Deed
A written instrument, usually under seal, conveying some property interest from a grantor to a grantee. A grantor is the person who conveys the property interest; the grantee is the person to whom the grant is made. In order for a deed to be effective in transferring title, it must be in proper legal form and executed as specified by the law in the state in which the property is located. The title is actually transferred the moment the deed is properly delivered to and accepted by the grantee. In order to protect the validity of the title from subsequent innocent third parties purchasing the same property from the original grantor, the deed must be recorded as required by the particular state's recording statute. This also gives assurance to third parties that no one else has good title unless the title has been recorded. This gives constructive notice to third parties. When a deed is delivered, all prior oral and written agreements are merged into the deed and are collateral. This means that when a deed is delivered and accepted all prior agreements which are inconsistent with the deed are superseded and have no legal effect. An exception to this rule occurs in cases of fraud and mutual mistake. Another exception exists when the contract specifically provides that the obligations will survive the closing.

Deed of Trust
A deed to real property which serves the same purpose as a mortgage but instead of two parties, three parties are involved. The third party holds title for the benefit of the lender. The borrower under a note secured by a deed of trust or trust deed is called the trustor or in some states the grantor. The lender is called the beneficiary. When a loan is made the borrower conveys naked title to a third party called the trustee who holds the title for the benefit of the lender although the instrument itself may remain in the lender's possession. A states deed of trust act specifies who may act as a trustee. Some states have created the office of public trustee, while others allow individuals such as attorneys or brokers or entities such as title insurance companies or savings and loan associations to serve in that capacity. As with mortgages, states have title theory and lien theory deeds of trust.

Delinquency Date
A specific time after which a penalty is incurred for nonpayment of a debt. real estate lending, promissory notes normally have a due date, typically the first of each month, and a delinquency date, normally sometime between the tenth the fifteenth.

Delivery
The formal surrender of control or ownership of something to someone else. Legal documents such as deeds and mortgages do not become valid until they have been delivered and accepted. What constitutes delivery depends upon the intent of the parties. For a deed, there must be an objective intent on the part of the grantor to give up present control of the deed.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
A federal agency actively engaged in housing programs and related activities including urban renewal, model cities, block grants, public housing and subsidy programs. The Federal Housing Administration (FIL4), the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), and the Office of Interstate Land Sales Registration are all under HUD's jurisdiction.

Deposit
Money offered by a prospective purchaser to indicate his or her good faith in entering into a sales contract. If the sale is completed then the deposit is credited to the purchaser and applied towards the purchase price. However, if the purchaser defaults then the deposit is normally kept by the seller as liquidated damages. Depending upon the terms of the listing agreement, the seller may split the deposit with the listing broker. Default by the seller results in all of the deposit being returned to the purchaser, with the broker having no legal claim to any of the money.

Direct Costs
Expenditures made in the construction of an improvement that can be directly attributable to the improvement. Also known as hard costs, direct costs include such items as labor, material, contractor's overhead, and profit.

Disclosure Statement
A written statement required under the Consumer Credit Protection Act referred to as the Truth-in- Lending Act, to be given by a lender to individual borrowers for certain types of consumer loans. All real estate lending transact involving consumers are covered, as is all credit extended in five or more installments and not in excess of $25,000 for personal, family, household, or agricultural purposes. Two important disclosures included are the finance charge and the annual percentage rate (APR).

Discount
The amount of money paid at the front end to acquire a loan. This amount deducted from the principal at the time the loan is made and thus represents int4 paid in advance. The discount is normally stated in terms of points or percent.

Discount Points
A fee charged by a lender at closing or settlement that results in increasing the lender’s effective yield (internal rate of return) on the money borrowed. discount point represents a one-time charge by the lender equal to 1% of the principal. Often sellers pay these point to comply with government regulations by law the buyer cannot pay discount points on VA mortgages. Why would third persons want to pay discount points if the loan is actually being given borrower and not to themselves? The third person usually stands to benefit f loan indirectly.

Discount Rate
The rate of interest charged by the Federal Reserve System to banks who borrow money from the Federal Reserve. An increase in the rate not only discourage from borrowing, but it also serves as a signal to the money market that interest rates are probably going to increase. Accordingly, interest rates charged by banks 1 customers usually increase as a result of an increase in the discount rate. The term is also used to explain the compound interest rate used in the in approach to value to convert expected future cash flows into a present value.

Discounted Mortgage
A mortgage sold below the amount of the remaining principal balance in order to provide a satisfactory yield to the purchasing mortgage investor.

Discounting
The process of converting investment inflows to a present value. Since money has a time value, one dollar to be received in the future is worth less than one now. How much less (the amount of discount) depends on: (1) the time span between the cash outflow and inflow, and (2) the necessary rate of inter discount.

Down Payment
The amount of cash paid by a purchaser which when added to the mortgage amount equals the total sales price. At the time of closing this is referred to as the purchaser's equity.

Dry Closing
When a closing takes place and does not fund at the time of the closing because of outstanding issues. All documents are signed but the transaction is not complete until the issues are resolved.

Dwelling
The building in which a person lives.