Legal glossary category
Property Law
Browse 19 glossary entries in the Property Law category, with short plain-English descriptions and direct links to the full term pages.
apartments
An apartment functions like your hall pass to the big building; it lets you use that specific spot while you pay the fee.
Open term →beneficial interest
If Mom owns a toy (legal title), but you get to play with it and use it, you have the beneficial interest.
Open term →building
Imagine your house is a building; it’s like the main prize in a game.
Open term →highway
It is like a designated lane on the playground; everyone agrees it's for running in a certain direction.
Open term →land
Land is like your house; it’s the entire spot where your toys live permanently.
Open term →landlord
A landlord acts like the principal who holds your permission slip; they grant you the right to use their house (the property).
Open term →lease
A lease functions like a permission slip for your toy: you promise to pay to use it, and the owner promises to let you play with it for a set time.
Open term →leasehold
Imagine getting a permission slip from your parents to use the family car for one week; that permission is your leasehold.
Open term →lessee
A lessee is like someone who gets a hall pass from their parent; they have permission to use the house but must follow the rules of that permission...
Open term →lot
A lot is like a specific seat at the lunch table; it tells everyone exactly where your place is so you know who sits next to you.
Open term →mortgage
A mortgage acts like a special promise slip tied to your house; if you don't pay, the bank gets the right to take it back.
Open term →mortgage loan
Think of a mortgage loan like a hall pass that lets a kid walk the halls, but if they skip class, the teacher can take the pass away.
Open term →mortgagee
Think of it like this: when you borrow money with your house as collateral, the bank becomes the mortgagee.
Open term →mortgagor
Think of a mortgagor like a kid who hands a library book to the librarian as a promise to return it, but the librarian can keep the book if the kid...
Open term →multifamily
It is like a big apartment building instead of just one house on a lot.
Open term →occupancy
It's like deciding whose turn it is with a swing set; occupancy tells you who has the right to be on that swing right now.
Open term →owner
Ownership is like having the original permission slip for your favorite toy.
Open term →ownership
Ownership is like having the official permission slip for your favorite toy.
Open term →owns
It means you have the ultimate say over your stuff, like when you own a permission slip and no one can take it away without asking you first.
Open term →