Glossary - J

Joint and several: Joint and several, also known as jointly and severally, denotes a term that is generally related to a compulsion for which several individuals are legally responsible for payment. In joint and several contracts the accountability for default is put into effect against all of the signatories as a group and not necessarily on a pro-rata basis or against any one of them as an individual at the choice of the enforcing party. In other words, in a joint and several agreements all the parties concerned are liable both individually and collectively.
In fact, a joint venture serving as a brokerage office will have joint and several legal responsibilities for commitments generated within the partnership. Laws relating to partnerships normally reiterate that each partner in a firm or business is accountable jointly along with the other partners for all money owing and commitments of the company brought upon it while he or she is a partner or collaborator. However, it is important to note that the precise phrasings of applicable legislations differ from one provincial jurisdiction to another.
Joint tenancy: The term joint tenancy, also known as joint ownership, refers to an arrangement where two or more related or unrelated persons (called tenants) jointly own a property and in the event of one person's death, the other surviving tenants acquire the total possession of the real estate asset. Unlike in the case of common tenancy, the property in joint tenancy is not subject to anyone's claims, barring the due taxes, and passes on free with the last surviving tenant becoming the absolute owner of the property. A join tenancy is only affected when four conditions - interest, possession, time and title are accomplished.
Joint venture: A joint venture refers to a contractual agreement associating two or more parties with the objective of executing a specific business undertaking. In a joint venture, all the concerned parties concur to share the profits and losses of the project. In the context of real estate, a joint venture denotes a project embarked on by a group of investors who share the profits and losses of their realty business.
Normally, joint ventures are inclined to be precise in nature with a distinct time period. The exact legal arrangement of a joint venture differs in the market. For instance, a joint venture could be in the form of a corporation, limited partnership or syndication. In many ways, joint ventures are akin to partnerships as in both cases two or more individuals pool in resources to buy real estate or embark on any other project. In fact, the character of a joint venture is actually an expansion of any business owned by one or more of the contributors.
Judgment: Simply defined, judgment refers to a formal verdict by a court of law having competent authority over a specific subject. A judgment is most frequently manifested as a lien (hypothecation) recorded against land and is completely expressed as a charge or lien upon the lands of a defaulter. The court ruling that ought to be correctly entered, states that the defaulter is obliged and decides the amount of the indebtedness. The verdict must only be involving the debtor's asset. When a lien is registered, all successive owners of the land will come under its purview.
Judicial sale: In general, the term judicial sale refers to a transfer of title or sale of merchandise that is carried out by a court order or by any individual officially appointed by the court. The sale or transfer of title is carried out to gratify an order issued by the court. In the context of real estate, a judicial sale denotes a form of solution offered to a mortgagee or lender when a mortgage is in default. In this case, the lender is entitled to move court seeking a judicial sale of the mortgaged property, payment of the outstanding loan amount due to him or her and even possession of the property. A judicial sale is, in effect, an alternative to the more widespread preference for a foreclosure of the mortgaged property. It may be noted here that the procedures of judicial sale may differ from one provincial jurisdiction to another.
In the instance of a judicial sale, the mortgagee or the lender depends on the court to sell the mortgaged property and utilize the proceeds from the sale to pay the outstanding loan amount to him or her. In case, the proceeds from the sale do not cover the total dues, the remaining amount may be obtained from the mortgagor from his or her personal commitment. On the other hand, if there is any surplus money from the sale of the property, the remaining amount is handed over to the borrower. Usually, judicial sales are not very well accepted by most mortgagees as the court executes the sale of the property through auction and this may enable the mortgagee to get a lesser amount compared to the price he or she would have received by selling the property in the open market. In addition, in the instance of a foreclosure, a mortgagee does not need to hand over the surplus amount from the sale to the borrower, but keeps the entire amount received from the sale proceeds.
Jurisdiction: Broadly, the term jurisdiction may be defined as the geographical area over which a court or a government body is entitled to exercise authority. In the context of real estate, a provincial statute or regulation relating to real estate business establishes the jurisdictional power of those who have registered (registrants) for particular provinces. The legislation outlines the extent of power to license/ register, probe and take care of real estate brokerages, brokers/ agents and salespersons. In organized or controlled real estate trading, the real estate boards are the most widespread reference to jurisdiction and jurisdictional limits. Every real estate delineates a geographical area depicted in the statutes or as an individual schedule to the statutes or by-laws.