Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 15 > Chapter 14B - Small Business Investment Program

• account: means a demand deposit, savings deposit, or other asset account (other than an occasional or incidental credit balance in an open end credit plan as defined in section 1602(i) ¹ of this title), as described in regulations of the Bureau, established primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, but such term does not include an account held by a financial institution pursuant to a bona fide trust agreement. See 15 USC 1693a
• Administration: means the Social Security Administration, except where the context requires otherwise. See 42 USC 1301
• Administration: means the Small Business Administration. See 15 USC 662
• administrative costs: means costs for the following, but only to the extent incurred in administering the State plan developed pursuant to this subpart: procurement, payroll management, personnel functions (other than the portion of the salaries of supervisors attributable to time spent directly supervising the provision of services by caseworkers), management, maintenance and operation of space and property, data processing and computer services, accounting, budgeting, auditing, and travel expenses (except those related to the provision of services by caseworkers or the oversight of programs funded under this subpart). See 42 USC 622
• Administrator: means the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. See 15 USC 662
• adoption promotion and support services: means services and activities designed to encourage more adoptions out of the foster care system, when adoptions promote the best interests of children, including such activities as pre- and post-adoptive services and activities designed to expedite the adoption process and support adoptive families. See 42 USC 629a
• affiliate: shall include any corporation, business trust, association, or other similar organization&mdash. See 12 USC 221a
• 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.
• anonymous work: is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no natural person is identified as author. See 17 USC 101
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• applicable program: means any program for which the Secretary or the Department has administrative responsibility as provided by law or by delegation of authority pursuant to law. See 20 USC 1221
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• archaeological resource: means any material remains of past human life or activities which are of archaeological interest, as determined under uniform regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter. See 16 USC 470bb
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• articles: means articles of incorporation for an incorporated body and means the functional equivalent or other similar documents specified by the Administrator for other business entities. See 15 USC 662
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• auxiliary aids and services: includes &mdash. See 42 USC 12103
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• bid bond: means a bond conditioned upon the bidder on a contract entering into the contract, if he receives the award thereof, and furnishing the prescribed payment bond and performance bond. See 15 USC 694a
• Board: means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See 15 USC 1693a
• Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
• Bureau: means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. See 15 USC 1692a
• Bureau: means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. See 15 USC 1693a
• business day: means any day on which the offices of the consumer's financial institution involved in an electronic fund transfer are open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its business functions. See 15 USC 1693a
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• collective work: is a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology, or encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. See 17 USC 101
• Commission: means the Keweenaw Historic Preservation Advisory Commission established by section 410yy-8 of this title. See 16 USC 410yy-1
• 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.
• communication: means the conveying of information regarding a debt directly or indirectly to any person through any medium. See 15 USC 1692a
• commuter authority: has the meaning given such term in section 24102(4) ¹ of title 49. See 42 USC 12161
• commuter rail transportation: has the meaning given the term "commuter rail passenger transportation" in section 24102(5) ¹ of title 49. See 42 USC 12161
• compilation: includes collective works. See 17 USC 101
• computer program: is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result. See 17 USC 101
• conservation: means the use of methods and procedures necessary or desirable to sustain healthy populations of wildlife, including all activities associated with scientific resources management such as research, census, monitoring of populations, acquisition, improvement and management of habitat, live trapping and transplantation, wildlife damage management, and periodic or total protection of a species or population, as well as the taking of individuals within wildlife stock or population if permitted by applicable State and Federal law. See 16 USC 669a
• consumer: means any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt. See 15 USC 1692a
• consumer: means a natural person. See 15 USC 1693a
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• copies: includes the material object, other than a phonorecord, in which the work is first fixed. See 17 USC 101
• Copyright Royalty Judge: is a Copyright Royalty Judge appointed under section 802 of this title, and includes any individual serving as an interim Copyright Royalty Judge under such section. See 17 USC 101
• 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.
