| Amortization |
The process of reducing debt through regular installment payments of principal and interest that will result in the payoff of a loan at its maturity. |
| Amount Past Due |
The amount past due as of the date reported. |
| Annualcreditreport.com |
The official website for obtaining your free credit report disclosures from the credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You have the right to request your credit reports online, by phone or by mail for free once every 12
months under FACT Act regulations. This free service can only be used once a year and does not include your credit
scores. |
| Bankruptcy Mill |
a business not authorized to practice law that provides bankruptcy counseling and prepares bankruptcy petitions. |
| Bankruptcy Reform Act Of 1978 |
the first substantive bankruptcy code revision since the Chandler Act of 1938. It took effect on October 1, 1979 and some of the major elements of this act were as follows: upgrading the jurisdiction of the U.S. bankruptcy courts to deal with cases handled by other courts (subsequently modified); allowing the filing of a single joint petition of bankruptcy by husband and wife; reorganizing the Chapters of bankruptcy; in particular, concerning business reorganization, Chapters X, XI and XII of the old code are replaced by Chapter 11; expanding the number of people eligible and the type of relief available to people in a new Chapter 13, wage-earner reorganization bankruptcy; altering the appellate procedure allowing direct appeal to the U.S. courts of appeal (subsequently modified); and generally, making federal exemption provisions and options for debtors more extensive. |
| Bankruptcy Rule 2004 |
a provision of the Bankruptcy Code that allows one party in a bankruptcy proceeding to compel discovery or other examination against another party. |
| Calendar Quarters |
A three-month period of time ending with March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31. Social Security counts each calendar quarter that you work and pay into Social Security and Medicare taxes toward your eligibility for premium-free Part A. |
| Coverage Determination (part D) |
The first decision made by your Medicare drug plan (not the pharmacy) about your drug benefits. |
| Capped Rental Item |
Durable medical equipment (DME) (such as a wheelchair) that Medicare covers initially for rental, rather than for purchase, often because of its high cost. Medicare pays the rental fees for these items in monthly installments. You can keep a capped rental item as long as it is medically necessary and elect to buy it. After you rent for 13 months, ownership will automatically transfer to you. (Note: If you have been renting an item of DME since before January 1, 2006, you can continue to rent that item without purchasing if you choose.) |
| Designated Agent |
A licensee authorized by a broker to act as the agent for a specific principal in a particular transaction. A designated agent is the only agent in the company who has a fiduciary responsibility toward the principal. |
| Designer |
Unlike architects, designers are limited to drawing blueprints. |
| Destruction Of Premises |
In many states, once the sales contract is signed by both parties, the buyer bears the risk of any damage to the property that may occur before closing. Of course, the contract may provide otherwise. |
| Efficiency |
A measure of the capacity or effectiveness of space to produce the desired results with a minimum expenditure of time, money, energy, and materials. |
| Efficiency Percentage |
The relationship of useable area to rentable area on a given property. Also see add-on factor, load factor, and rentable-to-useable ratio. |
| Egress |
A way to exit from a property; the opposite of ingress. |
| Force |
See police use of force. |
| Foreign Terrorist Organization (fto) |
A foreign organization that engages in terrorist activity that threatens the security of U.S. nationals or the national security of the United States and that is so designated by the U.S. secretary of state. |
| Forensic Anthropology |
The use of anthropological principles and techniques in criminal investigation. |
| General Principles Of Law |
principles that appear nearly universally in states’ domestic law and, thus, over time become binding on all nations; one of the main sources of international law. |
| Geneva Conventions |
four treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. They chiefly concern the treatment of noncombatants and prisoners of war. The adoption of the first Convention followed the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 and they have now been ratified by 194 countries. |
| Genocide |
any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting the conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. |
| Hierarchy Rule |
A standard Uniform Crime Reports scoring practice in which only the most serious offense is counted in a multiple-offense incident. |
| High-technology Crime |
Violations of the criminal law whose commission depends upon, makes use of, and often targets sophisticated and advanced technology. See also computer crime. |
| Home Confinement |
House arrest. Individuals ordered confined to their homes are sometimes monitored electronically to ensure they do not leave during the hours of confinement. Absence from the home during working hours is often permitted. |
| Insurance Fraud |
Fraud committed against an insurer, as when an insured lies on a policy application or fabricates a claim. |
| Intake |
The first step in decision making regarding a juvenile whose behavior or alleged behavior is in violation of the law or could otherwise cause a juvenile court to assume jurisdiction. |
| Intent |
The state of mind or attitude with which an act is carried out. Also, the design, resolve, or determination with which a person acts to achieve a certain result. |
