Definition of "Penalty"

Amount to be paid by a person or business for violating a statute or legal court order. It may also be assessed for violating the provisions of a contract. Examples of penalties are a charge made by the Internal Revenue Service for underpaying corporate income taxes, penalty assessed by a municipality for failing to pay property taxes, penalty due to prepaying a mortgage, amount arising from breaking a real estate contract, and fee due from prematurely terminating a lease.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Language commonly used in a fee simple title conveyance. The significance is whether the title is clear and can be passed on to the purchaser's estate including all heirs and those who may ...

Are you looking to sell your house or buy a new one? Then, you'll most assuredly encounter the term instrument at some point. If you don't want to ask people: "Please, define instrument to ...

Through the master plan definition, we can understand it’s a plan describing both through narrative and maps the overall land use of a designated urban area. It includes both present ...

Roof having a concave angle. ...

Measure of central tendency that is a measure of the center of the data; also called an average. Mean and standard deviation are the two most widely used statistical measures that summarize ...

Net amount received when property is sold. It equals the selling price less outstanding mortgage balance less all costs incurred in connection with the sale. These expenditures include ...

The accrued interest definition can be explained through the interest collected by a set date on financial obligations that were not paid out. As interest can be of two types, so does ...

See quantity survey method. ...

A lease granted for the right to explore for and recover oil and gas on a specific parcel of property. The terms of an oil and gas lease specify the length of time of the contract, the ...

Popular Real Estate Questions