Glossary
F
FALSE PERSONATION: The act of a person who falsely and fraudulently claims to be another person.
FALSIFICATION: The forging, altering, or counterfeiting of a document, or knowingly making untruthful statements or misrepresentations.
FEE SIMPLE ABSOLUTE: (Commonly called fee simple) A term describing the total interest a person may have in land. Such an estate is not qualified by any other interest and passes upon the death of the owners to the heirs free from any conditions.
FEE SIMPLE DEFEASIBLE: A fee simple estate that can be lost or defeated by the happening of some event which occurs after the initial grant, e.g., a breach of a condition as contained in a deed restriction.
FEOFFMENT: The granting of a fee.
FEUDAL SYSTEM: A political and economic system which prevailed in Europe based upon the relation of overlord to vassal. The feudal lord held paramount title to the land. The interest in land acquired by vassals was impermanent, and title always reverted to the lord upon the vassal's death.
FICTITIOUS NAME: A name used for business purposes that differs from the true name of the owner of the business.
FIDUCIARY: A person who bears a special relationship of trust, confidence, and responsibility to others, such as a trustee or agent.
FILE AND USE: In most states, title insurers file rate schedules, title insurance policy forms and endorsement forms with the State Insurance Department or other state agency and then may use such items or rates within a specified period of time after filing. Rates so filed usually are mandatory.
FILING: In the title industry, this term relates to the delivery of real estate instruments to a recorder for recording.
FINANCING STATEMENT: Evidence of a personal property security agreement that may be filed with the Secretary of State or recorded with the county recorder under prescribed conditions. The financing statement has replaced the chattel mortgage and will affect real property if it relates to crops or timber.
FIRST MORTGAGE: A mortgage having priority as a lien over any other mortgage or lien on the same property.
FIXTURE: Personal property which is permanently attached to real estate such as plumbing fixtures. So long as a fixture is permanently attached, it is usually regarded as part of the real estate.
FORECLOSURE: A legal proceeding for the collection of real estate mortgages and other types of liens on real estate, which results in cutting off the right to redeem the mortgaged property and often involves a judicial sale of the property to pay the mortgage debt.
FORECLOSURE SALE: Sale of property pledged as security for a debt. The property is sold to pay the debt after a default occurs.
FORESHORE: Land between the low water mark and high water mark, covered and uncovered by the ebb and flow of the tide.
FORFEIT: (1) Money or a right which a person loses upon failure to perform an agreement, obligation, or duty. (2) The act of losing money or a right as described.
FORGED: Fraudulently executed; counterfeited.
FORGERY: The fraudulent signing of another's name to an instrument such as a deed or mortgage or check.
FRANCHISE: (1) A right or privilege conferred by law, e.g., Right to operate a railroad or a bus service. (2) A contractual right to engage in a particular business using a trade name or designation owned by another person.
FRAUD: A deception deliberately practiced in order to obtain an unfair or unlawful gain.
FRAUDULENT: Obtained, performed, or characterized by deceit or fraud.
FREEHOLD: A life estate or a fee simple estate.
FRONT FOOT: A unit of measurement, one foot in length, along the front boundary line of a piece of property which measurement, when assigned a dollar value, is a factor in determining the total value or sale price of a tract.
FUTURE ADVANCE CLAUSE: Clause in a deed of trust permitting the lender to make additional advances in the future that will also be secured by the deed of trust. (See "Open-end Mortgage.")
FUTURE INTEREST: An estate in real property entitling the owner to possession and enjoyment at a future date.