Connecticut General Statutes 8-265cc – Definitions
As used in this section and sections 8-265dd to 8-265kk, inclusive:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 8-265cc
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(1) “Aggregate family income” means the total income of persons residing in the same household as the homeowner and any other resident of the household declared by the homeowner as a dependent for federal tax purposes, from whatever source derived, including, but not limited to, pensions, annuities, retirement benefits and Social Security benefits, provided the authority may exclude from income (A) reasonable allowances for dependents, (B) reasonable allowances for medical expenses, (C) all or any part of the earnings of gainfully employed minors or family members other than the chief wage earner, (D) income not regularly received, and (E) such other expenses as the authority may allow;
(2) “Authority” means the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority created under section 8-244;
(3) “Mortgage” means a mortgage deed or other instrument which constitutes a first or second consensual lien, including a reverse mortgage or a home equity conversion mortgage, on residential real property;
(4) “Mortgagee” means the original lender under a mortgage, or its agents, successors, or assigns;
(5) “Mortgagor” means a homeowner who is also the borrower under a mortgage encumbering such real property;
(6) “Housing expense” means the sum of the homeowner’s monthly maintenance expense in a common interest community, utility expense, heating expense, hazard insurance payment, taxes and required mortgage payment, including escrows;
(7) “Financial hardship due to circumstances beyond the homeowner’s control” means a significant reduction of aggregate family household income or increase in expenses which reasonably cannot be or could not have been alleviated by the liquidation of assets by the homeowner as determined by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, including, but not limited to, a reduction resulting from (A) (i) unemployment or underemployment of one or more of the homeowners; (ii) a loss, reduction or delay in receipt of such federal, state or municipal benefits as Social Security, supplemental security income, public assistance and government pensions; (iii) a loss, reduction or delay in receipt of such private benefits as pension, disability, annuity or retirement benefits; (iv) divorce or a loss of support payments; (v) disability, illness or death of a homeowner; or (B) (i) a significant increase in the dollar amount of the periodic payments required by the mortgage; (ii) an unanticipated rise in housing expenses; or (iii) expenses related to the disability, illness or death of a member of the homeowner’s family, but does not include expenses related to the accumulation of credit or installment debt incurred for recreational or nonessential items prior to the occurrence of the alleged circumstances beyond the homeowner’s control in an amount that would have caused the homeowner’s total debt service to exceed sixty per cent of aggregate family income at that time;
(8) “Consumer credit counseling agency” means a nonprofit corporation or governmental agency located in this state which has been designated by the authority to provide homeowners’ emergency mortgage assistance program counseling. A qualified consumer credit counseling agency must either be certified as a housing counseling agency by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or otherwise determined accepted by the authority;
(9) “Foreclosure mediation program” means the Ezequiel Santiago Foreclosure Mediation Program established pursuant to section 49-31m;
(10) “Periodic payments” means principal, interest, taxes, insurance and, if applicable, condominium fees;
(11) “Lien” means debt secured by a lien on residential real property pursuant to section 7-239, 7-254, 7-258 or 47-258 or chapter 205;
(12) “Lienholder” means the original lienor of a lien, or its agents, successors or assigns;
(13) “Homeowner” means the owner-occupant of residential real property; and
(14) “Residential real property” means a one-to-four family owner-occupied residential real estate located in this state, including, but not limited to, a single-family unit in a common interest community.