Glossary of Terms
- Target marketing
- The process in which merchants solicit groups of consumers who are most likely to be interested in their product or service.
- Tax savings
- Items that lower your taxable income. Also, the value of the tax deduction you receive by deducting interest payments to your mortgage and home property taxes. For example, if you have $900 in interest and $100 property taxes per month, the monthly value of the tax deduction would be $280 with a tax rate of 28%.
- Taxable fees
- Any fee that is subject to sales tax. When buying a home, this usually includes title transfer fees.
- Term
- The length of time you have to pay back a loan.
- Term in months
- Number of months you have to pay back a loan.
- Term in years
- The number of years over which you have to pay back a loan. The most common mortgage terms are 15 and 30 years.
- Thin file
- A credit report that has few if any credit accounts or inquiry history. Young adults and people new to the United States will typically have thin files until they begin to establish credit relationships.
- Third-party collectors
- Collectors who are under contract to collect debts for a credit department or credit company; collection agencies.
- Total closing costs
- Total up front costs paid before your loan can be issued. This is the sum of the loan origination fee, amount paid for points and any additional closing costs.
- Total debt percent of annual income
- The percentage of your annual income your financial institution will allow you to use for installment payments debt. Installment debt includes car payments, credit card payments, other loan payments and your "Principal, Interest, Tax and Insurance" payment for your home.
- Total down payment
- Amount available as a down payment to be paid up front, rather than financed. In a car purchase, your down payment will be your cash available plus your trade-in, less any outstanding loan balance on your trade-in. In a home purchase, your down payment will be your available cash after closing costs.
- Total interest
- Sum of all interest paid. In the case of a mortgage this total interest amount assumes that there are no prepayments of principal.
- Total payments
- Total of all monthly payments over the term of the loan. This total payment amount assumes that there are no prepayments of principal.
- Trade allowance
- Total dollar amount given on your trade-in vehicle during a car purchase.
- Trade line
- Each specific credit relationship with a business is tracked over time as a tradeline on your credit report. This means that you can have multiple accounts with the same bank, but your payment history will be identified separately for each account. Tradeline information on your credit report includes company, date account was opened, credit limit, type of account, balance owed and payment profile.
- TransUnion
- One of the three major credit-reporting agencies including Experian and Equifax.
- Transaction fees
- Fee charged for certain uses of your credit line, credit card or ATM card. Example: fees charged to get a cash advance from an ATM, or to buy theater tickets over the phone.
- Truth in Lending Act
- Title I of the Consumer Protection Act. Requires that most categories of lendersA person or company that offers to lend money to a borrower for a given period of time. disclose the annual interest rate, the total dollar cost and other terms of loans and credit sales.
