Secondary Mortgage Market
Where existing mortgages are bought and sold.
Security
The property that will be pledged as collateral for a loan.
Seller Carry-back
An agreement in which the owner of a property provides financing, often in combination with an assumable mortgage. See Owner Financing.
Servicer
An organization that collects principal and interest payments from borrowers and manages borrowers’ escrow accounts. The servicer often services mortgages that have been purchased by an investor in the secondary mortgage market.
Standard Payment Calculation
The method used to determine the monthly payment required to repay the remaining balance of a mortgage in substantially equal installments over the remaining term of the mortgage at the current interest rate.
Step-Rate Mortgage
A mortgage that allows for the interest rate to increase according to a specified schedule (i.e., seven years), resulting in increased payments as well. At the end of the specified period, the rate and payments will remain constant for the remainder of the loan.