Whois & Analysis for realtytimes.com

A mortgage loan, also referred to as a mortgage, is used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate; or alternatively by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose, while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged.

The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property.

This means that a legal mechanism is put in place which allows the lender to take possession and sell the secured property ("foreclosure" or "repossession") to pay off the loan in the event that the borrower defaults on the loan or otherwise fails to abide by its terms.

The word mortgage is derived from a "Law French" term used by English lawyers in the Middle Ages meaning "death pledge", and refers to the pledge ending (dying) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure.

Real estate is "property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more generally) buildings or housing in general.

Also: the business of real estate; the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or housing.".

In English common law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixed to the land, including crops, buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, and roads, among other things.

The term is historic, arising from the now-discontinued form of action, which distinguished between real property disputes and personal property disputes.

Personal property was, and continues to be, all property that is not real property.

A sale is the exchange of a commodity or money as the price of a good or a service.

Sales (plural only) is activity related to selling or the amount of goods or services sold in a given time period.

In the United States, a homeowner association (HOA) is a private association formed by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing, and selling homes and lots in a residential subdivision.

It grants the developer privileged voting rights in governing the association, while allowing the developer to exit financial and legal responsibility of the organization.

Typically the developer will transfer ownership of the association to the homeowners after selling a predetermined number of lots.

Generally any person who wants to buy a residence within the area of a homeowners association must become a member, and therefore must obey the several restrictions that often limit the owner's choices.

Most homeowner associations are incorporated, and are subject to state statutes that govern non-profit corporations and homeowner associations.

State oversight of homeowner associations is minimal, and it varies from state to state.

Some states, such as Florida and California, have a large body of HOA law.

Other states, such as Massachusetts, have virtually no HOA law.

Homeowners associations are primarily associated with mid- and late 20th-century and 21st-century residential development.