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Radon
A radioactive gas found in some homes that, if occurring in strong enough concentrations, can cause health problems.

Real Estate Agent
An individual who is licensed to negotiate and arrange real estate sales; works for a real estate broker.

Realtor
A real estate agent or broker who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, and its local and state associations.

Refinancing
Paying off one loan by obtaining another; refinancing is generally done to secure better loan terms (like a lower interest rate).

Rehabilitation Mortgage
A mortgage that covers the costs of rehabilitating (repairing or Improving) a property; some rehabilitation mortgages - like the FHA's 203(k) - allow a borrower to roll the costs of rehabilitation and home purchase into one mortgage loan.

RESPA
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act; a law protecting consumers from abuses during the residential real estate purchase and loan process by requiring lenders to disclose all settlement costs, practices, and relationships

Reverse Mortgage
A reverse mortgage is a type of loan available to seniors (62 and over in the US), used as a way of converting their home equity (the value of the home, minus the amount of any existing mortgages) into one or more cash payments while retaining ownership of the property (continuing to live there) and avoiding monthly payments. Repayment of the loan is deferred until the borrower is no longer living in the home.

Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC)
A security that represents a beneficial interest in a trust having multiple classes of securities. The securities of each class entitle investors to cash flows structured differently from the payments on the underlying mortgages.

Repayment plan
An agreement between a lender and a borrower who is delinquent on his or her mortgage payments, in which the borrower agrees to make additional payments to pay down past due amounts while still making regularly scheduled payments.

Return on average common equity
Net income available to common stockholders, as a percentage of average common stockholders' equity.

Reverse mortgage
A financial tool, which provides seniors with funds from the equity in their homes. Generally, no payments are made on a reverse mortgage until the borrower moves or the property is sold. The final repayment obligation is designed to not exceed the proceeds from the sale of the home.

Risk-based capital
The amount of capital necessary to absorb losses throughout a hypothetical ten-year period marked by severely adverse circumstances.

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Settlement
Another name for closing .

Special Forbearance
A loss mitigation option where the lender arranges a revised repayment plan for the borrower that may include a temporary reduction or suspension of monthly loan payments.

Subordinate
To place in a rank of lesser importance or to make one claim secondary to another.

Survey
A property diagram that indicates legal boundaries, easements, encroachments, rights of way, improvement locations, etc.

Sweat Equity
Using labor to build or improve a property as part of the down payment.

Secondary mortgage market
The market in which residential mortgages or mortgage securities are bought and sold.

Security
A financial instrument showing ownership of equity (such as common stock), indebtedness (such as a debt security), a group of mortgages (such as MBS), or potential ownership (such as an option).

Serious delinquency
A single-family mortgage that is 90 days or more past due, or a multifamily mortgage that is two months or more past due.

Stockholders' equity
The sum of proceeds from the issuance of stock and retained earnings less amounts paid to repurchase common shares.

Stripped MBS (SMBS)
Securities created by "stripping" or separating the principal and interest payments from the underlying pool of mortgages into two classes of securities, with each receiving a different proportion of the principal and interest payments.

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