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Glossary of Mortgage Terms: D to E

Mortgage Terms Defined on this page:

Debit Card, Debt Consolidation, Default,
Deferred Payment, Deposit, Direct Debit,
Discounted Rates, Early Redemption Fee,
Electoral Roll, Endowment, Equity,
Equity Release, Exchange of Contracts.

Please see further definitions on the pages below:

A-B, C, D-E, F-G, H-I-J, L-M-N-O, P-Q-R, S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z.

Definitions:

Debit Card

A Debit Card is a payment card that is connected to a bank or building society current account. When you buy something using a Debit Card the money is debited from your account straight away. There is no option to defer the payment as with a Credit Card.

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Debt Consolidation

Combining together all your debts into one big loan over a longer time with lower monthly payments.

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Default

If you don't make your repayments as set out in the Terms of the loan agreement they you are said to be in Default. If this happens you the Interest Rate on your account will probably go up. If this goes on for very long it will go on your records at a Credit Reference Agency and may make borrowing more difficult of more expensive in the future.

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Deferred Payment

Delaying the date at which you start making repayments on a loan

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Deposit

This is the amount of money you put towards the purchase of an item. You often have to put down a Deposit when buying a property although on occasion some Lenders may lend 100% of the purchase price if they feel confident that they will get their money back.

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Direct Debit

A Direct Debit is an instruction to your bank giving permission for an organisation to take varying amounts of money from your account. You are given advanced notice of the amounts and the date on which they will be taken. Direct Debit is often used for paying regular bills and you will probably use it make loan repayments.

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Discounted Rates

A lower rate offered for a set length of time at the beginning of a Loan Term.

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Early Redemption Fee

A charge made by a Lender if you want to pay back your loan earlier than you originally agreed.

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Electoral Roll

A list of all the people who can vote in an election. The list is maintained by you local authority and if you aren't on the list in plenty of time before the election they you won't be able to vote.

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Endowment

Usually used to refer to endowment mortgages. With these types of mortgage, some of the money you pay each month goes towards the Interest on the loan and the Lender invests the rest. At the end of the mortgage agreement the money invested is used to pay the Lender back the original amount you borrowed. They were designed to allow you to pay a smaller amount each month but the downturn in the stock market has meant that many endowment mortgage holders are finding the money invested for them will not cover the final balance of their mortgage.

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Equity

Your equity in a property is the difference between the amount of money you owe on your mortgage and how much you would receive if you sold it.

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Equity Release

If you have a certain amount of cash tied up in your property, you may be able to increase the value of your mortgage by switching lenders and as a result unlock some of the cash you have built up in your home.

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Exchange of Contracts

One of the stages in buying a property. The buyer and seller exchange contracts and both become legally committed to completing the transaction and the buyer is responsible for insuring the property.

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Please see further definitions on the pages below:

A-B, C, D-E, F-G, H-I-J, L-M-N-O, P-Q-R, S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z.