An assignment is the transfer of a property right or title to some particular person or entity under an agreement, usually in writing. Unless an assignment is qualified in some way, it is generally considered to be a transfer of the transferor's entire interest in the estate, chattel, or other thing assigned. An assignment is distinguished from a grant in that an assignment is usually limited to the transfer of intangible rights, including contractual rights, choses in action, and rights in or connected with property, rather than, as in the case of a grant, the property itself. For example, the payee may assign his or her rights to collect the note payments to a bank.
Assignment of Rents and Leases is the transfer of the right to receive the rental income from a leased property from the tenant to a third party, usually the lender or mortgagee. This is often done as a security for a loan, and it allows the lender to collect the rent payments directly from the tenant if the borrower defaults on the loan. The assignee, or lender, is then usually legally responsible for making sure the tenant complies with the lease agreement, and may be able to evict the tenant if necessary. There are two main types of Assignment of Rents and Leases: voluntary and involuntary. A voluntary assignment is when the tenant voluntarily assigns the right to receive rent payments to the lender, while an involuntary assignment is when a lender or mortgagee assigns the right to receive rent payments to another party without the tenant’s agreement.
