SALE AGREEMENT

A contract entered into between a buyer and seller, setting forth the terms, provisions, and conditions of a sale of real estate.

SALES CONTRACT

(See Sale Agreement.)

SATISFACTION

(1) The payment of a debt or fulfillment of an obligation.  (2) An instrument executed by the holder of a lien, debt or obligation which acknowledges payment or fulfillment.  For example, a satisfaction of a mortgage sometimes is referred to as a satisfaction piece.

SEARCH

In title industry parlance, a careful exploration and perusal of the public records in an effort to find all recorded instruments relating to a particular chain of title.

SECOND MORTGAGE

A mortgage ranking in priority immediately below a first mortgage.  See Junior Mortgage.

SECURITY

Assurance against the default or non-payment of a debt or obligation which makes the enforcement of a promise or an obligation more certain than the personal commitment of the debtor or obligator.  Usually the pledge of property.

SEISIN

(Also spelled Seizin) An Old English term meaning legal possession or the right to legal possession of real estate under a freehold title.

SERVIENT ESTATE

Incident to an easement, the property upon or across which an easement exists.  (See Dominant Estate.)

SERVITUDE

A right or interest in a piece of real estate, which right or interest serves or benefits another unrelated property.  For example, an easement across one piece of property which serves another piece of property is said to constitute a servitude regarding the property upon which it is located.

SET ASIDE

To declare invalid or void; to annul.  For example, a court may set aside an erroneous judgment or decree.

SETBACK LINE

(See Building Line.)

SETTLEMENT

(See Closing.)

SKY LEASE

A lease of air space above a piece of land.  The ownership of land extends down to the center of the earth and up to the sky.  Space above the land can, therefore, be leased or sold.  Cantilever or bridge type buildings which do not depend on the lessor's land for support may be built in such air space.

SOVEREIGNTY

Supreme political power or authority.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENT

(See Improvement Liens.)

SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED

A deed which warrants the title only with respect to acts of the grantor and the interests of anyone claiming by, through, or under him.

SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE

A lawsuit in which the court compels one of the parties to perform or carry out the provisions of a contract into which he has entered.

SPECULATIVE BUILDER

One who constructs buildings for sale without having firm purchase commitments.  Speculative building is quite common in residential housing developments and in condominiums.

SQUATTER

One who settles upon unoccupied land without legal claim or authority.  (See Adverse Possession.)

STARTER

(See Back Title Letter.)

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

A statute setting a time limit on the enforcement of a right or on the collection of a debt in certain cases.

SUBDIVISION

An area of land laid out and divided into lots, blocks, and building sites, and in which public facilities are laid out, such as streets, alleys, parks, and easements for public utilities.

SUBJACENT

A term applied to land or property lying contiguous to, but at a lower level than, another piece of property.

SUBLET

To rent property which one holds by lease, to another.

SUBORDINATION

Giving a lien or interest an inferior status.  For example, an existing mortgage may be subordinated to the lien of a new construction loan mortgage in which case the construction loan mortgage becomes a prior lien.

SUBROGATION

The legal doctrine under which the law substitutes one creditor or claimant for another.  When a title insurance company pays a claim under a title insurance policy, it is entitled to step into the shoes of the insured with respect to any rights the insured may have against parties who warranted the title to him.

SUIT

Usually meaning a lawsuit.

SUIT TO QUIET TITLE

(See Quiet Title Suit.)

SURETY

(1) A person who agrees to be responsible for a debt or obligation of another.  (2) The pledge or agreement by which one undertakes responsibility for the debt or obligation of another.

SURVEY

(1) To determine the location, boundaries, area, or the elevations of land and structures upon the earth's surface by means of courses in relation to the North Star, and the measuring of angles and distances by using the techniques of geometry and trigonometry.  (2) The map or plat drawn by a surveyor which represents the property surveyed and shows the results of a survey.