| Joint And Several Liability |
A situation when more than one party is liable for repayment of a debt or obligation. A creditor can obtain compensation from one or more parties, either individually or jointly. |
| Joint Protection Policy |
A title insurance policy insuring the interest of both owner and lender. |
| Joint Tenancy |
A form of ownership or taking title to property which means each party owns the whole property and that ownership is not separate. In the event of the death of one party, the survivor owns the property in its entirety. |
| Kinship Adoption |
Describes a legal process in which the child is adopted by a relative, and usually involves a less stringent process to complete the adoption (not to be confused with informal family care). |
| Key Contributor Plan |
Is a performance-based incentive program created for the sole purpose of attracting, motivating and retaining key individuals or small groups. (Pierson and Williams, 1994) |
| Key Rate Duration |
A measure of duration that calculates effective or empirical duration by changing the market rate for one specific maturity point on the yield curve while holding all other variables constant. May be done as part of a series of calculations that separately and sequentially vary the yields for two or more maturity points on the yield curve. Sets of partial durations for multiple points on the same yield curve will sum to a value that is usually close to the overall effective duration. Also known as reshaping duration. Key rate duration is the most common type of partial duration and those terms are often used as synonyms. |
| Life-cycle Cost Analysis |
An analysis of a building project's expected operating, maintenance and replacement costs, calculated by an architect. |
| Lifestyle Characteristics (psychographics) |
Intangible characteristics of a local economy that define and shape the quality of life element and the social and cultural identity of the local population. |
| Life Estate |
Any estate in real or personal property that is limited in duration to the life of its owner or the life of some other designated person. Although classified as a freehold estate because it is a possessory estate of indefinite duration, a life estate is not an estate of inheritance. |
| Monthly Periodic Rate |
The rate of interest per month, calculated by dividing the annual percentage rate (APR) by 12. |
| Moral Obligation Bond |
Revenue bonds issued by state agencies, government commissions, or other special purpose municipal entities that purport to have the added backing of a moral obligation of the city or state government. Since there is no legal obligation for the state or city to back the principal or interest due on these bonds, the moral obligation provides limited, if not dubious, support. |
| Mortgage |
A lien or claim against real property given by the buyer to the lender as security for money borrowed. First Mortgage-or “primary” mortgage-has priority over the claims of subsequent lenders for the same property. |
| Nationalism |
A sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on the promotion of its economic and political interests and culture over those of other nations. |
| National Labor Relations Act |
This 1935 law, more popularly known as the NLRA or the Wagner Act, this act granted workers the right to organize and form unions, and created the National Labor Relations Act. In 1947 the Taft-Hartley Act severely weakened the NLRA. |
| Nongovernmental Organizations (ngos) |
organizations formed by people outside of government, ngo s monitor the proceedings of human rights bodies such as the Commission on Human Rights and are the “watchdogs” of the human rights that fall within their mandate. Some are large and international (Save the Children, Amnesty International, the Girl Scouts); others may be small and local (an organization to advocate for people with disabilities in a particular city; a coalition to promote women’s rights in one refugee camp). |
| Office (low Rise) |
Fewer than seven stories high above ground level. |
| Office (mid Rise) |
Between seven and twenty-five stories above ground level |
| Office (high Rise) |
Higher than twenty-five stories above ground level. |
| Portico |
A porch supported by a row of columns. |
| Positive Leverage |
Borrowed funds are invested at a rate of return higher than the cost of the funds to the borrower. |
| Possession |
When a buyer signs the papers and receives the keys to the house, the buyer officially takes possession. |
| Quid Pro Quo |
something for something. The usual definition of consideration (see the general contracts terms above) in a contract, on the basis that each party should offer something to the other. |
| Quit |
for a tenant to move out of rented premises. |
| Quitclaim |
To release or relinquish claim or title to, especially in deeds to real property. |
| Reconstruction |
The period following the end of the Civil War until the 1870s, during which the former Confederate states were controlled by the federal government, often with a military presence. During this time, policies implemented in the Southern states expanded opportunities for African Americans, only to be abandoned following Reconstruction and replaced by Jim Crow laws imposing racial segregation. |
| Redlining |
Marketing practices whereby certain lenders refuse to make loans in certain neighborhoods based on their racial and/or ethnic make-up. |
| Refugee Displacement |
Displacedpersons have been forced by dangerous circumstances to leave home for a place of safety within their home country. Such circumstances include natural disasters such as droughts or storms, persecution, social unrest, wars, or revolutions. If a person flees to a place within the home country, he or she is called internally displaced. If that person flees to another country, he or she is called a refugee |
