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
In legal terms, the definition of null and void (“void ab initio”) can describe an agreement that has no force or binding power. Therefore, it’s neither valid nor legally ...
Additions made to a structure to protect it from damage due to inclement weather. An example is reinforcing the wood surrounding windows. ...
Documentation of zoning requirements and changes thereto. ...
Charges resulting in involuntary encumbrances against real property derived from legislated law rather than from debts owed to organizations o r individuals. For example, of a homeowner ...
Property title having no encumbrances. In the usual sense this means a title not having a mortgage. Other encumbrances could include judgments or additional financial liens. ...
Same as term annuity: Equal period payments or receipts. Examples of an annuity are annual rental receipts from a real estate investment and cash dividends from a real estate firm's ...
Unable to sell an investment to obtain cash in the short-term without incurring A significant loss. Real Estate is typically not liquid because of the inability to sell property to raise ...
Rights granted to owners of property restricted to conservation use, historic preservation, or some other low density function to sell to other landowners allowing them to develop their ...
The total expenditures required to make a locality suitable for the designated purpose. An example is how much it would cost to build a shopping center on a lot. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.