§ 25.025 Headquarters
§ 25.031 Supreme Court authorized to receive and answer certificates as to state law from federal appellate courts
§ 25.032 Certification of questions of law; rules and regulations
§ 25.041 Power to execute its judgments, decrees, and determinations
§ 25.073 Retired justices or judges assigned to temporary duty; additional compensation; appropriation
§ 25.075 Uniform case reporting system
§ 25.077 Negligence case settlements and jury verdicts; case reporting
§ 25.181 Record of territorial court of appeals
§ 25.201 Deputy clerk of Supreme Court
§ 25.211 Location of clerk’s office
§ 25.221 Maintenance of books, records, and other materials
§ 25.241 Clerk of Supreme Court; assistants; duties relating to filing fees and court documents
§ 25.251 Marshal of Supreme Court; appointment; qualification; authority
§ 25.262 Duties of marshal, process
§ 25.271 Custody of Supreme Court Building and grounds
§ 25.291 Fines for contempt
§ 25.301 Decisions to be filed; copies to be furnished
§ 25.341 Library of Supreme Court, custodian
§ 25.375 Identification of related cases
§ 25.382 State courts system
§ 25.383 Standards for court reporters; procedures; rules of professional conduct, discipline, and training
§ 25.384 Court Education Trust Fund
§ 25.3842 Federal Grants Trust Fund
§ 25.3844 Administrative Trust Fund
§ 25.385 Standards for instruction of circuit and county court judges in handling domestic violence and dependency cases
§ 25.386 Foreign language court interpreters

Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 25 - Supreme Court

  • Account: means any deposit or credit account with a bank, including a demand, time, savings, passbook, share draft, or like account, other than an account evidenced by a certificate of deposit. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • Afternoon: means the period of a day between noon and midnight. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
  • Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. Source: FDIC
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Any allowance for a trade-in vehicle: means the net trade-in allowance as reflected in the purchase contract or lease agreement if acceptable to the consumer and manufacturer. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • Appraisal: A determination of property value.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Arbitral tribunal: means a sole arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. See Florida Statutes 684.0003
  • Arbitration: means any arbitration, whether or not administered by a permanent arbitral institution. See Florida Statutes 684.0003
  • Arbitration agreement: means an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes that have arisen or may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not. See Florida Statutes 684.0003
  • Arbitration organization: means an association, agency, board, commission, or other entity that is neutral and initiates, sponsors, or administers an arbitration proceeding or is involved in the appointment of an arbitrator. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • Arbitrator: means an individual appointed to render an award, alone or with others, in a controversy that is subject to an agreement to arbitrate. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Authorized service agent: means any person, including a franchised motor vehicle dealer, who is authorized by the manufacturer to service motor vehicles. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Bailee: means a person that by a warehouse receipt, bill of lading, or other document of title acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Banking day: means the part of a day on which a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Board: means the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Florida Statutes 672.103
  • Carrier: means a person that issues a bill of lading. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Chambers: A judge's office.
  • Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • Clearinghouse: means an association of banks or other payors regularly clearing items. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Collateral charges: means those additional charges to a consumer wholly incurred as a result of the acquisition of the motor vehicle. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Consignee: means a person named in a bill of lading to which or to whose order the bill promises delivery. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Consignor: means a person named in a bill of lading as the person from which the goods have been received for shipment. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Consumer: means the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, or the lessee, of a motor vehicle primarily used for personal, family, or household purposes; any person to whom such motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of the Lemon Law rights period; and any other person entitled by the terms of the warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Contract for sale: includes both a present sale of goods and a contract to sell goods at a future time. See Florida Statutes 672.106
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • Court: means a court of competent jurisdiction in this state. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • Court: means a circuit court of this state. See Florida Statutes 684.0003
  • Customer: means a person having an account with a bank or for whom a bank has agreed to collect items, including a bank that maintains an account at another bank. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Days: means calendar days. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Delivery order: means a record that contains an order to deliver goods directed to a warehouse, carrier, or other person that in the ordinary course of business issues warehouse receipts or bills of lading. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Department: means the Department of Legal Affairs. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Documentary draft: means a draft to be presented for acceptance or payment if specified documents, certificated securities (s. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Dower: A widow
  • Draft: means a draft as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Drawee: means a person ordered in a draft to make payment. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. Source: OCC
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. Source: OCC
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
    • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
    • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
    • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
  • Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract of storage or transportation. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. Source: OCC
