Terms Used In Michigan Laws > Chapter 600 > Act 236 of 1961 > Chapter 80 - The Business Court

• 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.
• 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.
• Appliance: means a refrigerator, dehumidifier, freezer, oven, range, microwave oven, washer, dryer, dishwasher, trash compactor, or window room air conditioner. See Michigan Laws 445.832
• buyer: means a person that buys or agrees to buy goods or obtain services or agrees to have services rendered or furnished from a retail seller. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Cash sale price: means the price of a good or service a retail buyer would pay if he or she paid for the good or service in cash, and that is stated in a retail installment contract or in a sales slip or other memorandum furnished by a retail seller to a retail buyer pursuant to a retail charge agreement for that good or service. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Customer: means a member of the general public who seeks the services of a service dealer for the repair, maintenance, or service of an appliance that he or she uses personally and not as part of a business or commercial enterprise. See Michigan Laws 445.832
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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}
• 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}
• 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}
• Goods: means all tangible chattels purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use and not for commercial, agricultural, or business use. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Holder: means a retail seller of goods or services covered by a retail installment contract or retail charge agreement, or an assignee of that seller. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q
• judgment: as used in this act , includes decree. See Michigan Laws 600.112
• 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.
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means that term as defined in section 2 of the motor vehicle sales finance act, 1950 (Ex Sess) PA 27, MCL 492. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Official fees: means fees prescribed by law and charged and paid by the seller or holder for filing, recording, or otherwise perfecting, releasing, or satisfying, a retained title, lien, or other security interest created by a retail installment transaction. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• 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, partnership, joint venture, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• Retail charge agreement: means an instrument prescribing the terms of a secured or unsecured retail installment transaction that may be made under the instrument from time to time and under the terms of which a time price differential is to be computed in relation to the buyer's unpaid balance from time to time. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Retail installment contract: means an instrument entered into in this state evidencing a secured or unsecured retail installment transaction, and includes a chattel mortgage, a security agreement, a conditional sale contract, or a bailment or lease contract if the bailment or lease contract requires the bailee or lessee to pay an amount equal to or greater than the value of the bailed or leased good, and additionally provides that the bailee or lessee shall become, for no additional consideration or for nominal consideration, the owner of the good on full compliance with the bailment or lease contract. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Retail installment transaction: means any transaction in which a retail buyer purchases goods or services from a retail seller pursuant to a retail installment contract or a retail charge agreement that provides for a time price differential and under which the buyer agrees to pay the unpaid balance in 1 or more installments. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• seller: means a person regularly and principally engaged in the business of selling goods or services to retail buyers, but does not include the services of a professional person licensed by the state to perform legal or dental services or medical services as a medical doctor or a doctor of osteopathy. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• Service dealer: means a person that, for compensation, engages or offers to engage in repairing, servicing, or maintaining an appliance. See Michigan Laws 445.832
• Services: means work, labor, advice, counseling, or instruction if purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use and not for commercial or business use. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
• Time price differential: means the amount a buyer pays or is required to pay for the privilege of purchasing goods or services in installments over a period of time. See Michigan Laws 445.852
• 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}
• United States: shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.