• county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
• Credit bureau: An agency that collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financing companies. (Also commonly referred to as consumer-reporting agency or credit-reporting agency.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• creditor: means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed, but such term does not include any person to the extent that he receives an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of such debt for another. See 15 USC 1692a
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• debt: means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment. See 15 USC 1692a
• debt collector: means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another. See 15 USC 1692a
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Education. See 20 USC 1221
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• derivative work: is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. See 17 USC 101
• designated public transportation: means transportation (other than public school transportation) by bus, rail, or any other conveyance (other than transportation by aircraft or intercity or commuter rail transportation (as defined in section 12161 of this title)) that provides the general public with general or special service (including charter service) on a regular and continuing basis. See 42 USC 12141
• development companies: means enterprises incorporated under State law with the authority to promote and assist the growth and development of small-business concerns in the areas covered by their operations. See 15 USC 662
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• digital transmission: is a transmission in whole or in part in a digital or other non-analog format. See 17 USC 101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• distribute: means to sell, or to lease, bail, or otherwise transfer, or to offer to sell, lease, bail, or otherwise transfer. See 17 USC 901
• electronic fund transfer: means any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by check, draft, or similar paper instrument, which is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephonic instrument, or computer or magnetic tape so as to order, instruct, or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account. See 15 USC 1693a
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• electronic terminal: means an electronic device, other than a telephone operated by a consumer, through which a consumer may initiate an electronic fund transfer. See 15 USC 1693a
• employee: shall include a full-time life insurance salesman who is considered an employee for the purpose of chapter 21. See 26 USC 7701
• En banc: In the bench or "full bench." Refers to court sessions with the entire membership of a court participating rather than the usual quorum. U.S. courts of appeals usually sit in panels of three judges, but may expand to a larger number in certain cases. They are then said to be sitting en banc.
• Energy Saving qualified investment: means investment in a small business concern that is primarily engaged in researching, manufacturing, developing, or providing products, goods, or services that reduce the use or consumption of non-renewable energy resources. See 15 USC 662
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• establishment: is a store, shop, or any similar place of business open to the general public for the primary purpose of selling goods or services in which the majority of the gross square feet of space that is nonresidential is used for that purpose, and in which nondramatic musical works are performed publicly. See 17 USC 101
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• 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.
• family preservation services: means services for children and families designed to help families (including adoptive and extended families) at risk or in crisis, including&mdash. See 42 USC 629a
• family reunification services: means the services and activities described in subparagraph (B) that are provided to a child that is removed from the child's home and placed in a foster family home or a child care institution or a child who has been returned home and to the parents or primary caregiver of such a child, in order to facilitate the reunification of the child safely and appropriately within a timely fashion and to ensure the strength and stability of the reunification. See 42 USC 629a
• family support services: means community-based services designed to carry out the purposes described in subparagraph (B). See 42 USC 629a
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal land manager: means , with respect to any public lands, the Secretary of the department, or the head of any other agency or instrumentality of the United States, having primary management authority over such lands. See 16 USC 470bb
• 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}
• 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}
• financial gain: includes receipt, or expectation of receipt, of anything of value, including the receipt of other copyrighted works. See 17 USC 101
• financial institution: means a State or National bank, a State or Federal savings and loan association, a mutual savings bank, a State or Federal credit union, or any other person who, directly or indirectly, holds an account belonging to a consumer. See 15 USC 1693a
• fiscal year: means the fiscal year or license year of the State. See 16 USC 669a
• 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).
• food service or drinking establishment: is a restaurant, inn, bar, tavern, or any other similar place of business in which the public or patrons assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or drink, in which the majority of the gross square feet of space that is nonresidential is used for that purpose, and in which nondramatic musical works are performed publicly. See 17 USC 101
• 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.
• Fraud Alert: A key provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is the consumer's ability to place a fraud alert on their credit record. A consumer would use this option if they believe they were a victim of identity theft. ^{Source: OCC}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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.