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • Incidental charges: means those reasonable costs to the consumer which are directly caused by the nonconformity of the motor vehicle. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Issuer: means a bailee who issues a document of title or, in the case of an unaccepted delivery order, the person who orders the possessor of goods to deliver. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Item: means an instrument or a promise or order to pay money handled by a bank for collection or payment. See Florida Statutes 674.104
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Knowledge: means actual knowledge. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
  • Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. Source: U.S. Mint
  • Lemon Law rights period: means the period ending 24 months after the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Lessee: means any consumer who leases a motor vehicle for 1 year or more pursuant to a written lease agreement which provides that the lessee is responsible for repairs to such motor vehicle or any consumer who leases a motor vehicle pursuant to a lease-purchase agreement. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Lessee cost: means the aggregate deposit and rental payments previously paid to the lessor for the leased vehicle but excludes debt from any other transaction. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Lessor: means a person who holds title to a motor vehicle that is leased to a lessee under a written lease agreement or who holds the lessor's rights under such agreement. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
  • line of credit: whenever used in this chapter , means an arrangement under which one or more loans or advances of money may be made available to a debtor in one transaction or a series of related transactions. See Florida Statutes 687.0303
  • Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Manufacturer: means any person, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, who manufactures or assembles motor vehicles, or who manufactures or assembles chassis for recreational vehicles, or who manufactures or installs on previously assembled truck or recreational vehicle chassis special bodies or equipment which, when installed, forms an integral part of the motor vehicle, or a distributor or an importer as those terms are defined in…. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
  • Motor vehicle: means a new vehicle, propelled by power other than muscular power, which is sold in this state to transport persons or property, and includes a recreational vehicle or a vehicle used as a demonstrator or leased vehicle if a manufacturer's warranty was issued as a condition of sale, or the lessee is responsible for repairs, but does not include vehicles run only upon tracks, off-road vehicles, trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, motorcycles, mopeds, electric bicycles, or the living facilities of recreational vehicles. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Nonconformity: means a defect or condition that substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of a motor vehicle, but does not include a defect or condition that results from an accident, abuse, neglect, modification, or alteration of the motor vehicle by persons other than the manufacturer or its authorized service agent. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, or government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or any other legal or commercial entity. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Person entitled under the document: means the holder, in the case of a negotiable document of title, or the person to which delivery of the goods is to be made by the terms of, or pursuant to instructions in a record under, a nonnegotiable document of title. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • present sale: means a sale which is accomplished by the making of the contract. See Florida Statutes 672.106
  • Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Procedure: means an informal dispute-settlement procedure established by a manufacturer to mediate and arbitrate motor vehicle warranty disputes. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Program: means the mediation and arbitration pilot program for recreational vehicles established in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Purchase price: means the cash price as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Reasonable offset for use: means the number of miles attributable to a consumer up to the date of a settlement agreement or arbitration hearing, whichever occurs first, multiplied by the base selling or sale price of the vehicle as reflected on the purchase invoice, exclusive of taxes, government fees, and dealer fees, or in the case of a lease, the agreed upon value as reflected in the lease agreement and divided by 120,000, except in the case of a recreational vehicle, in which event it shall be divided by 60,000. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Reasonably equivalent to the motor vehicle to be replaced: means the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the replacement vehicle shall not exceed 105 percent of the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the motor vehicle to be replaced. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Florida Statutes 682.011
  • Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
  • Recreational vehicle: means a motor vehicle primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, but does not include a van conversion. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • registered mail: include certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
  • Replacement motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle which is identical or reasonably equivalent to the motor vehicle to be replaced, as the motor vehicle to be replaced existed at the time of acquisition. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) Source: OCC
  • Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
  • Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Florida Statutes 672.103
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Shipper: means a person that enters into a contract of transportation with a carrier. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
  • Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
  • Testate: To die leaving a will.
  • Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on Source: OCC
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
  • Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. Source: OCC
  • Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
  • veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Warehouse: means a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire. See Florida Statutes 677.102
  • Warranty: means any written warranty issued by the manufacturer, or any affirmation of fact or promise made by the manufacturer, excluding statements made by the dealer, in connection with the sale of a motor vehicle to a consumer which relates to the nature of the material or workmanship and affirms or promises that such material or workmanship is free of defects or will meet a specified level of performance. See Florida Statutes 681.102
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
  • writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01