Rate Lock or Lock-In: A lender’s guarantee of an interest rate and related points for a set period of time, usually between loan application and loan closing. Protects borrower against rate increases during that time.

Real Estate Broker: An agent who represents a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction.

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act: Law requiring lenders to give borrowers advance notice of closing costs.

Real Property: Land and everything that is permanently affixed to it.

Realtor: Real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors.

Reclamation: The right of the person with title to a property to recover it from the debtor in event of a bankruptcy.

Reconveyance: The transfer of property back to the owner when a mortgage is fully repaid.

Recording: The act of entering documents concerning title to a property into the public records.

Recording Fee: Money paid to an agent for entering the sale of a property into the public records.

Refinancing: The process of paying off one loan with the proceeds from a new loan secured by the same property.

Rent With Option To Buy: See Lease-purchase mortgage loan.

Repossession (or Foreclosure): Legal process by which the lender forces the sale of a property because the borrower has not met the mortgage terms.

Rescission: Federal law that guarantees the consumer the right to cancel a mortgage for a period of three business days following the signing of the documents if the subject loan is a refinance of the borrower’s primary residence.

RESPA: See Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Reverse Annuity Mortgage (RAM): Type of mortgage applicable to senior citizens in which the lender makes periodic payments to the borrower from the borrower's equity in their home, thus providing the borrower with a cash annuity.

Right to Cancel: Legal right to cancel a mortgage loan within three days of signing, when the loan is used to refinance a primary residence.

Right of First Refusal: A provision in an agreement that requires the owner of a property to give another party the first opportunity to purchase or lease the property before he or she offers it for sale or lease to others.

Right of Ingress or Egress: The right to enter or leave designated premises.

Right of Survivorship: In joint tenancy, the right of survivors to acquire the interest of a deceased joint tenant.

Rural Housing Service (RHS): An agency within the Department of Agriculture. This agency provides financing to farmers and other qualified borrowers buying property in rural areas who are unable to obtain loans elsewhere. Funds are borrowed from the U.S. Treasury.