The act or process of applying for and obtaining a new loan with different terms than the existing loan. One or more financial goals may be met through refinancing: paying off or satisfying the existing loan, obtaining a lower interest rate, decreasing the duration of the loan, lowering the total amount paid, and/or reducing the monthly (periodic) payments.

A legal action to correct or modify a contract or deed which does not accurately reflect the intentions of the parties due to some mechanical error, such as a typographical error in the legal description.

The idea that government land use restrictions or controls, such as zoning ordinances, constitute a type of private property taking. For example, if local zoning ordinances restrict residences to one per acre but a landowner wishes to subdivide his lot into four, build houses on each and sell them, he must be offered just compensation if he is not allowed to do so.

A provision found in many blanket mortgages enabling the mortgagor to obtain partial releases of specific parcels from the mortgage upon the payment of, typically, a larger-than-pro rata portion of the loan.

The gradual acquisition of dry, usable land due to receding waters in a non-navigable waterway.

The interest in real property from a life estate that passes to another upon the death of the life tenant; the grantor of the original life estate specifies upon creation of this estate who is to receive the remaining interest when the life estate ends; this person is known as the remainderman.

Contrast with reversion.

The person who receives the interest from a life estate upon the death of the life tenant.

A zoning classification or type of zoning district that allows single or multiple family dwellings such as houses, condominiums, apartments, mobile homes, and townhomes.

The legal process through which an estate is returned to the grantor, usually in fee ownership, after the grantee's estate ends.

The grantee's estate may end for a number of reasons. For example, the grantor may have specified that the grantee's interest in the property expires on a certain date. Other examples of different estates and the events that might end them include:
1. The death of the life tenant (conventional life estate) or the person upon whose life the duration of the life estate was based (life estate pur autre vie).
2. Violation of a condition (estate in qualified fee subject to condition subsequent) or limitation (estate in qualified fee determinable) specified by the grantor.

Contrast with remainder.

The interest in a conventional life estate (or an estate pur autre vie) that is retained by the grantor of the estate if no remainderman is named and that allows the grantor to recover ownership of the property once the life estate ends.

Anything that can be revoked, removed, annulled, withdrawn, cancelled, or repealed.

A permanent change in zoning laws from one permitted land use type (zoning district) to another. For example, a residential zone might be reclassified as industrial or commercial, based on changing community dynamics or needs.

The practice of adjoining landowners meeting at mid-point of a common partition fence and agreeing that one landowner will maintain the partition fence to the right of the midpoint and the other owner will maintain the fence to the left.

A legal right appurtenant to some types of estates in real property, including estates in fee simple absolute and estates in fee simple defeasible, that allows title to the property to be transferred to the decedent's heirs by will (devise).

Definition:
The reversionary right and future interest retained by the grantor of an estate in qualified fee subject to condition subsequent. The right of re-entry allows the grantor to recover fee simple ownership of real property if a condition stipulated in the deed is violated. Action in a court with jurisdiction over real estate matters is required to recover ownership of property under the right of reentry.
Contrast with Possibility of reverter.


Terms, Definitions, and Concepts: Real Estate, Title and Title Insurance, Legal (Law), Management

A right to or interest in real property that is retained by the grantor of certain types of estates and that allows him or her to recover full fee ownership of the property under certain conditions. Rights of reversion can be thought of as secondary estates that are created when certain types of estates in real property are granted. Rights of reversion are property in and of themselves and, as such, can be transferred, sold, or inherited. The events that trigger reversion differ by type of estate; estates in real property with rights of reversion include:
Conventional life estate
Life estate pur autre vie
Estate in qualified fee determinable
Estate in qualified fee conditional

A unit of length used in land surveys. The terms, rods, poles, and perches are equivalent and may be used interchangeably, although "rod" is the most common. One (1) rod is equal to 25 links, 16.5 feet, or 1/4 (0.25) chain. For conversions and examples, see Rod, pole, or perch equivalents and conversions and the various Converting rods, poles, or perches to... entries.

A rod is a unit of length used in land surveys.
One (1) rod is equal to one (1) pole or perch.
One (1) rod is equal to 16.5 feet.
One (1) rod is equal to 0.25 chains.
One (1) rod is equal to 25 links.
One (1) rod is equal to 0.025 furlongs.
One (1) rod is equal to 198 inches.
One (1) rod is equal to 5.5 yards.
One (1) rod is equal to 0.0031 miles.
One (1) rod is equal to 502.92 centimeters.
One (1) rod is equal to 5.0292 meters.
One (1) rod is equal to 0.00503 kilometers.

Unit of area measurement equal to 1/4 (0.25) acre, 40 square rods, or 10,890.0 square feet. For more rood conversions, see rood conversions or equivalents or converting roods.

One (1) rood is equal to 1/4 (0.25) acre. One (1) rood is equal to 40 square rods. One (1) rood is equal to 2.5 square chains. One (1) rood is equal to 10,890.0 square feet. One (1) rood is equal to 1,210.0square yards. One (1) rood is equal to 0.2959 arpents. One (1) rood is equal to 0.0004 sections or square miles. One (1) rood is equal to 0.00001 townships. One (1) rood is equal to 1,011.7141 square meters. One (1) rood is equal to 0.1012 hectares. One (1) rood is equal to 0.001 square kilometers.

Lasting for an indefinite period of time; without an endpoint; of unlimited duration.

A relative lack or limited supply of a good or commodity. Scarcity is one of the economic properties of real estate that makes it valuable and desirable.

A section is a tract of land approximately one (1) mile square and containing 640 acres, within a township. Sections are used in the government rectangular survey system (U.S. Public Lands Survey). Each section is approximately 1/36th (0.0278) of a township. Irregularities exist due to the curvature of the earth; these irregularities are corrected for in the northern and western tiers of sections in each township. One (1) section is equal to 640 acres, one (1) mile square, one (1) square mile, and 27,878,400 square feet.

One (1) section of a township is one (1) mile square and has an area of one (1) square mile. One (1) section is equal to 640 acres. One (1) section is equal to 27,878,400 square feet. One (1) section is equal to 2.59 square kilometers. One (1) section is equal to 3,097,600 square yards. One (1) section is equal to 102,399.59 square rods, poles, or perches. One (1) section is equal to 6,399.9744 square chains. One (1) section is equal to 2,560.0 roods. One (1) section is equal to 757.5523 arpents. One (1) section is equal to 0.0278 (1/36th) townships. One (1) section is equal to 2,589,988.1103 square meters. One (1) section is equal to 258.9988 hectares.

Identifies a within a . Sections are usually numbered 1 to 36 but can be higher in some states.