Real Estate Glossary Terms Quiz

Glossary Terms

• Acceptance by Ratification: Tenant takes possession without signing a lease, and this is deemed acceptable by the courts.
• Accord and Satisfaction: All parties agree to a change in a contract's terms.
• Actual Eviction: Court action initiated by a landlord to remove a tenant.
• Administrative Law Judge (ALJ): A judge hearing complaints regarding violations of the Fair Housing Act.
• Agency: Legal relationship where one person represents another.
• Air Rights: Rights to use the space above the land's surface.
• Airspace: The space above the surface of the land, extending infinitely upward.
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): Comprehensive civil rights law ensuring equal access for people with disabilities to jobs, public accommodations, services, and transportation.
• Assignment: One party in a contract allows another to assume all their rights.
• Bilateral Contract: Exchange of promises between two parties.
• Blockbusting: Inducing property owners to sell by making representations regarding the entry of protected-class members.
• Breach of Contract: One party violating the terms of an agreement.
• Brokerage Agreement: Relationship between a sponsoring broker and clients/members receiving real estate services.
• Chattel: Personal property not affixed to the land.
• Civil Rights Act of 1866: Guaranteed property rights to all citizens, regardless of race, allowing them to inherit, purchase, sell or lease property.
• Client: A person being represented by a licensee.
• Commingling: Depositing personal funds into a special escrow account for others.
• Compensation: Anything of value exchanged for services.
• Compensatory Damages: Money paid to return an injured party in a defaulted contract to their prior financial condition.
• Competent Parties: Parties to a contract who are of legal age, sound mind, and sober.
• Concurrent Ownership: Property ownership shared by two or more individuals or entities.
• Condemnation Action: Government's right to acquire property, even without the owner's consent.
• Confidential Information: Information that could harm a client's negotiating position.
• Constructive Eviction: Lessee is given justification to avoid paying rent and vacate when lessor creates uninhabitable conditions.
• Consumer: An individual or entity seeking real estate brokerage services.
• Contract: Legally binding agreement with promises establishing business arrangements or terms.
• Customer: Consumer not represented by a licensee.
• Designated Agency: Licensing representation of either a buyer or seller, assigned by the sponsoring broker.
• Designated Managing Broker: Broker with supervisory responsibility over licensees in a sponsoring brokerage.
• Destruction Clause: Lease clause outlining rights and responsibilities if the property is damaged.
• Discharged Contract: A contract where all terms have been fulfilled.
• Dual Agency: Representing both the buyer and seller in the same transaction.
• Duress: Using force to induce someone to act against their will.
• Eminent Domain: Government power to acquire private property for public use.
• Exclusive Brokerage Agreement: Agreement for exclusive representation between a broker and client.
• Executed Contract: Contract where all terms are completed.
• Executory Contract: Contract wherein some terms have yet to be fulfilled.
• Express Contract: Specific oral or written agreements between two or more parties.
• Fair Housing Act: Bans discrimination in housing based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, and familial status.
• Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988: Expands Fair Housing Act to include protection for families with children and persons with disabilities, modifies HUD complaint procedure, increasing available damages and civil penalties.
• Fixture: Personal property permanently affixed to real estate.
• Fraud: Intentionally misrepresenting or concealing relevant facts in a contract.
• Holdover Tenancy: Lease continuation after the lease term expiration, when the tenant continues to occupy the property without the owner's permission.
• IDFPR: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
• Implied Contract: Contract formed by actions of the parties rather than written words.
• Improvement Clause: Lease clause outlining lessor rights for improvements, and lessee rights over improvements.
• Improvements: Man-made additions directly attached to the land.
• Injunction: Court order requiring someone to stop a specific action.
• Involuntary Termination: Lease cancellation against the tenant's will, due to reasons like actual or constructive eviction, eminent domain, mortgage foreclosure, or bankruptcy.
• Joint Tenancy: Co-ownership where a deceased owner's interest passes to surviving owners.
• Land: Surface, subsurface, and airspace, along with anything permanently attached.