| Site Analysis |
The identification and evaluation of a site or sites to satisfy a given use or objective. |
| Site Factors |
Site-specific factors, features, conditions, or attributes which are important in the analysis or evaluation of a location/site (including relative location, visibility, aesthetics, landscaping, condition of existing structures, regulatory mechanisms, and lot size). |
| Site Selection |
The process of determining the best site for a specific use. |
| Taxation Of Benefits (cms) |
Beginning in 1994, up to 85 percent of an individual's or a couple's OASDI benefits is potentially subject to federal income taxation under certain circumstances. The revenue derived from taxation of benefits in excess of 50 percent, up to 85 percent, is allocated to the HI trust fund. |
| Teaching Hospital |
A hospital that has an accredited medical residency training programs and is often affiliated with a medical school. |
| Team-based Pay |
Is a base or variable program that recognizes group efforts and results. (Pierson, 1994) |
| Unfunded Pension Losses |
A contra equity account created under FAS 87 rules for cases in which the amount of the additional minimum pension liability exceeds the sum of unamortized prior service cost plus transition obligation. Sometimes called minimum pension liability adjustment or minimum pension liability in excess of unrecognized prior service costs. |
| Uniform Commercial Code |
Code (UCC)
A compilation of laws relating to commercial contracts involving personal property. The code does not address real property. In addition, a few types of personal property are also excluded. While the UCC has been adopted by all 50 states, there are differences among the versions adopted in each state. Secured lenders tend to focus on UCC Article 2A covering leases, Article 8 covering securities, and Article 9 covering all other personal property collateral. |
| Universal Life Insurance |
A form of life insurance that combines term insurance protection with a savings feature. The portion of the funds allocated to the savings feature is invested in a tax-deferred account that typically earns interest at rates comparable to prevailing money market interest rates. A universal insurance policy offers the policy holder the flexibility to change the amount of insurance coverage, the amount of the premium payment and/or the portion of the premium payment allocated to the savings feature. |
| Variable |
A measurable attribute of a person, place, property, location, or other phenomenon of interest, whose value may vary from observation to observation. |
| Variable Costs |
Operating expenses that fluctuate with occupancy, such as utilities and maintenance costs. |
| Variable Expenses |
Costs or payments that may vary from month to month, for example, gasoline or food. |
| Water Quality Standard (wqs) |
The combination of a designated use and the maximum concentration of a pollutant which will protect that use for any given body of water. For example, in a trout stream, the concentration of iron should not exceed 1 mg/l. |
| Water Solubility |
The maximum concentration of a chemical compound which can result when it is dissolved in water. If a substance is water soluble, it can very readily disperse through the environment. |
| Water Storage Pond |
An impound for liquid wastes, so designated as to accomplish some degree of biochemical treatment of the wastes. |
| X12 148 |
The X12 First Report of Injury, Illness, or Incident transaction. This standard could eventually be included in the HIPAA mandate. |
| X12 270 |
The X12 Health Care Eligibility & Benefit Inquiry transaction. Version 4010 of this transaction has been included in the HIPAA mandates. |
| X12 271 |
The X12 Health Care Eligibility & Benefit Response transaction. Version 4010 of this transaction has been included in the HIPAA mandates. |
| Yield Curve Slope |
Yield curves also describe the amount of difference between short-term and long-term rates. A yield curve that depicts the customary situation of long-term rates higher than short-term rates is called an upward sloping or positively sloped yield curve. A yield curve depicting the less common occurrence of short-term rates higher than long-term rates is called a downward sloping, negatively sloped, or inverted yield curve. When long-term rates are much higher than short-term rates, the yield curve is steep. When long-term rates are virtually the same as short-term rates, the yield curve is flat. |
| Yield Curve Smoothing |
Also called smoothing. The name for a set of alternative techniques for creating continuous yield curves by connecting the dots between observed. If, for example, we have observed rates for 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 year maturities, smoothing is the technique used to infer rates for all maturities between those known points. The known points are called "knot points". The simplest smoothing technique is "linear smoothing". The most commonly used technique is "cubic splines". For forward rates, the most accurate method is called "maximum forward rate smoothing". |
| Yield Curve Twist |
A phrase used to describe changes in prevailing interest rates that change the shape/slope of the yield curve. For example, a small increase in short-term rates and a large increase in lon- term rates that occur at the same time. A manifestation of yield curve risk. |
| Zoning Ordinance |
An exercise of police power by a municipality to regulate and control the character and use of property. |
| Zoning Variance |
A one-time modification of existing zoning law. |
| Zero Coupon Bonds |
A single-payment bond that grows to its face value over a prescribed time period at a specific interest rate. All compound interest is tax-deferred until the bond is cashed. |
