J FACTOR A factor used in income property analysis to derive the change in net operating income that is required to realize a certain equity yield rate.
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JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY A situation in which a creditor may sue one or more of the parties separately, or all of them together.
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JOINT TENANCY A concurrent ownership by two or more persons with the fight of survivorship. This form of ownership is recognized by all but a small handful of states. Upon the death of a joint tenant, the interest does not pass to the joint tenant's heirs or devisees, but to the other joint tenant(s). Effectively, when a joint tenant dies, his or her interest is automatically extinguished. As a result of this, no interest exists which may be passed on after death by will. Likewise, no dower or curtesy can attach. Further, all un-foreclosed liens of one of the joint tenants placed on the land are extinguished. The same result occurs to any easements or leases which were granted by one of the joint tenants without the conveyance by the other joint tenants. Because no interest passes after death, there is no need for probate; the surviving tenant(s) retain the property.
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JOINTURE A freehold estate created for the life of a wife and to take effect upon the death of her husband. Under common law, such a provision as jointure was made prior to marriage and was made in lieu of dower.
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JOINT VENTURE An agreement by two or more individuals or entities to engage in a single project or undertaking. Joint ventures arc used in real estate development as a means of raising capital and spreading risk. For all practical purposes a joint venture is similar to a general partnership. However, once the purpose of the joint venture has been accomplished, the entity ceases to exist.
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JUDGMENT The final legal determination of rights between disputants, such as a mortgagor and a mortgagee, by a court of competent jurisdiction.
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JUDGMENT CREDITOR The party who gains under a judgment.
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JUDGMENT DEBTOR The person burdened by a judgment.
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JUDGMENT LIEN The charge upon the property of a debtor resulting from the decree of a court entered in the judgment docket. Once a certified abstract of the court judgment is recorded, it becomes a lien upon all of the judgment debtor's real and personal property within the jurisdiction. The lien may be suspended by posting a bond until the time for final appeal has expired or an appeal has been turned down by the appellate court. This abstract is recorded in a judgment docket kept by the county clerk or other public official which is arranged alphabetically according to the names of judgment debtors. The abstract places a cloud on the title of all real property owned by the judgment debtor for the statutory time of the judgment lien or until the lien is satisfied. When a judgment is a lien on all the property of the judgment debtor, it is called a judgment in personam as contrasted to a judgment in rem, which applies only to a specific property. 'Me statutory time period is set by state law, in most states ten years.
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JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE A means of selling property through a court procedure to satisfy a lien.
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JUNIOR LIEN An encumbrance second in priority to a previously recorded lien or to a lien to which the encumbrance has been subordinated.
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JUNIOR MORTGAGE A mortgage which has a lower priority or lien position than a first mortgage. A third or even a fourth mortgage is also classified as a junior mortgage. What establishes a mortgage as being a junior mortgage is that it was recorded after the first mortgage was recorded and thus its lien position is inferior to the first mortgage.
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JURISDICTION The extent of authority of a court to render legal decision over person or subject matter.
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JUST COMPENSATION Fair and reasonable compensation to both owner and the public when property is taken for public use through condemnation. Protection is provided to property owners under the U.S. Constitution for the taking of land. The Fifth Amendment provides that 'just compensation' must be made.
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