Life's All About Blogg ing Acceleration clause A clause in your mortgage, which allows the lender to demand payment of the outstanding loan balance for various reasons. The most common reasons for accelerating a loan are if the borrower defaults on the loan or transfers title to another individual without informing the lender. Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) A mortgage in which the interest changes periodically, according to corresponding fluctuations in an index. All ARMs are tied to indexes. Adjustment date The date the interest rate changes on an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). Amortization The loan payment consists of a portion, which will be applied to pay the accruing interest on a loan, with the remainder being applied to the principal. Over time, the interest portion decreases as the loan balance decreases, and the amount applied to principal increases so that the loan is paid off (amortized) in the specified time. Amortization schedule A table which shows how much of each