Acceleration Clause
Definition of "Acceleration Clause"
Acceleration Clause is a contractual provision inserted in a mortgage, a bond, a deed of trust or other credit vehicles, that gives the lender the right to demand repayment of the entire loan balance. Usually, such a clause becomes operational when there has been a default in payments of interest or principal or both.
When the acceleration clause is activated, the entire principal sum is called in and becomes due and payable. This fact would precipitate a foreclosure in the case of real estate, or bankruptcy action if the monies were not paid at the time of the call.
Acceleration clauses are created to protect the lender from borrower default and other risks. It prevents/deals with payment delinquencies, but can, on rare occasions, be structured for other occurrences too.
Let's see an acceleration clause in effect scenario:
Home Seller Barbara makes a Land Contract with Home Buyer Paul. He started paying correctly and living in Barbara's former house. He has paid already $30,000 of its $100,000 contract. At the end of it, he'll be the owner of the house. BUT: he didn't pay for the last 3 months, so the acceleration clause kicked in, Barbara filed for a land contract forfeiture and now Paul has to pay the rest of the $70,000 with one swing if he wants to still be able to get the house. Or else, they're done.
Accelerate your home buying/home selling process: find a real estate agent
Popular Real Estate Terms
Rentals received in cash rather than on credit. ...
Kind of siding for wood frame houses where the joints in the usually vertical siding are covered by narrow strips of wood called battens. The battens are nailed over the joints. ...
The Debt-to-Income Ratio’s (DTI) definition is a measure that allows one to compare the ability an individual has to afford a monthly debt payment out of their monthly gross income. ...
Husband's common law rights to the property his deceased wife owned either during the marriage or at the time of her death. The husband has life estate rights in the deceased wife's ...
Same as term government rectangular survey: Way in which the U.S. government uses to subdivide public land. Land is designated as either a base line (East-West) or principal meridian line ...
The amount of inherent risk for a mortgage in granting a mortgage. An operating principle in mortgage risk rating is that the mortgage cannot exceed 2.5 times the mortgagor's annual income, ...
Writ issued by a superior court to a lower court requiring the latter to produce a record of the proceedings of a particular case. The purpose of a writ of certiorari is to review the ...
Legal obligation to pay for a benefit received as if a contract has actually occurred. This may arise in a few cases so that an equitable situation occurs. An example is when a homeowner ...
Street terminating at one end with only one outlet. A dead end street is not a through street. See also cul de sac. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.