Today's Mortgage Terms starting with A

Accrued Interest:

Interest earned but has not been paid

Additional Principal Payment:

A payment made by the borrower of more than the scheduled principal amount due with the purpose of reducing the remaining balance on the loan.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage:

Loans with interest rates that are adjusted periodically based on changes of a pre-determined index. The index is based on market rates such as Treasury bills and prime rates. The ARM has an interest rate cap that limits the amount the interest rate can change.

Adjustment Period:

Applicable to an ARM, the time between changes in the interest rate.

Amortization:

Repayment of a debt with periodic payments, usually monthly, of principal and interest calculated to pay down the loan within a predetermined time.

Amortization Schedule:

A timetable for payment of a mortgage detailing the amount of each payment applied to interest and principal and the balance left outstanding.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR):

The cost of credit shown as a yearly rate. The annual percentage rate is usually not the same as the interest rate. The APR will be higher than the interest rate stated in the note due to the fact that it includes the interest rate, loan discount points, fees and mortgage insurance.

Appraisal Fee:

A fee charged by a licensed, certified appraiser for a written estimate of a property's current market value at a specific time.

Assumable Mortgage:

A mortgage that can be taken over by the buyer when a home is sold by the previous owner.

View all Terms

Harris mortgage rates news:

Banks cut rates after Ottawa steps in - Globe and Mail
OTTAWA, TORONTO -- Royal Bank of Canada's Barbara Stymiest paused at midday yesterday in the midst of explaining the balancing act that's required to fund a major financial institution during a credit crisis. The chief operating officer had been ...

National City Bank sale could mean a few changes - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Customers may notice a few changes if National City is sold -- but not right away. It can take time to merge two huge banking systems, according to Kevin Mukri, spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, National City's regulator ...

Countrywide Settles Fraud Cases for $8.4 Billion (Update2) - Bloomberg
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. , the mortgage lender acquired by Bank of America Corp., will settle fraud complaints in 11 states by cutting the amount borrowers owe and their interest rates at a cost of $8.4 billion. The accord ...

Residential Finance Corp. Mortgage Loan Officer Wins Spirit of ... - dBusinessNews.com
Residential Finance Corporation (RFC), a nationwide mortgage lender, today announced that LendingTree has bestowed its Spirit of LendingTree Award to RFC Loan Officer Erika Butler. The company’s highest award for loan officers recognizes the one ...

Clerk Brown to host summit on mortgage foreclosure - Chicago Defender
Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, along with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore, Representative Karen Yarbrough, Alderman JoAnn Thompson, The Dorothy Brown Scholarship and ...

Troubles spread to prime Md. mortgages - Baltimore Sun
The share of Maryland homeowners behind on their prime mortgages shot past 4 percent for the first time this spring, a sign that loan troubles are spreading beyond borrowers with shaky credit. More than 36,000 prime loans in Maryland were delinquent ...

Politicians, lobbyists shielded financiers - Seattle Post Intelligencer
While Wall Street financiers stoked today's financial meltdown with explosive investing in high-risk mortgage loans, politicians, federal officials and lobbyists shielded them from lawsuits that would have protected borrowers and tempered the frenzy ...

Bank falls hit European shares - News.com.au
EUROPEAN stocks drifted lower overnight as mounting concerns about the health of the financial sector hit banks, with shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS plunging about 40 per cent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 0.14 ...

Stocks end worst week mixed after wild session - Forbes
Wall Street capped one of its worst weeks ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest ...

Late rally eases the pain, but stocks still fall again - Houston Chronicle
A businessman walks his son to school past the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. NEW YORK — Wall Street capped one of its worst weeks ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials gyrate within a 1,000 point range before ...