Allotment
A parcel of land which is a continuous area and with boundaries shown separately on a survey plan. In relation to companies is the appropriation of shares in a company to a person.

Amortisation
Depreciation

Apportionments
The adjustments made at the time of transferring ownership of land, a business or a lease. This may include adjustment for the part period of council rates prepaid by a seller as at the date of settlement, or in the case of a lease it may include the adjustment of rental prepaid or not paid on the date of the assignment.

Appraisal
Commonly understood to be an estimate of the value of land or buildings given by a real estate agent.

Assets
The property owned by person. This may include land, chattels, debts owed to that person.

Auction
A form of sale transaction where a number of people openly compete against each other to offer an amount higher than their rivals to purchase an item.

Beneficiary
In relation to trusts is the person alone or together with others who is entitled to the benefit of the trust property held on their behalf by the trustee or trustees.

Body corporate
A legal entity that is not a natural person but has the rights of a natural person to own property, sue and be sued, for example a company.

Breach of contract
The act of failing to comply with the terms of a contract.

Brick veneer
A system of building cladding in which the structure of the building is wooden frame with a cladding of a single layer of brick.

Bridging finance
A short term loan usually at a higher interest rate to cover a short period until alternative financing arrangements are put into place.

Caveat emptor
A Latin term meaning "let the buyer beware".

Certificate of title
In relation to land is the document registered in the land register recording a person's ownership of land and some other interests in land. Registration of an interest in land grants the owner certain guaranteed rights. With the introduction of the electronic land registry in New Zealand the registration of documents is becoming less common as electronic land transactions are being registered in their place.

Chattels
Assets other than ownership of land.

Commission
In relation to real estate agents and business brokers is the fee charged (usually to the vendor) for locating an unconditional buyer for the property being sold. Usually the commission is calculated as a percentage of the sale price.

Common property
In relation to land with more than one unit on it is the area of land that is owned and available for use by all unit owners. Usually it is a drive way, foyer, stairwell or recreation area.

Condition
A term in a contract that allows a party to withdraw from it if the condition is not satisfied. Typically the condition will allow a purchaser under a contract time to ensure that an important aspect of a purchase such as finance or specified risks relating to the property are checked and are acceptable. Unconditional is the term used when referring to a contract with either no conditions or which has had all of its conditions satisfied and therefore no longer apply.

Condition precedent
A condition (for example a condition in a contract) may be expressed as precedent to the contract taking effect or subsequent to the contract taking effect. The difference is that that a condition subsequent exists in the context of a live contract and therefore carries obligations to take steps to satisfy the condition if reasonably possible. A condition precedent carries no such obligations. In New Zealand most agreements for sale and purchase of land are expressed to be conditions subsequent.

Condition subsequent
See Condition precedent above which describes both Conditions precedent and conditions subsequent.

Contract
An agreement between people or other legal entities to exchange obligations.

Conveyancing
The area of legal practice relating to the legal process required to transfer land, businesses or other assets.

Corporation
A body recognised by law as having its own separate identity and holding many of the rights of a natural person. Examples are companies and incorporated societies.

Covenant
A promise made and contained in a deed.

Deed
A document signed and witnessed as required by the Property Law Act 2007. Documents executed as deeds are required by certain enactments. They are also significant in that they may be enforced for a period of 12 years after there has been a breach of a term but would be enforceable for only 6 years if not signed as a deed.

De facto
In reality (whether in accordance with required formalities or not).

Deposit
An amount paid by a purchaser to a vendor as a sign of good faith and may be forfeited if the sale does not proceed. It is common for the deposit to be 10% of the purchase price.

Distraint/distress
A remedy of landlords against tenants (other than tenants of dwelling houses) now not available in New Zealand following the repeal of the Distress and Replevin Act 1908. The remedy allowed landlords to seize a defaulting tenant’s chattels and sell them to meet unpaid rent.

Domicile
The domicile of a person is the country that they live in and that they intend to continue residing in indefinitely. A person can have only one domicile at any one time.

Dominant
In relation to easements and covenants on land is the term describing that a piece of land has the benefit of the easement or covenant. For example the land that gives its owner the right to use a right of way is the dominant land. The land subject to the easement or covenant is referred to as the servient land.

Easement
An easement is a right that is granted over a piece of land in favour of nearby land. The right may not extend as far as giving exclusive possession of the land. There are various forms of easement. Amongst the most common are easements allowing services such as water, sewage, electricity or telephone lines and rights of way which run over defined areas of the land. This land is called the servient land. The land that has the benefit of the easement is referred to as the dominant land.

Encroachment
In land law this is a reference to the situation where buildings or other improvements to the land have been built across the boundary of the land. The encroachment need not be at ground level, for example overhanging eaves.

Encumbrance
In land law this is a restriction shown on the title to land such as a mortgage or other charge.

Equity
Is the area of law which arose to provide fairness in situations where the rules applied by the common law courts were harsh and inflexible. It relates to trusts and the special obligations that trustees and others with similar responsibilities have.

