Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 16 > Chapter 2 > Part 5 - Trial Courts

• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bank: means any person, as hereinafter defined, doing a banking business subject to the laws of this or any other jurisdiction and, for the purposes of supervision, examination and liquidation, includes industrial investment companies and industrial banks authorized by chapter 5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Community: means a city, town, or incorporated village in this state, or where not within any of the foregoing, a trade area in this state. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Control: means possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities by contract or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Controlling person: means any person in control of a licensee. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Converting institution: means a financial institution converting to another type of financial institution. See Tennessee Code 45-11-102
• 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.
• County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the department of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Deposit: means a deposit of money, bonds or other things of value, creating a debtor-creditor relationship. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial institution: means a savings and loan association, bank, savings bank, credit union, or trust company organized under the laws of any state or organized under the laws of the United States. See Tennessee Code 45-11-102
• 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.
• Flex loan: means a loan made pursuant to a flex loan plan. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Flex loan plan: means a written agreement subject to this chapter between a licensee and a customer establishing an open-end credit plan under which the licensee contemplates repeated noncommercial loans for personal, family, or household purposes, that:
  (A) May be unsecured or secured by personal property. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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}
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensee: means a person licensed to offer flex loans pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Open-end 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 revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person: means an individual, corporation, firm, trust, estate, partnership, joint venture, or association. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Person: means an individual, group of individuals, partnership, association, corporation, or any other business unit or legal entity. See Tennessee Code 45-12-102
• Private law: A private bill enacted into law. Private laws have restricted applicability, often addressing immigration and naturalization issues affecting individuals.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Resulting financial institution: means the financial institution resulting from a conversion and having its principal place of business in this state. See Tennessee Code 45-11-102
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• Savings and loan association: includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the [former] federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor [repealed] of such corporation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105