ABANDONMENT ‑ The voluntary surrender of property rights, with no intention of reclaiming them and without vesting interest in another person. Nonuse is not necessarily abandonment.
ABSTRACT ‑ A history of the ownership of a property, showing transfers in ownership and factors affecting ownership, such as mortgages.
ABUTTER ‑ A person whose property abuts, is contiguous, or joins at a border or boundary; where no other land, road or street intervenes.
ACCELERATION CLAUSE ‑ A clause in a promissory note, agreement of sale, or mortgage which gives the lender the right to call all sums due and payable in advance of the fixed payment date upon the occurrence of a specified event, such as a sale, default, assignment or further encumbrance of the property. Usually the payee has the option to accelerate the note upon default of payment of any installment when due, provided he gives adequate notice and specifies a time within which the defaulting party can cure the other breaches of provisions in the contract, such as failure to pay taxes and assessments, or failure to keep the property insured or in repair. The provision for acceleration must be expressly set forth in the mortgage or agreement of sale document, otherwise, the right does not exist. There should be a consistency between the acceleration provisions stated in the mortgage and those stated in the promissory note.