The breaking of a contractual obligation or duty, either by omission or commission. Breaching a contract is essentially doing something that goes against the contractual agreement, or not doing something that is must be done per the contract.

Blockbusting is a practice in which unscrupulous real estate investors induce panic-selling of homes at prices below market value. Blockbusting was usually done by telling homeowners that their properties are going to decline in value significantly and suddenly due to...

A blanket mortgage is a single loan that is secured by more than one property at the same time. Instead of taking out a separate mortgage for each property, the borrower uses one mortgage to cover multiple properties. Basically, a blanket mortgage is a way to finance...

A bill of sale is a legal document that records the transfer of ownership of personal property (not real estate) from a seller to a buyer. It shows that the seller has given the item to the buyer in exchange for payment or another agreed-upon value. Remember that...

A beneficiary usually refers to a party who is entitled to the benefit of a trust. That is, if one party puts property into a trust to be held for someone else, that "someone else" is the beneficiary of the trust. Note that when a trust deed is used in real estate,...

A wall or partition that supports a part of a building, usually a roof or floor above. It is a wall that bears a significant load, rather than a wall that is simply a divider between rooms.

Cost basis is the dollar amount assigned to property at the time it is purchased under the Internal Revenue Code's guidelines. This dollar amount is the basis for determining the owner's gain or loss when they sell the property. It is also used to calculate the...

Imaginary lines used by surveyors to find and describe the location of private or public lands. In government surveys, a baseline runs due east and west, meridians run due north and south, and are used to establish township boundaries.

A bargain and sale deed is a type of real estate deed that transfers ownership of a property from a seller to a buyer without guaranteeing that the title is free of problems. It says, in effect, “I own this property and I’m transferring it to you,” but it does not...