Mortgage and Real Estate Glossary

Real Estate Definitions and Terms: J

Offers a Mortgage and Real Estate glossary for real estate and mortgage terms and definitions for home buyers, home sellers, and real estate consumers. Find expanded definitions of important real estate and mortgage home loan terms.

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Definitions and Terms: J

Joint Liability - Liability shared among two or more people, each of whom is liable for the full debt.

Joint Tenancy - A form of joint ownership of property giving each person equal interest in the property.
When one joint tenant dies the other has title to the entire property.

Judicial Foreclosure - A court procedure used by lenders to secure clear title to a property under a defaulted real estate loan.

Judgment - Legal decision; when requiring debt repayment, a judgment may include a property lien that secures the creditor's claim by providing a collateral source.

Jumbo Loan - A loan for $333,700 or more in the continental United States (Alaska and Hawaii limits are higher). These limits are set by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Because jumbo loans cannot be funded by these two agencies, they usually carry a higher interest rate.

Junior mortgage - A home loan than is subordinate to the primary loan, or first 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.