Estoppel
A family of rules which prevent a person making certain arguments in Court. Examples: - a person can't argue an issue on which a final decision has already been made by the Court; - anyone who has led a person to believe in the existence of circumstances on which that person has relied to their detriment can't then deny the existence of those circumstances.

Execution
The form of signing and witnessing required to make a document a deed or for a valid will.

Fiduciary
This describes a special relationship of trust in which the rules of equity place extra obligations on the person who is the fiduciary. The extra obligations are those which bind trustees such as a duty of full disclosure of relevant information known to the fiduciary, an obligation not to profit from the relationship (unless that is agreed or implied to be part of the relationship) or to act in a situation where there would be a conflict of interest between the fiduciary's interests and the duty or to have conflicting duties. Fiduciary relationships include trustees to the beneficiaries of the trust, solicitors to their clients, directors to their companies, partners to each other, holders of powers of attorney to the grantor and agents to their principal.

Flat interest rate
The method of charging interest in which the interest is simply calculated against the amount of the debt. The alternative method is to compound the interest in which the interest earned is periodically added to the total of the debt and then interest is charged on that.

Foreshore
The area of land between high and low tides. Under the Resource Management Act 1991 and other recent legislation the high tide limit is mean high water spring (that is the midpoint of spring tides). Before statutes defined the foreshore the high tide mark was established by ordinary tides.

Freehold title
The ownership right in land that lasts indefinitely. Also referred to as fee simple title. Sometimes incorrectly used to indicate that the land no longer has a mortgage over it.

General listing
The appointment of a real estate agent to market a property who does not have the exclusive right to do so.

GST
Is the abbreviation of Goods and Services Tax. This is a consumption tax similar to the UK VAT collected for the New Zealand government by suppliers on most goods and services at the rate of 12.5%. The terms "GST exclusive" and "plus GST" mean that the price stated has not yet had the GST chargeable added to it. The term "GST inclusive" means that the price includes the GST chargeable.

IELTS
IELTS is the common abbreviation for International English Language Testing System.

Improvements to land
Are the alterations made to the land such as buildings, retaining walls and fences. Land is the soil itself and the things attached to it such as trees and permanently fixed buildings so improvements to the land can generally be classified as part of the land itself.

Intellectual property
Is a general reference to property rights arising from a person's artistic and literary creations (copyright), for inventions (patents), distinctive branding within certain limits (trade marks), and things such as ownership of domain names.

Land
Is the earth and the things permanently fixed to it but the precise definition of land depends on the context. Land may also refer to the type of legal ownership. For example the most extensive form of land ownership in New Zealand is an estate in fee simple. Lesser forms of ownership are leases, periodic tenancies and easements. The Interpretation Act 1999 definition of land includes houses and buildings and the rights that arise from the land (for example leases, easements and rights to harvest crops) however in the Resource Management Act 1991 the definition is extended to include land covered by water (with some limitations) and the airspace above the land.

Land information memorandum
Refer to LIM/Land Information Memorandum.

Lease
An interest given in land that grants the tenant (lessee) exclusive possession of the land for the term of the lease.

Lessee
The tenant (occupier) under a lease.

Lessor
The landlord (owner) under a lease.

Liabilities
Debts owed by a person or business.

Licence
With respect to land is permission to go onto or occupy land. A licence differs from a lease because it does not give any right to excusive occupation of the land and does not create any right in the land itself.

Licence to occupy
The licence document that gives the right to occupy and is generally a reference to a licence to occupy a residential unit in a retirement village and containing the terms of occupation. Also see Occupation right agreement.

LIM/Land information memorandum
A report compiled by the council containing the collection of information about a piece of land that is held by the council. These reports can be purchased and take up to 10 working days to prepare once ordered and paid for.

Limited titles
Most land in New Zealand is now held under the land registration system used in New Zealand. When land is brought under this system the quality of the owner's title to the land and the quality of the boundary survey are considered. If either is not considered to be certain enough then a limited title is issued. The most common limited titles have surveys that are not guaranteed and these titles are referred to as being "limited as to parcels".

Loco parentis
In place of a parent.

Maori land
Maori land is covered by the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and commonly has many owners. The Act establishes the Maori Land Court and promotes the retention of ownership of Maori land by its owners.

Mortgage
In relation to land is a right given by an owner which entitles the person holding the mortgage to take possession or sell the land in certain specified circumstances. Usually this right arises where there has been a failure to pay amounts due under a loan that is secured by the mortgage.

Mortgagee
The person who has the rights granted under a mortgage. For example, a bank.

Mortgagor
The person who owns the mortgaged property. For example, a home owner.

Mutatis mutandis
With due changes having been made to enable a comparison of cases.

Natural justice
The set of rules recognised by the Courts as fundamental to a fair process including the right of a person to be informed of an allegation against them, the right to be heard on the matter and the right to have an unbiased consideration of evidence and arguments presented by that person.

