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GLOSSARY
Commercial mortgage
A commercial mortgage is a loan secured by real estate that's used for business purposes.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities - CMBS
Commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, are bonds that are sold in shares to investors. These bonds are repaid by an underlying pool of commercial mortgages, which provide high rates of return and have low prepayment risk.
Commercial paper
Commercial paper is a short-term, unsecured debt issued by large businesses with good credit ratings. Unlike long-term debt issues, commercial paper maturing in 270 days or less doesn't have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Businesses use commercial paper to provide short-term liquidity to support regular fluctuations in accounts receivable and inventory. From an investor's perspective, commercial paper is considered relatively low risk.
Commercial property
Commercial property is real estate that's zoned for business use. Examples of commercial property include retail centers, medical facilities, and industrial complexes.
Commercial real estate
Commercial real estate is property that's zoned for business use. Examples of commercial property include retail centers, medical facilities, and industrial complexes.
Commingling
Commingling is the combining of monies or financial assets from different sources into one account so that they're no longer considered separate property. Business owners, for example, should not mix personal funds with funds owned by the business. In security trading, a brokerage must keep its securities holdings separate from its customers' securities holdings. Commingling is usually not wise, and in some cases, it's illegal.
Commission
Commission is a fee charged by the sales professionals like brokers or agents for negotiating deals on real estate or on loan transactions. It is usually a percentage of the price of the property or loan and taken out of the charges paid by the seller or buyer in the purchase transaction.
Commitment
A written agreement in which a lender agrees to lend money on certain terms over a specified period of time.
Commitment fee
A commitment fee is a finance charge assessed on committed, but unborrowed, funds. A lender's right to charge a commitment fee is specified within the loan documentation. Commitment fees ensure that the lender is compensated for keeping the approved amount of money on hand for the borrower, even if the borrower never advances any funds.
Commitment letter
A commitment letter is a written statement of terms and conditions associated with an offer of credit. The lender provides the commitment lender to the debt applicant after the credit facility has been approved.
Common area
A common area is any space within a residential complex that belongs to all owners collectively. A central courtyard in a condominium complex, for example, might be a designated common area.
Common area assessment
A common area assessment is a fee charged to individual owners in a residential complex, which pays for maintenance of collectively owned, collectively used areas within the complex. Funds raised through the collection of a common area assessment might be used to service the swimming pool, repaint corridors, maintain landscaping, etc.
Common areas
The common areas are segments of land, building and amenities owned and managed by condominium projects homeowner's assocation, planned unit development or any such association. All unit owners who use these premises also share common expenses for their operation and maintenance. Common areas include swimming pools, tennis courts, and other recreational facilities, as well as common corridors of buildings, parking areas, means of ingress and egress, etc.
Common law
Common law is the body of legal cases that establishes precedent for future legal decisions. In a common law legal system, the decisions of judges can affect or confirm the accepted interpretation of law, or even establish new law.
Common-interest development
A common-interest development, or CID, is a residential complex that includes both individually owned areas (or units) and collectively owned, shared areas.