Real Estate Glossary - E  

Earnest Money - A deposit that a prospective buyer gives the seller as evidence of his or her good faith intent to complete the transaction.

Easement - An irrevocable right tot use some part of another person's real property for a particular purpose.

Easement, Access - An easement that enables the easement holder to reach and/or leave his or her property (the dominant tenement) by crossing the servient tenement. Also called an easement for ingress and egress.

Easement, Aviation - An easement by which a property owner allows aircraft to fly through the airspace over his or her property (above a specified height).

Easement, Negative - An easement that prevents the servient tenant from using his or her own land in certain way (instead of allowing the dominant tenant to use it); essentially the same thing as a restrictive covenant that runs with the land.

Easement, Positive - An easement that allows the dominant tenant to use the servient tenement in a particular way. This is the standard type of easement (see the first definition of Easement, above); the term "positive easement" is generally only used when contrasting a standard easement with a negative easement.

Easement, Prescriptive - An easement acquired by prescription; that is, by using the property openly and without the owner's permission for the period prescribed by statute.

Easement Appurtenant - An easement that benefits a piece of property, the dominant tenement.

Easement by Express Grant - An easement granted to another in a deed or other document.

Easement by Express Reservation - An easement created in a deed when a landowner is dividing the property, transferring the servient tenement but retaining the dominant tenement; an easement that the grantor reserves for his or her own use.

Easement by Implication - An easement created by law when a parcel of land is divided, if there has been long-standing, apparent prior use, and it is reasonably necessary for the enjoyment of the dominant tenement.

Easement by Necessity - A special type of easement by implication, created by law even when there has been no prior use, if the dominant tenement would be entirely useless without an easement.

Easement in Gross - An easement that benefits a person instead of a piece of land; there is a dominant tenant, but no dominant tenement.

Economic Life - The period during which improved property will yield a return over and above the rent due to the land itself; also called useful life.

Egress - A means of exiting, a way to leave a property; the opposite of ingress. The terms ingress and egress are most commonly used in reference to an access easement.

Ejectment - A legal action to recover possession of real property from someone who is not legally entitled to possession of it; an eviction.

Elements of Comparison - In the sales comparison approach to appraisal, considerations taken into account in selection comparables and comparing comparables to the subject property; the include date of sale, location, physical characteristics, and terms of sale.

Emblements - Crops that are produced annually through the labor of the cultivator, such as wheat.

Emblements, Doctrine of - The legal rule that gives an agricultural tenant the right to enter the land to harvest crops after the lease ends.

Eminent Domain - The government's constitutional power to take (condemn) private property for public use, as long as the owner is paid just compensation.

Employee - Someone who works under the direction and control of another.

Encroachment - A physical intrusion onto neighboring property, usually due to a mistake regarding the location of the boundary.

Encumber - To place a lien or other encumbrance against the title to a property.

Encumbrance - A nonpossessory interest in real property; a right or interest held by someone other than the property owner, which may be a lien, an easement, a profit, or a restrictive covenant.

Encumbrance, Non-Financial - An easement, a profit, or a restrictive covenant.

Endorsement - When the payee on a negotiable instrument (such as a check or promissory note) assigns the right to payment to another, by signing the back of the instrument.

Endorsement, Special - An endorsement to a specific person (as opposed to an endorsement in blank).

Endorsement in Blank - An endorsement that does not specify a particular holder, so that the bearer - however has possession of the instrument - is entitled to payment.

Enjoin - To prohibit an act, or command performance of an act, by court order; to issue an injunction.

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act - A federal law prohibiting providers of consumer credit from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because the applicant receives public assistance.

Equilibrium - In the life cycle of a property, a period of stability, during which the property undergoes little, if any, change.

Equitable Redemption Period - The period between the initial complaint and the sale of a foreclosed property, during which time a borrower may redeem the property by paying the amount of the debt plus costs.

Equitable Remedy - In a civil lawsuit, a judgment granted to the plaintiff that is something other than an award of money (damages); an injunction, rescission, and specific performance are examples.