• Lease: Bilateral contract where a lessor (landlord) provides exclusive possession to a lessee (tenant) in exchange for rent.
• Leasehold Estate or Interest: Tenant's rights in the property outlined in the lease.
• Legal Purpose: An action or use permitted by law.
• Lessee: The tenant, or the person receiving the lease.
• Lessor: The landlord, or the person providing the lease.
• Menace: Using threats to force someone to act against their will.
• Misrepresentation: Omitting or distorting facts in a transaction.
• Monetary Damages: Compensation awarded to an injured party for breach of contract.
• Novation: Agreement between parties substituting one party in a contract for another.
• Offer and Acceptance: Agreement to a contract's terms.
• Offeree: Person who receives an offer.
• Offeror: Person making an offer.
• Option: Contract to hold an offer open for a fixed period.
• Ownership in Severalty: Sole ownership of property by a single individual or entity.
• Panic Peddling: Inducing property owners to sell by falsely creating fear regarding the entry of particular groups.
• Parol Evidence Rule: Legal rule disallowing oral evidence to contradict or alter a written contract.
• Periodic Tenancy: Lease without a fixed expiration date, automatically renewing on a periodic basis (e.g., month-to-month).
• Personal Property: Items not attached to the land.
• Place of Public Accommodation: Commercial or business premises that affects commerce and falls under a specific ADA category.
• Protected Class: Groups protected by housing laws.
• Provisions of Law: Statements required by federal, state, and local laws regarding housing and human rights.
• Punitive Damages: Money awarded to punish an offending party in a breach of contract case.
• Purchase Option: Lease provision giving lessee the right to buy the property.
• Radon: Colorless, odorless, radioactive gas naturally occurring in the soil.
• Real Estate: Land and all interests related to it.
• Real Property: Land and improvements permanently attached to the land.
• Realty: Same as Real Property.
• Renewal Option: Lease clause giving lessee the right to extend or renew a lease.
• Rent: The price paid for the use of leased property.
• Repair and Maintenance: Lease clause outlining responsibility for repairs.
• Rescind: Canceling a contract.
• Security Deposit: Money deposited by lessee to cover any damages or forfeits.
• Source of Income: Earnings from sources like employment, investments or government assistance.
• Specific Performance: Legal remedy compelling a party to perform what they agreed upon in a contract.
• Statute of Frauds: Law requiring some contracts to be in writing for enforcement.
• Statute of Limitations: Law limiting the time an action can be brought against a party.
• Steering: Directing buyers or renters towards or away from specific properties based on protected characteristics.
• Stigmatized Property: Property associated with a negative event, not affecting its physical condition.
• Subagency: When a listing agent allows other agents to represent the buyer.
• Sublet: Transferring part of a lease to another person.
• Subsurface: The space beneath the surface of the land.
• Subsurface Rights: Rights to use the space beneath the surface, including mineral, oil, gas, and water rights.
• Surrender and Acceptance: Agreement to end a contract or lease.
• Tenancy At Sufferance: Tenant remaining on property past the lease term expiration without permission.
• Tenancy At Will: Lease without a set duration.
• Tenancy For Years: Lease with a clearly defined duration.
• Tenancy in Common: Co-ownership where interest can pass to designated heirs.
• Tenant: The lessee, or the person leasing the property/space.
• Termination Clause: Lease clause describing the method and procedures for termination.
• Testers: People posing as potential buyers to test how a business is treating potential customers based on protected characteristics.
• Trade Fixtures: Items attached to the property by a tenant for business purposes.
• Undue Influence: Using a position of trust to persuade someone to enter a contract they wouldn't otherwise choose.
• Unenforceable Contract: Contract with elements needed for enforcement, but missing something preventing the court from enforcing it.
• Unilateral Contract: Contract in which one party promises an action, and the other party's action is the consideration.
• Valid Contract: Contract meeting all legal requirements.
• Void Contract: Contract lacking essential legal elements.
• Voidable Contract: Contract that can be made void by one party.
• Voluntary Termination: Lease or contract ending due to agreement between the parties or an act of surrender and acceptance.

Test your knowledge of key real estate terms with this quiz. Explore essential concepts such as acceptance by ratification, administrative law, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Perfect for students and professionals looking to reinforce their understanding of real estate terminology.