Real Estate Glossary: Terms starting with letter 'J'

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• Joint tenancy: A legal method of owning real or personal property by two or more persons in which each person owns an undivided interest in the whole and has an automatic ownership right to the property after the death of the other owner or owners. This method of ownership avoids probate but may have undesirable legal and tax consequences.

• Judgment: A decision made by a court of law. In judgments that require the repayment of a debt, the court may place a lien against the debtor's real property as collateral for the judgment's creditor.

• Judgment lien: A lien on the property of a debtor resulting from the decree of a court.

• Judicial foreclosure: A type of foreclosure proceeding used in some states that is handled as a civil lawsuit and conducted entirely under the auspices of a court.

• Jumbo loan: A loan that exceeds Fannie Mae’s legislated mortgage amount limits. Also called a nonconforming loan.