• historical park: means the Adams National Historical Park established in section 410eee-2 of this title. See 16 USC 410eee-1
• hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment: means any activity or project to recruit or retain hunters and recreational shooters, including by&mdash. See 16 USC 669a
• including: when used in a definition contained in this chapter shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined. See 42 USC 1301
• 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}
• Indian lands: means lands of Indian tribes, or Indian individuals, which are either held in trust by the United States or subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States, except for any subsurface interests in lands not owned or controlled by an Indian tribe or an Indian individual. See 16 USC 470bb
• Indian tribe: means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. See 16 USC 470bb
• Indian tribe: has the meaning given the term in section 628(c) of this title. See 42 USC 629a
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• infringing semiconductor chip product: is a semiconductor chip product which is made, imported, or distributed in violation of the exclusive rights of the owner of a mask work under this chapter. See 17 USC 901
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• innocent purchaser: is a person who purchases a semiconductor chip product in good faith and without having notice of protection with respect to the semiconductor chip product. See 17 USC 901
• intercity rail transportation: means transportation provided by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. See 42 USC 12161
• 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}
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• joint work: is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole. See 17 USC 101
• 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}
• leverage: includes &mdash. See 15 USC 662
• levy: includes the power of distraint and seizure by any means. See 26 USC 7701
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• license: means a license issued by the Administration as provided in section 681 of this title. See 15 USC 662
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• limited liability company: means a business entity that is organized and operating in accordance with a State limited liability company statute approved by the Administration. See 15 USC 662
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• location information: means a consumer's place of abode and his telephone number at such place, or his place of employment. See 15 USC 1692a
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• marriage: means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word "spouse" refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. See 1 USC 7
• mask work: is a series of related images, however fixed or encoded&mdash. See 17 USC 901
• member: means , with respect to a licensee that is a limited liability company, a holder of an ownership interest or a person otherwise admitted to membership in the limited liability company. See 15 USC 662
• Minimum finance charge: The minimum, or fixed, finance charge that will be imposed during a billing cycle. A minimum finance charge usually applies only when a finance charge is imposed, that is, when you carry over a balance. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• 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.
• motion picture exhibition facility: means a movie theater, screening room, or other venue that is being used primarily for the exhibition of a copyrighted motion picture, if such exhibition is open to the public or is made to an assembled group of viewers outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances. See 17 USC 101
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• non-Federal funds: means State funds, or at the option of a State, State and local funds. See 42 USC 629a
• notice of protection: means having actual knowledge that, or reasonable grounds to believe that, a mask work is protected under this chapter. See 17 USC 901
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
• obligee: means (A) in the case of a bid bond, the person requesting bids for the performance of a contract, or (B) in the case of a payment bond or performance bond, the person who has contracted with a principal for the completion of the contract and to whom the obligation of the surety runs in the event of a breach by the principal of the conditions of a payment bond or performance bond. See 15 USC 694a
• 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}
• park: means the Keweenaw National Historical Park established by section 410yy-2(a)(1) of this title. See 16 USC 410yy-1
• 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.
• payment bond: means a bond conditioned upon the payment by the principal of money to persons under contract with him. See 15 USC 694a
• 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
• performance bond: means a bond conditioned upon the completion by the principal of a contract in accordance with its terms. See 15 USC 694a
• performing rights society: is a n association, corporation, or other entity that licenses the public performance of nondramatic musical works on behalf of copyright owners of such works, such as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. See 17 USC 101
• person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, institution, association, or any other private entity or any officer, employee, agent, department, or instrumentality of the United States, of any Indian tribe, or of any State or political subdivision thereof. See 16 USC 470bb
• person: as used in this chapter includes an officer or employee of a corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurs. See 26 USC 7343
• phonorecords: includes the material object in which the sounds are first fixed. See 17 USC 101
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• 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}
• preauthorized electronic fund transfer: means an electronic fund transfer authorized in advance to recur at substantially regular intervals. See 15 USC 1693a
• Preauthorized electronic fund transfers: An EFT authorized in advance to recur at substantially regular intervals. ^{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.
