VA Real Estate key terms

The state board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation that licenses brokers and salespersons, adopts regulations, investigates complaints, and imposes discipline such as fines, suspension, or revocation.

A state fund that can reimburse a consumer who holds an unpaid court judgment against a licensee for fraud or dishonest dealing, up to statutory limits, after the Board approves the claim.

A company, such as a multiple listing service, that assembles and distributes real estate listing information to subscribers; Virginia requires it to make data available to licensees who are not members.

Education Virginia licensees must complete during each two-year license term, including required hours in ethics and legal updates, to keep an active license and renew on time.

A broker or salesperson who represents a client in a Virginia transaction and owes that client the full set of fiduciary duties, as distinguished from a limited service arrangement.

A Virginia licensee who acts as a standard agent but whose written agreement with the client limits the specific services provided, so the client handles some tasks personally.

A licensee whom a broker names to represent one client in a transaction while another licensee in the same firm represents the other party, with both clients' written consent.

A fact known to the licensee that a reasonable person would consider important in deciding whether to buy or sell, such as a structural defect or a pending foreclosure.

The duties a standard agent owes a client: loyalty, obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, reasonable care and diligence, and accounting for money and property, often memorized as OLD CAR.

Virginia's seller's disclosure form on which the owner reports known defects and other required information about the property; delivery does not create a warranty of condition.

A contract clause making a party's obligation depend on a stated event, such as loan approval, a satisfactory home inspection, or the sale of the buyer's current home.

Money a buyer deposits at contract to show good faith, usually held in the broker's escrow account and applied to the price or disbursed under the contract's default terms.

A legal rule requiring that contracts for the sale of real property, and leases longer than one year, be in writing and signed by the party to be charged.

The most complete form of real property ownership, giving the owner the entire bundle of legal rights with no time limit, freely transferable and inheritable.

Co-ownership in which each owner holds a separate, undivided share that may be unequal, may be sold or devised, and passes to heirs rather than to the co-owners at death.

Co-ownership by two or more people with equal undivided interests and express survivorship language, so a deceased owner's share passes automatically to the survivors rather than to heirs.

Ownership measured by the life of a named person; when that life ends, the property passes to the remainderman or back to the grantor.

A right to cross another's land that a court implies when a parcel is landlocked or lacks reasonable access and the parcels were once under common ownership.

Any right, interest, lien, or claim that burdens title and may reduce value or limit use, such as an easement, deed of trust, or tax lien.

An item of personal property that has been attached to and become part of the real property, so that it transfers with the land unless the parties agree otherwise.

Acquiring title by open, hostile, actual, exclusive, and continuous use of another person's land for the statutory period, generally fifteen years in Virginia.

A deed in which the grantor warrants title against defects, including those created by earlier owners, and promises to defend the grantee's title.

A deed that releases whatever interest the grantor may have, with no warranty of title; often used to clear title defects or transfer property within a family.

Filing a deed or other document with the clerk of the circuit court in the county or city where the property lies, giving public notice and establishing priority among competing claims.

A policy protecting an owner or lender against losses from title defects that existed before the policy date and were not revealed by the title search.

Virginia's typical mortgage security instrument: the borrower conveys bare legal title to a trustee, who can sell the property at a nonjudicial foreclosure sale if the borrower defaults.

The loan amount divided by the lower of the sales price or appraised value, shown as a percentage; higher ratios usually require mortgage insurance and may carry a higher rate.

The four components of a typical monthly housing payment: principal, interest, property taxes, and homeowners insurance, often collected by the lender in an escrow account.

Insurance a lender requires on many loans with a down payment under twenty percent, protecting the lender against loss if the borrower defaults; it is not homeowner's insurance.

A loan provision allowing the lender to demand full repayment if the borrower transfers the property without the lender's consent; assumability depends on whether such a clause exists.

A loan made by a private lender and partially guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, available to eligible veterans, service members, and some surviving spouses, often with no down payment.

A licensee's estimate of a property's likely sale price based on recent sales and current listings; it is not an appraisal and cannot substitute where an appraisal is required.

The reasonably probable and legal use of a property that is physically possible, financially feasible, and produces the greatest value over time.

The appraiser's final step of weighing the value indications from each approach used and resolving the differences into one opinion of value.

State law that bars discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, and source of funds.

Directing prospective buyers or renters toward or away from particular neighborhoods based on a protected characteristic, which is a fair housing violation.

Encouraging homeowners to sell quickly by suggesting that members of a protected class are moving into the neighborhood and that property values will fall.

A change in rules, policies, or practices, or permission for a tenant to make a reasonable modification at the tenant's expense, that a person with a disability needs to use and enjoy housing.

The federal prohibition on giving or receiving fees, kickbacks, or things of value for referring settlement business, unless the payment fits a stated exception such as a bona fide service.