ABANDONMENT - The voluntary surrender or relinquishment of possession of real property with the intention of terminating one's possession or interest, but without vesting this interest in any other person. ABATEMENT - A reduction or decrease in amount, degree, intensity or worth.
ABSORPTION RATE - An estimate of the rate at which a particular classification of space - such as new office space, new housing, new condominium units and the like - will be sold or occupied each year.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE - A concise, summarized history of the title to a specific parcel of real property, together with a statement of all liens and encumbrances affecting the property. The abstract of title does not guarantee or assure the validity of the title of the property. It merely discloses those items about the property which are of public record, and thus does not reveal such things as encroachments, forgeries, and the like.
ACCELERATED DEPRECIATION - A method of calculating the depreciation of certain property (that property which is used in a trade or business, or which is held for the production of income) at a faster rate than would be achieved from using the straight line method of depreciation.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE - A clause in a promissory note, agreement of sale, or mortgage which gives the lender the right to call all sums due and payable in advance of the fixed payment date upon the occurrence of a specified event, such as a sale, default, assignment or further encumbrance of the property.
ACCEPTANCE - The expression of the intention of the person receiving an offer (offeree, usually the seller) to be bound by the terms of the offer.
ACCESS - A general or specific right of ingress and egress to a particular property.
ACCRETION - The gradual and imperceptible addition to land by alluvial deposits of soil through natural causes, such as shoreline movement caused by streams or rivers.
ACCRUED - That which has accumulated over a period of time such as accrued depreciation, accrued interest or accrued expenses.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - A formal declaration made before a duly authorized officer, usually a Notary Public, by a person who has signed a document.
ACRE - A measure of land equaling 43,560 square feet; 4,840 square yards; 160 square rods.
ADHESION CONTRACT - A contract which is very one-sided and favors the party who drafted the document.
AD VALOREM - Latin for "according to valuation," usually referring to a type of tax or assessment.
ADVERSE POSSESSION - The acquiring of title to real property owned by someone else, by means of open, notorious and continuous possession for the statutory period of time (20 years in Hawaii).
AFFIDAVIT - A sworn statement reduced to writing and made under oath before a Notary Public or other official authorized by law to administer an oath.
AGENCY - A relationship created when one person, the "principal," delegates to another, the "agent," the right to act on the principal's behalf in business transactions and to exercise some degree of discretion while so acting. An agency gives rise to a fiduciary relationship and imposes on the agent, as the fiduciary of the principal, certain duties, obligations and high standards of good faith and loyalty.
AGENT - One who is authorized to represent and to act on behalf of another person (called the principal). A real estate broker is the agent of his client, be it the seller or buyer, to whom he owes a fiduciary obligation. A salesman is the agent of his broker and does not have a direct personal contractual relationship with either the seller or buyer.