Half Bath
Hard Inquiry
Hazard Insurance
HELOC
Historic Preservation
Historic Structure
Holdback
Holiday/Vacation Ownership
Home Equity
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
Home Inspection
Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act
Home Warranty
Homeowner's Association
Homeowner's Insurance
Homestead
Housing Bubble
HUD-1

Half Bath
A room with a toilet and sink only.

Hard Inquiry
A reflection on an individual's credit report showing that a copy of the individual's credit report has been requested. This type of inquiry negatively affects the individual's credit score. This type of inquiry occurs when applying for a new credit card, applying for an auto loan, or applying for a mortgage, for example.

Hazard Insurance
Insurance that covers physical damage to a property from natural disasters such as fires or other types of hazards.

HELOC
An abbreviation for home equity line of credit.

Historic Preservation
An attempt to protect buildings that may have historical value. This usually occurs in order to prevent the destruction of the building.

Historic Structure
A building that has been deemed historical and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. These buildings cannot be touched unless it is for maintenace purposes.

Holdback
A portion of a mortgage that is held by the lender until specific conditions or contingencies have been met by the borrower.

Holiday / Vacation Ownership
(aka timeshare) The "owner" of the property is not given completely ownership rights but are given ownership rights for a certain period of time during each year.

Home Equity
The difference between the amount of existing mortgages and the fair market value of the property.

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
A type of mortgage that converts the equity in the house into cash for the use of the homeowner. No payments are necessary on the loan until the house is no longer occupied by the borrower. This type of loan is sometimes also referred to as a reverse mortgage, this type of mortgage is most often used by older homeowners.

Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
An open-ended loan with an interest rate based off of the Prime rate. This type of loan is recorded on credit reports as revolving credit -- it acts as a credit card with real estate held as collateral.

Home Inspection
An examination of a property's visible structure. This type of exam is performed before a purchase is complete.

Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act
A federal law that prohibits predatory lending in mortgages.

Home Warranty
A guarantee that a property will be in working order for a specified period of time.

Homeowner's Association
A group elected to govern and enforce the rules and regulations of a subdivision, a condominium community, or any shared community. Each homeowner in the community pays dues towards maintaining common areas and enforcing association rules.

Homeowner's Insurance
An insurance policy covering damage or loss to property.

Homestead
A specific status given to homeowners and their owner-occupied homes to protect against certain types of judgments and liens.

Housing Bubble
A rapid increase in property value leading to a bubble burst where property values take a sharp decrease.

HUD-1
(aka closing statement) Please refer to our definition for closing statement.