The definition of obligor is a position that comes from obligation and indicates a party that has ‘promised’ to perform a specific act. In the financing world, an obligor is also known as a debtor. It can apply to someone who is obliged legally or through a contract to pay a debt, to provide a service, to transfer a title, or provide benefit to another.
The meaning of the term “obligor” is used in financial context to refer to an issuer of a bond. The bond issuer is contractually obliged to meet the required repayments and interest payments for an outstanding debt. The one who receives the compensation or benefits is the obligee.
How does an obligor work?
As mentioned above, an obligor’s position comes with an obligation that legally bounds the obligor to the obligee. The most common types of obligors are debt holders. The obligor is required contractually to repay their debt and to repay interest. Obligors can be found in corporate settings or personal settings. We’ll take a look at their obligations in each situation.
Corporate Setting Obligor
In the corporate world, an obligor doesn’t only deal with the payment requirements, but also with covenants which can be affirmative or negative. The affirmative covenant is a requirement of the obligor, like meeting a target or benchmark in performance. The negative covenant is a restriction that limits the obligor’s ability to do something, like changing the structure of a company’s leadership.
Because obligors are contractually obliged by these covenants, they have little freedom from them regarding payments. A delay in payments can have long-term repercussions and can be seen as a default for the bond issuer.
Personal Setting Obligor
A person can become an obligor in their personal life as well. In family disputes, divorce affects real estate, but there are situations when the court issues an order that obliges one of the parents to pay a monthly fee in child support so that the other parent can use it to raise the children. This would make the paying parent an obligor. A personal setting obligor can request a recalculation of the child support if their financial status changes as child support result from the obligor’s salary.
In case the obligor loses their job, and they do not request a recalculation of child support, they can face other problems. The court can impose wage garnishments and loss of driver’s license, amongst other things.
When an insurance company has a life insurance policy, and the insured individual dies, the insurance company becomes the obligor. Through the life insurance policy the insurance company is contractually obliged to compensate the beneficiary of the life insurance policy as stipulated within the policy itself.
Real Estate Tips:
We at RealEstateAgent.com feel it is our obligation to pass good real estate knowledge forward, so free feel to use our real estate glossary terms.
And contact a real estate agent; they’re the obligor when it comes to responsible services for people buying or selling a home!
Popular Real Estate Terms
Supporting beam or connecting member between two walls. A cross tie gives support for wall structures. ...
The definition of restraint on alienation is a limitation on the right to convey or transfer owned real estate to another party. This restriction on conveying property has an effect that ...
The unadjusted basis of assets is the actual price paid for purchasing an asset without any reductions from depreciation deductions. In order words, the unadjusted basis is an asset’s ...
Compilation of all tax maps of a given tax district that are bound together and kept at the local tax office. The tax book is a public record that may be accessed by an individual for ...
The definition of low-income housing is any house that is either rented or owned by an individual or family that has a monthly household income that does not exceed a certain percentage of ...
Reduction of part of the balance of property by charging an expense or loss account. The reason for a write-down is that some economic event has occurred indicating that the asset's value ...
Act of postponing a closing for another day or place. Adjournments of closing can occur for a variety of reasons including the lack of an appropriate closing statement, one or more parties ...
Situation in which a purchaser acquires mortgaged property and continues to pay the mortgagee for the debt outstanding. Although the new buyer continues to pay the mortgagee for the debt ...
Opinion of a judge having no direct legal or binding effect on the outcome of a pending judicial decision. An obiter dictum is considered to be an incidental judicial remark about some ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.