When mortgage brokers refer to A+ credit, they generally mean somebody with a FICO score above 720 and excellent debt-to-income ratios. (Meaning they spend a lot less than they could potentially spend, based on their available credit lines.) Oftentimes, borrowers who have A+ credit do not have to gather as much documentation as borrowers with lower credit scores.

In every mortgage note, there is some proverbial fine print, called an acceleration clause. This means that the lender can “accelerate” your mortgage note due date, if you violate the terms of your note. Another way to put this is that they can demand payment for the total amount of your mortgage, if you violate your contract. For example, if you do not pay your mortgage for several months, the bank will accelerate (demand immediate payment) before they foreclose.

Accrued Interest: This is interest that has been “accrued” or added to your principal balance. For example, “Even if you do not make your mortgage payment for several months, the interest will still accrue.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM): An Adjustable Rate Mortgage, commonly referred to as an ARM loan is a mortgage in which the rate adjusts, based on some type of financial index. The borrower has no control over the index. However, all Adjustable Rate Mortgages have caps– both lifetime and yearly. For example, your ARM may have a 2% yearly cap and a 5% monthly cap.

Adjustment Interval: With an ARM loan, this  is the time between adjustments. Typically, with a Fannie Mae ARM, the loan will adjust once per year. This means the loan has a 12-month adjustment intervals. Some loans adjust every single month (Home Equity Loans) for example, that means they have a 30-day (or 1 month) adjustment interval.