| Machinery Act - The North Carolina General Statutes that govern the ad valorem taxation of property. |
| Maintenance - The act of keeping, or the expenditures required to keep, a property in condition to perform adequately and efficiently the service for which it is used. |
| Marketable Title - A title that a reasonable purchaser, well informed as to the facts and their legal bearing, willing and anxious to perform his/her contract, would, in the exercise of that prudence that businesspeople ordinarily bring to bear in such transactions, be willing and ought to accept; such a title as a court would compel a purchaser to accept; a title free from any encumbrances or clouds. |
| Marketable Title Act - North Carolina legislation passed in order to enhance the marketability of title to real property by allowing the title examiner to determine the status of title by a search of the relatively recent public records only. The Act is located at Chapter 47B of the General Statutes and is subject to numerous exceptions. |
| Market Data Approach - An appraisal method or procedure used to estimate the market value of a property by comparison and analysis of the sale prices of other recently sold similar properties. |
| Market Price - The price actually paid for a property (i.e., the sale price). Distinguish from Market Value. |
| Market Rent - The rental income that a property would most probably command on the open market as indicated by current rentals being paid for comparable space. |
| Market Value - The amount for which a property would sell if put upon the open market and sold in the manner in which property is ordinarily sold in the community in which the property is situated. The highest price estimated in terms of money that a buyer would be warranted in paying and a seller justified in accepting, provided both parties were fully informed, acted intelligently and voluntarily, and, further, that all the rights and benefits inherent in or attributable to the property were included in the transfer. Distinguish from Market Price. |
| Material Fact - Any fact of substance relating to a real estate sales (or rental) transaction that might affect a prospective purchaser's (or tenant's) decision to buy (or rent) the property. |
| Mechanic's Lien (Materialman's and Laborer's Lien) - A type of lien created by statute that exists in favor of persons who have performed work or furnished materials in the erection of repair of a building or improvement on real property. |
| Meeting of Minds - A mutual intention of two persons to enter into a contract affecting their legal status based on agreed-upon terms. |
| Metes and Bounds - The term comes from the old English words "metes" meaning measurements, and "bounds" meaning boundaries. It is generally applied to any description of real estate that describes the boundaries by distance and angles. |
| Mineral Deed - A deed transferring mineral rights, which have been severed from surface rights, to a grantee. Mineral deeds must comply with the Statute of Frauds (G.S. §22-2). |
| Mineral Lease - A lease entitling the lessee to explore for minerals and mine them if they are discovered. Mineral leases of any duration must be in writing under the Statute of Frauds (G.S. §22-2). |
| Misrepresentation - A false representation, either willful or negligent, of a material fact to another party. See also Fraudulent Misrepresentation, Willful Misrepresentation, and Negligent Misrepresentation. |
| Mistake of Fact - A basis for avoiding performance of a contract when there is a mutuaI erroneous impression by the parties to the contract concerning some material fact. |
| Mistake of Law - An erroneous impression by one or both parties to a contract concerning the law governing their agreement. Mistake of law does not excuse performance of a contract. |
| Monument - A stone or other fixed object used to establish real estate boundaries. |
| Mortgage - A pledge of real property as security for the payment of money, the fulfillment of some contract, or the performance of some act, such pledge to become void upon such payment, fulfillment, or performance. See also Deed of Trust. |
| Mortgage Broker - An agent or broker of a lender who brings together the lender and the borrower and receives a fee for this service. |
| Mortgage Companies - Also known as "mortgage bankers", these companies process applications for loans, originate loans, service loans, and sell loans to investors. |
| Mortgage Note - A legal "I.O.U." evidencing indebtedness and coupled with a deed of trust on the property of the debtor. See also Note and Negotiable Promissory Note. |
| Mortgagee - The person to whom a mortgage is executed; the receiver of the mortgage, the lender who holds a lien on real property to secure the obligation owed to her/him ; same as the beneficiary under a deed of trust. See Beneficiary. |
| Mortgagor - The person who executes the mortgage; the borrower-owner who gives the mortgage to the rnortgagee as security for the debt owed by her/him; same as the grantor under a deed of trust. |
| Multiple Listing - The arrangement among real estate brokers who are members of a Multiple Listing Association or Multiple Listing Service (MLS) whereby information on a property that has been listed with one broker is distributed to other brokers in the area so that all may attempt to sell it. In the event of sale by a broker other than the one with whom the property was originally listed, the commission is split between the listing broker and the selling broker. |
| Mutual Assent - Agreement on definite terms required of both parties before a contract can come into existence. |