• prime contractor: means the person with whom the obligee has contracted to perform the contract. See 15 USC 694a
• principal: means (A) in the case of a bid bond, a person bidding for the award of a contract, or (B) the person primarily liable to complete a contract for the obligee, or to make payments to other persons in respect of such contract, and for whose performance of his obligation the surety is bound under the terms of a payment or performance bond. See 15 USC 694a
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• proprietor: is a n individual, corporation, partnership, or other entity, as the case may be, that owns an establishment or a food service or drinking establishment, except that no owner or operator of a radio or television station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, cable system or satellite carrier, cable or satellite carrier service or programmer, provider of online services or network access or the operator of facilities therefor, telecommunications company, or any other such audio or audiovisual service or programmer now known or as may be developed in the future, commercial subscription music service, or owner or operator of any other transmission service, shall under any circumstances be deemed to be a proprietor. See 17 USC 101
• pseudonymous work: is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which the author is identified under a fictitious name. See 17 USC 101
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• public entity: means &mdash. See 42 USC 12131
• public lands: means &mdash. See 16 USC 470bb
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• public target range: means a specific location that&mdash. See 16 USC 669a
• publicly: means &mdash. See 17 USC 101
• qualified nonprivate funds: means any&mdash. See 15 USC 662
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• rail passenger car: means , with respect to intercity rail transportation, single-level and bi-level coach cars, single-level and bi-level dining cars, single-level and bi-level sleeping cars, single-level and bi-level lounge cars, and food service cars. See 42 USC 12161
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act: Federal law that, among other things, requires lenders to provide "good faith" estimates of settlement costs and make other disclosures regarding the mortgage loan. RESPA also limits the amount of funds held in escrow for real estate taxes and insurance. ^{Source: OCC}
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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}
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• 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.
• responsible person: means &mdash. See 42 USC 12161
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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}
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Education. See 20 USC 1221
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Interior. See 16 USC 669a
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Interior. See 16 USC 410yy-1
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Interior. See 16 USC 410eee-1
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Transportation. See 42 USC 12141
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• small business concern: means a business concern that meets the size standard for the primary industry in which such business concern, and the affiliates of such business concern, is engaged, as determined by the Administrator in accordance with the North American Industry Classification System. See 15 USC 694a
• smaller enterprise: means any small business concern that, together with its affiliates&mdash. See 15 USC 662
• State: when used in such subchapters (but not in subchapter XVI as in effect pursuant to such amendment after December 31, 1973) includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. See 42 USC 1301
• State: means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 42 USC 12103
• State: includes the several States, the territories and possessions of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. See 15 USC 662
• State: means any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing. See 15 USC 1692a
• State: means any of the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. See 16 USC 470bb
• State: includes Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. See 16 USC 590q
• State: means any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing. See 15 USC 1693a
• State: shall include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 16 USC 669c
• State: includes the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territories to which this title is made applicable by an Act of Congress. See 17 USC 101
• State: includes an Indian tribe or tribal organization, in addition to the meaning given such term for purposes of subpart 1. See 42 USC 629a
• State agency: means the State agency responsible for administering the program under subpart 1. See 42 USC 629a
• State fish and wildlife department: means any department or division of department of another name, or commission, or official or officials, of a State empowered under its laws to exercise the functions ordinarily exercised by a State fish and game department or State fish and wildlife department. See 16 USC 669a
• station: means the portion of a property located appurtenant to a right-of-way on which intercity or commuter rail transportation is operated, where such portion is used by the general public and is related to the provision of such transportation, including passenger platforms, designated waiting areas, ticketing areas, restrooms, and, where a public entity providing rail transportation owns the property, concession areas, to the extent that such public entity exercises control over the selection, design, construction, or alteration of the property, but such term does not include flag stops. See 42 USC 12161
• 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.
