FALSE PERSONATION

The act of a person who falsely and fraudulently claims to be another person.

FALSIFICATION

The forging, altering, or counterfeiting of a document, or knowingly making untruthful statements or misrepresentations.

FEE SIMPLE

The highest degree of ownership which a person can have in real estate.  An interest in real estate which gives the owner unqualified ownership and full power of disposition.

FEUDAL SYSTEM

A political and economic system which prevailed in Europe based upon the relation of overlord to vassal.  The feudal lord held paramount title to the land.  The interest in land acquired by vassals was impermanent, and title always reverted to the lord upon the vassal's death.

FIDUCIARY

A person who bears a special relationship of trust, confidence, and responsibility to others, such as a trustee or agent.

FILING

In title industry parlance, this term relates to the delivery of real estate instruments to a recorder for recordings.

FIRST MORTGAGE

A mortgage having priority as a lien over any other mortgage or lien on the same property.

FIXTURE

Personal property which is permanently attached to real estate such as plumbing fixtures.  So long as a fixture is permanently attached, it is usually regarded as part of the real estate.

FORECLOSURE

A legal proceeding for the collection of real estate mortgages and other types of liens on real estate, which results in cutting off the right to redeem the mortgaged property and usually involves a judicial sale of the property to pay the mortgage debt.

FORESHORE

Land between the low water mark and high water mark, covered and uncovered by the ebb and flow of the tide.

FORFEIT

(1) Money or a right which a person loses upon failure to perform an agreement, obligation, or duty.  (2) The act of losing money or a right as described.

FORGED

Fraudulently executed, counterfeited.

FORGERY

The fraudulent signing of another's name to an instrument such as a deed or mortgage or check.

FRAUD

A deception deliberately practiced in order to obtain an unfair or unlawful gain.

FRAUDULENT

Obtained, performed, or characterized by deceit or fraud.

FREEHOLD

A life estate or a fee simple estate.

FRONT FOOT

A unit of measurement, one foot in length, along the front boundary line of a piece of property which measurement, when assigned a dollar value, is a factor in determining the total value or sale price of the tract.