Virginia Divorce Separation Law, Virginia Divorce Separation Law

DEPRECIATION (TAX)
For tax purposes, depreciation is an expense deduction taken for an investment in depreciable property.

REAL PROPERTY
Land and any improvements permanently affixed to it, such as buildings.

ADVERSE POSSESSION
The acquiring of title to real property owned by someone else, by means of open, notorious and continuous possession for the statutory period of time (20 years in Hawaii).

ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE LOANS (ARM)
Loans with interest rates that are adjusted periodically based on changes in a pre-selected index. As a result, the interest rate on your loan and the monthly payment will rise and fall with increases and decreases in overall interest rates. These mortgage loans must specify how their interest rate changes, usually in terms of a relation to a national index such as (but not always) Treasury bill rates. If interest rates rise, your monthly payments will rise. An interest rate cap limits the amount by which the interest rate can change; look for this feature when you consider an ARM loan.

ATTORNEY-IN-FACT
One who is authorized by another to act in his place under a power of attorney.

ZONING
The regulation of structures and uses of property within designated districts or zones. Zoning regulates and affects such things as use of the land, types of structure permitted, building heights, setbacks, and density (the ratio of land area to improvement area).

OPTION
An agreement to keep open, over a set period, an offer to sell or purchase property.

CLIENT TRUST ACCOUNT
An account set up by a broker to keep client's monies segregated from the broker's general funds.

JUNIOR MORTGAGE
A mortgage subordinate to the claim of a prior lien or mortgage. In the case of a foreclosure, a senior mortgage or lien will be paid first.