest in or right to hold possession of
a property.
- Legal description
A property description, recognized by law, using a
government rectangular survey, metes and bounds, or a plat map to sufficiently
locate and identify a property.
- Lender
A person or business from whom one borrows or to whom one owes money. Also referred to as a creditor
- Liabilities
A person's debts or financial obligations. Liabilities include long-term and short-term debt, as well as potential losses from legal claims.
- Liability Insurance
Insurance coverage that offers protection against
claims alleging that a property owner's negligence or inappropriate action
resulted in bodily injury or property damage to another party. See also
homeowners insurance.
- LIBOR Adjustables
LIBOR Adjustables can have an initial fixed period as short as 1 month to as longs as 10 years. Generally, if your initial rate is fixed for more than 6 months (for example, 3, 5, or 7 years), the rate will then adjust after this period either every subsequent 6 months or 12 months.
- LIBOR Loan
A LIBOR Loan is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) that adjusts based on a specified LIBOR index. LIBOR stands for "London Interbank Offered Rate", which is the interest rate offered by many London Banks for dollar deposits. These deposits (and thus the indexes) are generally 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.
- Lien
A legal claim against a property that must be paid off
when the property is sold. A lien is created when you borrow money to purchase
or refinance a home loan or and with obtain a home equity loan
- Lifetime Rate Cap
For an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), a limit on the
amount that the interest rate can increase or decrease over the life of the
loan. See cap.
- Line of Credit
An agreement by a lender to extend credit up to a
certain amount for a certain time without the need for the borrower to file another
application. See home equity line of credit.
- Line/Loan Amount
The entire HELOC or Fixed Rate Second mortgage loan
amount.
Loan Glossary 
