Chattel is a catch-all category of property associated with movable goods. At common law, chattel included all property other than real property. Examples include leases, animals, and money. In modern usage, chattel usually only refers to tangible movable personal property.
Chattel mortgage is an antiquated term for a mortgage on movable personal property (“chattel”), such as machinery or a vehicle (as opposed to real estate), where the lender holds an interest in the property as security/collateral for the loan.
Chattel paper is a legal document that records a monetary obligation from one party to another and a security interest used in secured transactions to sell property on credit while retaining some interest in the property. (See: UCC § 9-102)
CIDs are common interest developments, a type of property development with multiple owners and a governing association. Each owner in CIDs has their own property with rights to the common area. CIDs often are used for both business and residential purposes such as malls and condominiums.
A civil case is a private, non-criminal lawsuit, usually involving private property rights, including respecting rights stated under the Constitution or under federal or state law.
Civil forfeiture allows the government (typically the police) to seize — and then keep or sell — any property that is allegedly involved in a crime or illegal activity. Owners need not ever be arrested or convicted of a crime for their cash, cars, or even real estate to be taken away permanently by the government.
A cleaning fee is a nonrefundable fee charged by a landlord when a tenant moves in. The landlord uses this fee to clean the rental premises after the tenant moves out, regardless of whether the tenant left the place dirty or not. While most states do not have laws on cleaning fees, there are some states which make it illegal to charge cleaning fees.
Closing refers to the culmination of a deal, contract, or transaction. The term is often used at the end of real estate transactions when the parties exchange deeds for payment and final signatures.
Closing costs refer to a variety of fees and expenses incurred by parties in the finalization of a deal that are not part of the negotiated price. These costs usually arise in real estate transactions like buying a home. In a house sale, the buyer and seller can incur costs for applying for a loan, escrow fees, attorney fees, insurance fees, taxes, and other fees. Most fees are paid by the buyer, but sometimes sellers agree to cover some closing costs.
