Terms Used In Iowa Code 501B.2

• 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.
• association: means an unincorporated organization consisting of two or more members joined under an agreement that is oral, in a record, or implied from conduct, for one or more common, nonprofit purposes. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• 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.
• 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.
• Established practices: means the practices used by an unincorporated nonprofit association without material change during the most recent five years of its existence, or if it has existed for less than five years, during its entire existence. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Governing principles: includes any amendment or restatement of the agreements constituting the governing principles. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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.
• Manager: means a person that is responsible, alone or in concert with others, for the management of an unincorporated nonprofit association and includes but is not limited to persons who may be designated as directors and officers or some other designation indicating that such persons would perform the duties of a manager. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• 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.
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, statutory entity trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, cooperative, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
• 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 Iowa Code 501B.2
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Iowa Code 501B.2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• 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
• United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1