Glossary
S
SALE AGREEMENT: A contract entered into between a buyer and seller, setting forth the terms, provisions, and conditions of a sale of real estate.
SALE AND LEASEBACK: A situation in which the grantor in a deed to a parcel of property sells it and retains possession by simultaneously leasing it from the grantee.
SALES CONTRACT: (See "Sale Agreement.")
SATISFACTION: (1) The payment of a debt or fulfillment of an obligation. (2) An instrument executed by the holder of a lien, debt or obligation which acknowledges payment or fulfillment. For example, a satisfaction of a mortgage sometimes is referred to as a satisfaction piece.
SEAL: Impression on a document that lends authenticity to its execution, such as affixing the corporate seal to a document executed by a corporation.
SEARCH: In title industry parlance, a careful exploration for and perusal of the public records in an effort to find all recorded instruments relating to a particular chain of title.
SECOND MORTGAGE: A mortgage ranking in priority immediately below a first mortgage. (See "Junior Mortgage.")
SECONDARY RETENTION: When reinsurance is obtained by the ceding company from a reinsurer, the reinsurer's liability is secondary to the primary liability of the ceding company. This is termed secondary retention. The primary retention must first be expended before the second company pays. All companies that sell reinsurance on the secondary level are joined together and share losses on a pro-rata basis based on their amount of reinsurance in relation to the total amount of reinsurance purchased. If four companies agree to be secondary reinsurers, and each has $5,000,000, then each would have liability for 25 percent of any loss that exceeds the primary, up to the full amount agreed upon. (See Primary Retention or Primary Liability.)
SECTION: Measure of land; one of the divisions employed in a government survey. It measures one mile on each side and contains 640 acres of land (if regular in shape.)
SECURITY: Assurance against the default or non-payment of a debt or obligation which makes the enforcement of a promise or an obligation more certain than the personal commitment of the debtor or obligator. Usually the pledge of property.
SEISIN: (Also spelled "Seizin") An old English term meaning legal possession or the right to legal possession of real estate under a freehold title.
SERVIENT ESTATE: Incident to an easement, the property upon or across which an easement exists. (See "Dominant Estate.")
SERVITUDE: A right or interest in a piece of real estate, which right or interest serves or benefits another unrelated property. For example, an easement across one piece of property serves another piece of property is said to constitute a servitude regarding the property upon which it is located.
SET ASIDE: To declare invalid or void; to annul. For example, a court may set aside an erroneous judgment or decree.
SETBACK LINE: (See "Building Line.")
SETTLEMENT: Act or process of adjusting or determining; an adjusting; an adjustment between persons concerning their dealings or difficulties; an agreement by which parties having disputed matters between them reach or ascertain what is coming from one to the other; arrangement of difficulties; composure of doubts or differences; determination by agreement; and liquidation. Sowers v. Robertson, 144 kan. 173, 58 p.2d 1105, 1107. Payment or satisfaction. Ledbetter v. Hall, 191 ark. 791, 87 s.W.2d 996, 999. Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition. (See "Closing.")
SKY LEASE: A lease of air space above a piece of land. The ownership of land extends down to the center of the earth and up to the sky. Space above the land can, therefore, be leased or sold. Cantilever or bridge type buildings which do not depend on the lessor's land for support may be built in such air space.
SLANDER OF TITLE: False, unjustified statements regarding another person's title to property.
SPECIAL ASSESSMENT: (See "Improvement Liens.")
SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED: A deed which warrants the title only with respect to acts of the grantor and the interests of anyone claiming by, through, or under him.
SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE: A lawsuit in which the court compels one of the parties to perform or carry out the provisions of a contract into which he has entered.
SPECULATIVE BUILDER: One who constructs buildings for sale without having firm purchase commitments. Speculative building is quite common in residential housing developments and in condominiums.
SQUATTER: One who settles upon unoccupied land without legal claim or authority. (See "Adverse Possession.")
STARE DECISIS: The legal doctrine that past decisions of the courts stand as precedents for future decisions.
STARTER: A copy of a prior policy or report issued by a title insurer which describes the title to land upon which a new search is to be made. In some states, this is called a base, back title letter or back title certificate.
STATUTE OF FRAUDS: A state law that requires that certain contracts, such as a contract for the sale of land, must be in writing to be enforceable.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: A statute setting a time limit on the enforcement of right or on the collection of a debt in certain cases.
SUBDIVISION: An area of land laid out and divided into lots, blocks and building sites, and in which public facilities are laid out, such as streets, alleys, parks, and easements for public utilities.
SUBJACENT: A term applied to land or property lying contiguous to, but at a lower level than, another piece of property.
SUBLET: To rent property which one holds by lease, to another.
SUBORDINATION: Giving a lien or interest an inferior status. For example, an existing mortgage may be subordinated to the lien of a new construction loan mortgage in which case the construction loan mortgage becomes the lien with priority.
SUBROGATION: The legal doctrine under which the law substitutes one creditor or claimant for another. When a title insurance company pays a claim under a title insurance policy, it is entitled to step into the shoes of the insured with respect to any rights the insured may have against parties who warranted the title to him.
SUBSTITUTION RATE: A special rate available in some areas for title insurance policies covering substitution loans.
SUIT: Usually meaning a lawsuit.
SUMMONS: A court process that directs a defendant to make an appearance in an action filed against him.
SURETY: (1) A person who agrees to be responsible for a debt or obligation of another. (2) The pledge or agreement by which one undertakes responsibility for the debt or obligation of another.
SURVEY: (1) To determine the location, boundaries, area, or the elevations of land and structures upon the earth's surface by means of courses in relation to the north star, and the measuring of angles and distances by using the techniques of geometry and trigonometry. (2) The map or plat drawn by a surveyor which represents the property surveyed and shows the results of a survey.