R

Rate Lock: Many times lenders will allow you to pay a fee that will allow you to “lock” your interest rate and keep it from going up for a specified amount of time. This can be beneficial if you think rates will go up before you are able to get a loan or while waiting for the application and processing of your loan.

Real Estate: Land and anything that is permanently attached to the land or improvements on the land.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT): A trust set up that purchases and manages real estate with money from personal investors.

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA): A federal law that requires lenders to disclose an estimate of the costs of the loan. This helps borrowers to not be taken advantage of with extra hidden costs. Also, RESPA prohibits any third parties from receiving income for referring business.

Real Property: Land and all improvements or attachments to the land.

Realtor®: A title given by the National Association of Realtors to a real estate broker or associate who is a member of a local real estate board.

Recision: The cancellation of a contract.

Reconveyance: The process/instrument used to deliver title to the property owner once the property owner has paid their mortgage or trust deed in full.

Recording: Recording a document such as a deed or mortgage with the proper government agency. This process gives notice to creditors and future purchasers of the property and protects the purchaser against fraud.

Recourse: The right specified in the loan docs that gives the lender/holder of a note to claim additional money plus the property pledged as collateral from the borrower when the borrower defaults on the loan.

Refinance: Replacing an existing mortgage/trust deed with a new mortgage/trust deed.

Regulation Z (Reg Z): A federal regulation requiring creditors to fully disclose in writing all of the costs, terms, and rate of the loan.

Reverse Annuity Mortgage: A mortgage in which the lender makes periodic payments to the borrower using the borrower's equity in the home.

Reverse Mortgage: A mortgage popular with the elderly that allows them to receive income from the equity in their home for as long as they live and the principal amount of the mortgage increases. This is helpful when the elderly do not have a lot of cash and do not want to go back to work.

Right of Survivorship: The legal right of the surviving tenant to receive full interest in the property after the other joint owner dies.