Natural person
Natural person is a term used to describe a human being. The term distinguishes human beings from incorporated bodies such as companies, incorporated societies or other bodies established by the law and having the rights and responsibilities of a human being.

Novation
Is a description of the situation where by consent one contract is replaced by another resulting in the obligations in the first contract being extinguished. Two examples are: 1. where the parties to a contract agree to replace it with another contract; 2. where the parties and a third party agree that the third party will take the place of one of the contracting parties.

Party wall
A wall shared by adjoining land owners and usually running along the common boundary of two pieces of land. There will usually be a party wall easement covering the terms of the party wall arrangement such as obligations to maintain the wall. The owners of the adjoining land containing the party wall may enter into a party wall agreement however unless the terms of that agreement are registered on the relevant titles in the form of an easement or land covenant those terms will not automatically bind subsequent owners.

Person
In addition to human beings (referred to as natural persons) the law recognises non natural entities (companies, incorporated societies and registered charitable trusts) as persons as well. The Interpretation Act 1999 defines “person” as including a corporation sole, and also a body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporated.

Plan
In relation to the title to land is the survey plan that defines in a diagram the location of boundaries and easements and other areas on a piece of land.

PPSR
Personal Property Securities Register. This is the centralised system for registering security interests (this includes mortgages) of chattels.

Probate
Is the confirmation given by the High Court to an executor to administer an estate under a will. The process requires a formal application to the High Court and sufficient evidence of the death of the will maker and of the will.

Priority
Refers to the order in which debts are to be paid or securities such as mortgages of land or security interests over chattels are exercised. For example, when a company is placed into liquidation the Companies Act 1993 gives payment of tax a higher priority than payment of unsecured creditors.

Private sale/treaty
An agreement that is put into place without the assistance of a real estate agent.

Security
A general term for a right given in property by its owner to another person. Securities may be shares in a company. They may also be a right given to sell the owner's property in certain circumstances. In most cases these will be mortgages of land or security interests in chattels.

Servient
In relation to easements and covenants on land is the term describing that a piece of land is subject to the burden of the easement or covenant. For example the land that has a right of way over it is the servient land. The land with the benefit of the easement or covenant is referred to as the dominant land.

Servient tenement
Is the land which is subject to an easement or land covenant. Also referred to as the "servient land".

Settlement
The term used in relation to business sales, land sales and bank loans to describe time when the money is paid and the goods, land or in case of banks the security documents are exchanged.

Settlor
The person who establishes a trust. Usually by signing a trust deed specifying the trust property, who it is to be held by as trustee and who the trust property is held for.

Tenant
Is the person who occupies land or a building under an agreement (usually a lease) with the owner. The tenant is sometimes also referred to as the "lessee". The owner is referred to as the "landlord" or sometimes as the "lessor".

Tenants in common
A way that a number of people can own land. Tenants in common own property in the shares that may be specified on the title. If no share is specified then they will own the property in equal shares. Each owner is entitled to deal with their share in the property as they please including mortgaging, selling or including that share in their will. The other way that land may be owned is as joint tenants.

Tenure
This term refers to the legal basis on which a person has a right or ownership and also the period of that right or ownership. To take the example of a lease, a tenant's tenure in the land is for the period of the lease provided the terms of the lease are complied with.

Terms of trade
This is a reference to the standard terms of the contract on which a business offers its products or services. These will usually specify things such as payment terms, consequences of default, limitations of responsibility and Privacy Act consents.

Title
In relation to property means ownership. So if a person holds or takes title to land, chattels or even in interest in land such as a lease then they are the owner.

Title search
In relation to land that is included in the New Zealand land register is a search ordered and paid for which shows the reference number for the land, the type of ownership, a plan showing boundaries and location of the land, the legal owner's name, and the various entries registered against that title such as mortgages, easements, land covenants, Resource Management Act restrictions and leases.

Tort
A group of claims a person may make to the Courts for wrongs done to that person. These claims are independent of criminal law, contract law and trust law. They are mostly independent of laws passed by Parliament having largely evolved through centuries of decision making by the Courts. Torts include negligence, assault, trespass and defamation.

Transfer
The document for or the act of passing ownership of property from one person to another.

Trust
Think of a person holding property on behalf of someone else. A trust is such a structure involving 3 different ownership roles:

1. The settlor who contributes the property and may state the terms on which property is to be held;
2. The trustee who has legal ownership of the property but must hold the property on the terms of the trust and on behalf of the beneficiary or beneficiaries;
3. The beneficiary who does not control the property but is the person who is entitled to the benefit of the property.

Trustee
The person with legal ownership of property but who holds that property on the terms of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiary or beneficiaries. Trustees must comply with the terms of the trust as well as strict rules relating to trustees. These rules include an obligation to retain records of trust activities and assets and not to benefit from the trust property themselves unless specifically authorised by the trust terms.

Ultra vires
Acting beyond the power which has been granted.

Unencumbered
In relation to land or chattel means that it is not subject to a charge or mortgage or other restriction on its ownership.