Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 24 > Chapter 40 - Real Estate Appraisers

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appraisal: shall mean an analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of specified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate as of a specific date. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Appraisal management company: means a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, subsidiary or other business entity that directly or indirectly performs appraisal management services, regardless of the use of the term "appraisal management company" "mortgage technology provider" "lender processing services" "lender services" "loan processor" "mortgage services" "real estate closing services provider" "settlement services provider" "vendor management company" or any other term, and that does any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002

• Appraisal management services: means the process of receiving a request for the performance of real property appraisal services from a client, and for a fee paid by the client, entering into an agreement with 1 or more independent appraisers who are part of an appraiser panel to perform the real property appraisal services contained in the request. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Appraisal review: means the act or process of developing and communicating an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work that was performed as part of an appraisal assignment, but does not include an examination of an appraisal for grammatical, typographical or other similar errors that do not communicate an opinion related to the appraiser's data collection, analysis, opinions, conclusions, estimate of value or compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Appraiser panel: means a group of independent appraisers that has been selected by an appraisal management company to perform real property appraisal services for the appraisal management company. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• AQB: shall mean the Appraisal Qualifications Board appointed by the Appraisal Foundation to establish the minimum education, examination, and experience requirements for real estate appraisers providing appraisals in federally-related transactions. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Authorized officer: means any official of this State or any of its departments, agencies or other instrumentalities or any of its political subdivisions whose signature to a public security or instrument of payment is required or permitted. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5401
• Broker: means any individual who holds a broker license from the Delaware Real Estate Commission and who for a compensation or valuable consideration, is self-employed or is employed directly or indirectly by a brokerage organization to sell or offer to sell, or to buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase, sale, or exchange of real estate, or to lease or rent or offer for rent any real estate, or to negotiate leases or rental agreements thereof or of the improvements thereon for others. See Delaware Code Title 25 Sec. 2602
• Brokerage agreement: means any written agreement for the payment for brokerage services of a broker for the management, sale, purchase, lease, or other conveyance or acquisition of commercial real estate. See Delaware Code Title 25 Sec. 2602
• Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• Commercial real estate: means any estate or interest owned in:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 25 Sec. 2602

• Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Controlling person: means any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002

• conveying: means a sale, lease, exchange, or other transfer of any estate or interest in commercial real estate. See Delaware Code Title 25 Sec. 2602
• 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.
• Council: shall mean the State Council on Real Estate Appraisers established in this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Division: shall mean the State Division of Professional Regulation. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• dollars: means lawful money of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Dower: A widow
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Excessive use or abuse of drugs: shall mean any use of narcotics, controlled substances, or illegal drugs without a prescription from a licensed practitioner, or the abuse of alcoholic beverage such that it impairs the ability to perform the work of an appraiser. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Facsimile signature: means a reproduction by engraving, imprinting, stamping or other means of the manual signature of an authorized officer. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5401
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• franchise: shall mean authorization lawfully adopted or agreed to by the Commission pursuant to this chapter to construct or operate a cable television system or systems in whole or in part within a county of this State. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Goods: means all things that are movable at the time of identification to the lease contract, or are fixtures (Section 2A-309), but the term does not include money, documents, instruments, accounts, chattel paper, general intangibles, or minerals or the like, including oil and gas, before extraction. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Instrument of payment: means a check, draft, warrant or order for the payment, delivery or transfer of funds. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5401
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• Knowledge: means a person's actual knowledge of a fact, rather than the person's constructive knowledge of the fact. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lessee: means a person who acquires the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Lessor: means a person who transfers the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed real property appraiser: shall mean a person, who has met the licensing requirements of this chapter and who may appraise noncomplex 1 to 4 residential units having a transaction value less than $1,000,000 and complex 1 to 4 residential units having a transaction value of $400,000 or less, and who holds a current, valid license issued under this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means a natural person, partnership (whether general or limited), limited liability company, trust (including a common law trust, business trust, statutory trust, voting trust or any other form of trust), estate, association (including any group, organization, co-tenancy, plan, board, council or committee), corporation, government (including a country, state, county or any other governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality), custodian, nominee or any other individual or entity (or series thereof) in its own or any representative capacity, in each case, whether domestic or foreign. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• Person: shall mean an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, joint stock company, limited partnership, limited liability company, and any other legal entity and includes a legal successor of those entities. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Personal supervision: shall mean the active oversight by the state-licensed or certified real estate appraiser of the real property appraiser trainee. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public security: means a bond, note, certificate of indebtedness or other obligation for the payment of money issued by this State or by any of its departments, agencies or other instrumentalities or by any of its political subdivisions. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5401
• Public utility: includes every individual, partnership, association, corporation, joint stock company, agency or department of the State or any association of individuals engaged in the prosecution in common of a productive enterprise (commonly called a "cooperative"), their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that now operates or hereafter may operate for public use within this State, (however, electric cooperatives shall not be permitted directly or through an affiliate to engage in the production, sale or distribution of propane gas or heating oil), any natural gas, electric (excluding electric suppliers as defined in § 1001 of this title), electric transmission by other than a public utility over which the Commission has no supervisory or regulatory jurisdiction pursuant to § 202(a) or (g) of this title, water, wastewater (which shall include sanitary sewer charge), telecommunications (excluding telephone services provided by cellular technology or by domestic public land mobile radio service) service, system, plant or equipment. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rate base: means :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102

• Real estate appraiser: means any person who advises, consults, or prepares analyses with respect to real estate values, uses, sales, developments or disposition, including acquisitions by eminent domain, or renders opinions relevant to the marketability of real estate, as a whole or partial vocation. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: shall mean 1 or more defined interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of real estate. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: shall mean the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Substantially related: shall mean the nature of the criminal conduct for which the person was convicted, has a direct bearing on the fitness or ability to perform 1 or more of the duties or responsibilities necessarily related to the practice of real estate appraisal. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplier: means a person from whom a lessor buys or leases goods to be leased under a finance lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• system: shall mean a facility within this State which is constructed in whole or in part in, on, under or over any highway, road, street, alley, or other public place and which is operated to perform the service of receiving and amplifying the signals of 1 or more radio and/or television broadcasting stations and distributing such signals by cable, wire or other means to members of the public who subscribe to such service; provided that nothing herein is intended to prohibit any system from engaging in any other activity not expressly prohibited by law; except that such definition shall not include (i) any system which serves fewer than 50 subscribers; or (ii) any system which serves only the residents of 1 or more apartment dwellings or mobile home or trailer parks under common ownership, control or management, and commercial establishments located on the premises of such dwellings; or (iii) telephone, telegraph or electric utilities in those cases where the activity of such utility in connection with a cable system is limited to leasing or renting to cable systems, cables, wires, poles, towers or other electronic equipment or rights to use real property as part of, or for use in connection with, the operation of a cable system. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Trainee: shall mean a person who has completed classroom hours of education on real estate matters satisfactory to the Council, as indicated in the rules and regulations, including classroom hours on the topic of Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4002
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• written notice: shall mean notice in writing which is hand-delivered or mailed by certified mail, to the person who is to be given notice. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102