Browse the glossary using this index

Special | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL

Page:  1  2  3  (Next)
  ALL

F

Fair Business Practices Act

This act prohibits business transactions that would result in substantial damage to citizens of Georgia. It also regulates advertising and restricts activities that encourage consumer transactions.


Fair Housing Act

title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which declares a national policy of providing fair housing throughout the United States. Makes discrimination based on race, color, sex, familial status, handicap religion or national origin illegal in connection with the sale or rental of most dwellings.


Familial

defined as having one or more individuals under the age of 18 living with a parent or guardian. It also includes a woman who is pregnant and anyone in the process of receiving custody of a child under the age of 18.


Fannie Mae

a government sponsered enterprise established to purchase mortgage loans in the secondary mortgage market from the primary lenders.

Farm Credit System

a federal agency of the Department of Agriculture that offers programs to help families purchase or operate family farms.

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

a federal governement agency that provides credit assistance to farmers and other individuals who live in rural areas.

Farmer Mac

a government sponsered enterprise that operates similary to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but for agricultural loans.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

an independent federal agency that insures the deposits in commercial banks.

federal funds rate

is the rate recommended by the Federal Reserve for the member banks to charge each other on short term loans.

Federal Reserve System

the country's central banking system, which exercises responsibility for the nation's monetary policy by regulating the supply of money and interest rates.

fee simple

refers to the maximum ownership that can be enjoyed in real estate. It permits the owner the greatest control over the land. This estate is freely transferable and inheritable.

fee simple defeasible

An estate in which the holder has a fee simple title that may be divested upon the occurence or nonoccurence of a specified event. There are two categories of defeasible fee estates: fee simple on condition precendent (fee simple determinable) and fee simple on the condition subsequent.

fee simple determinable

A fee simple estate qualified by a special limitation. Language used to describe limitation includes works "so long as" or "while" or "during."

feudal

refers to the concept of land ownership associated with medieval Europe. Under the feudal system, no one other than the King and his chosen nobility were land owners. Kings and nobility allowed others to live and work on the land, but the privilege required compensation to the “crown” in the form of military service or the fruits of their labor.

FHA loan

part of the Federal Housing Administration, which was to stimulate home ownership, the lender has to agree to make loans that can be amortized over at least 20 years with loan to value ratios of 80%.


fidelity bond

This insurance would be required for the brokers providing community association management services. The handling of funds from a community association totaling in excess of $60,000 requires the property manager to carry a fidelity bond or insurance to protect against the loss of such funds.


Fiduciary

A legal and ethical relationship based on trust and confidence.


FIRREA

Financial Institutions Reform, and Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) enacted in 1989 by Congress in response to the taxpayer funded bailout of the failed savings and loan associations during the 1980s. FIRREA required appraisers involved in federally related transactions to be state licensed or certified.

fixity

refers to the permanence and durability of land (real estate).

fixture

An item of personal property that has been converted to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty.

foreclosure

a legal procedure in which property pledged as a security is sold to satisfy the debt. This procedure brings the rights of the parties and all junior lien holders to a conclusion.


four unities

refers to the necessary elements of Possession, Interest, Time, Title to be satisfied for the ownership form of joint tenancy to be created. The four unities are often remembered by the acronym of PITT.

fraud

deception to cause a person to give up property or a lawful right. Fraud can be active or passive.


Freddie Mac

(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) a government sponsored enterprise established to purchase primarily conventional mortgage loans in the secondary mortgage market.


freehold estate

An estate in land in which ownership is for an indeterminate length of time, in contrast to a leasehold estate.

frontage

is most commonly used to describe the length of a property’s boundary on a public right of way, e.g. highway frontage. It can also be used to describe a property’s boundary that is adjacent to a lake, river, golf course, or other beneficial or non-beneficial land use.

functional obsolescence

is a loss in value that generally occurs as a result of the changes in the tastes and desires of the typical purchaser. Outmoded or outdated systems or fixtures are likely to be a source of functional obsolescence. Functional obsolescence can also result from inadequacies in a structure (poor floor plan) or component (tub with no shower) as well as over-improvements in a structure or component (often referred to as a super-adequacy).

further assurance

is the grantor’s promise to perform acts in the future that may be necessary for the grantee to maintain his rightful claim.

future interest

A person's present right to an interest in real property that will not result in possession or enjoyment until some time in the future, such as a reversion or right or re-entry.


Page:  1  2  3  (Next)
  ALL