Mortgage Term Protection - A To Z

J
Joint Agents
When a seller employs two independent estate agents to sell their house.

L
Land Registry
This is when the solicitor registers the buyer as the new owner of the property. The register is conclusive evidence of the title of the person whose name appears on it. Most agricultural land in Ireland is registered in the Land Registry.

Life Assurance
This is an insurance policy which pays out a fixed lump sum on the death of a policy holder. Often referred to as 'Mortgage Protection'.

Loan to Value (LTV)
A formula used to evaluate the percentage of the value of the house borrowed from the lender... So that if the house is worth €100,000 and the borrower owe €50,000 on their mortgage, the LTV is 50%.

Leasehold
Leasehold gives a person the right of possession, but not ownership, of a property for an agreed period of time (usually a fixed term stated on the lease). Ownership remains with the freeholder, but the lessee must pay ground rent annually and is subject to the terms of the lease.

Legal Fees
Solicitors charge a small percentage of the purchase price for their services. This fee will depend upon the agreement made between the borrower and the solicitor.

M
Mortgage
A long-term loan to finance the purchase of a property, with the property acting as security for the lender.

Mortgagee
The lender of the mortgage, like a bank, trust company, credit union or other finance provider.

Mortgagor
The property buyer who takes out the mortgage.

Mortgage Term
The period over which the mortgage is to be repaid.

Mortgage Protection
An insurance policy that is designed to pay off a fixed amount of money owing on a mortgage in the unfortunate event of a serious illness or death of the borrower.

Maturity Date
The final day of the term of the mortgage. On this date, the mortgage must either be renewed or paid off in full.

Mortgage Break
This allows the borrower to take a break from their mortgage repayments for 3 consecutive months in any one year. It is available up to 4 times over the term of the mortgage, (once 3 years of satisfactory repayments have been made and the LTV is 85% or less). One months notice will be required.

Mortgage Interest Relief
This is a tax relief, which can be claimed on mortgage interest payments. People buying for the first time are entitled to the highest amount of relief.