Equity - 1.An owner's unencumbered interest in his or her property; the difference between the value of the property and the lien against it. 2. A judge's power to soften or set aside strict legal rules, to bring about a fair and just result in a particular case.

Erosion - Gradual loss of soil due to the action of water or wind.

Escalation Clause - A clause in a contract or mortgage that provides for payment or interest adjustments (usually increases) if specified events occur, such as a change in the property taxes or in the prime interest rate. Also called an escalator clause.

Escheat - When property reverts to the state after a person dies intestate and no heirs can be located.

Escrow - An arrangement in which something of value (such as money or a deed) is held on behalf of the parties to a transaction by a disinterested third party (an escrow agent) until specified conditions have been fulfilled.

Escrow Agent - 1.A neutral third party who holds money and documents in trust and carries out the closing process. 2. A company (not a natural person) that is licensed to engage in the escrow business.

Escrow Instructions - A written documents that tells the escrow agent how to proceed and states the conditions each party must fulfill before the transaction can close.

Escrow Officer - A person licensed to work for an escrow agent.

Estate - 1.An interest in real property that is or may become possessory; either a freehold or a leasehold. 2. The Property left by someone who has died.

Estate for Life - A freehold estate that lasts only as long as a specified person lives; that person is referred to as the measuring life. Commonly called a life estate.

Estate for Years - A leasehold estate set to last for a definite period (one week, three years, ects.), after which it terminates automatically. Also called a tenancy for years or term tenancy.

Estate of Inheritance - An estate that can pass to the holder's heirs; especially a fee simple

Estoppel - A legal doctrine that prevents a person from asserting rights or facts that are inconsistent with his or her earlier actions or statements.

Estoppel Certificate - A document that prevents a person who signs it from alter asserting facts different from those stated in the document; a certificate of no defense is one example. Also called an estoppel letter.

Et Al. - Abbreviation for the Latin phrase "et alius" or "et alii," meaning "and another" or "and others."

Ethics - A system of accepted principles or standards of moral conduct.

Et Ux. - Abbreviation for the Latin phrase "et uxor," meaning "and wife."

Eviction - Dispossession or expulsion of someone from real property.

Eviction, Actual - Physically forcing someone off of real property (or preventing them from reentering), or using the legal process to make them leave.

Eviction, Constructive - When a landlord's act (or failure to act) interferes with the tenant's quiet enjoyment of the property, or makes the property unfit for its intended use, to such an extent that the tenant is forced to move out.

Eviction, Self-Help - When a landlord uses physical force, a lock-out, or a utility shut-off to evict a tenant, instead of the legal process. This is generally illegal.

Excess Land - That portion of a parcel of land that does not add to its value. For example, where the value of a property lies primarily in its frontage, additional depth beyond the normal lot size would not increase the property's value.

Exculpatory Clause - A clause in a contract that relieves one party of liability for certain defaults or problems; such provisions are not always enforceable.

Execute - 1.To sign an instrument and take any other steps (such as acknowledgment) that may be necessary to its validity. 2. To perform or complete.

Execution - The legal process in which a court orders an official (such as the sheriff) to seize and sell the property of a judgment debtor to satisfy a lien.

Executor - A person named in a will to carry out its provisions. If it is a woman, she may be referred to as the executrix, but that term is passing out of use.

Exemption - A provision holding that a law or rule does not apply to a particular person or group; for example, a person entitled to a tax exemption is not required to pay the tax.

Expenses, Fixed - Recurring property expenses, such as general real estate taxes and hazard insurance.

Expenses, Maintenance - Cleaning, supplies, utilities, tenant services, and administrative costs for income-production property.

Expenses, Operating - For income-producing property, the fixed expenses, maintenance expenses, and reserves for replacement; does not include debt service.

Expenses, Variable - Expenses incurred in connection with property that do not occur on a set schedule, such as the cost of repairing a roof damaged in a storm.

Express - Stated in words, whether spoken or written.

Extender Clause - A clause in a listing agreement providing that for a specified period after the listing expires, the broker will still be entitled to a commission if the property is sold to someone the broker dealt with during the listing term. Also called a safety clause or carryover clause.

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