• subcontractor: means a person who has contracted with a prime contractor or with another subcontractor to perform a contract. See 15 USC 694a
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• subscription: includes a mark when the person making the same intended it as such. See 1 USC 1
• supplementary work: is a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct to a work by another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding, illustrating, explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in the use of the other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustrations, maps, charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer material for tests, bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes, and an "instructional text" is a literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and with the purpose of use in systematic instructional activities. See 17 USC 101
• surety: means the person who (A) under the terms of a bid bond, undertakes to pay a sum of money to the obligee in the event the principal breaches the conditions of the bond, (B) under the terms of a performance bond, undertakes to incur the cost of fulfilling the terms of a contract in the event the principal breaches the conditions of the contract, (C) under the terms of a payment bond, undertakes to make payment to all persons supplying labor and material in the prosecution of the work provided for in the contract if the principal fails to make prompt payment, or (D) is an agent, independent agent, underwriter, or any other company or individual empowered to act on behalf of such person. See 15 USC 694a
• taxpayer: means any person subject to any internal revenue tax. See 26 USC 7701
• 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.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• third party debt: means any indebtedness for borrowed money, other than indebtedness owed to the Administration. See 15 USC 662
• 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.
• transfer of copyright ownership: is a n assignment, mortgage, exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place of effect, but not including a nonexclusive license. See 17 USC 101
• transmission program: is a body of material that, as an aggregate, has been produced for the sole purpose of transmission to the public in sequence and as a unit. See 17 USC 101
• treaty party: is a country or intergovernmental organization other than the United States that is a party to an international agreement. See 17 USC 101
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• tribal organization: has the meaning given the term in section 628(c) of this title. See 42 USC 629a
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• unauthorized electronic fund transfer: means an electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account initiated by a person other than the consumer without actual authority to initiate such transfer and from which the consumer receives no benefit, but the term does not include any electronic fund transfer (A) initiated by a person other than the consumer who was furnished with the card, code, or other means of access to such consumer's account by such consumer, unless the consumer has notified the financial institution involved that transfers by such other person are no longer authorized, (B) initiated with fraudulent intent by the consumer or any person acting in concert with the consumer, or (C) which constitutes an error committed by a financial institution. See 15 USC 1693a
• underlicensed State: means a State in which the number of licensees per capita is less than the median number of licensees per capita for all States, as calculated by the Administrator. See 15 USC 662
• United States: means (but only for purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph) the fifty States and the District of Columbia. See 42 USC 1301
• United States: when used in a geographical sense includes only the States and the District of Columbia. See 26 USC 7701
• United States: when used in a geographical sense, comprises the several States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the organized territories under the jurisdiction of the United States Government. See 17 USC 101
• useful article: is a n article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information. See 17 USC 101
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• 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.
• vehicle: includes every description of carriage or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land. See 1 USC 4
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• wildlife: means any species of wild, free-ranging fauna including fish, and also fauna in captive breeding programs the object of which is to reintroduce individuals of a depleted indigenous species into previously occupied range. See 16 USC 669a
• wildlife conservation and restoration program: means a program developed by a State fish and wildlife department and approved by the Secretary under section 669c(d) ¹ of this title, the projects that constitute such a program, which may be implemented in whole or part through grants and contracts by a State to other State, Federal, or local agencies (including those that gather, evaluate, and disseminate information on wildlife and their habitats), wildlife conservation organizations, and outdoor recreation and conservation education entities from funds apportioned under this chapter,¹ and maintenance of such projects. See 16 USC 669a
• wildlife conservation education: means projects, including public outreach, intended to foster responsible natural resource stewardship. See 16 USC 669a
• wildlife-associated recreation: means projects intended to meet the demand for outdoor activities associated with wildlife including, but not limited to, hunting and fishing, wildlife observation and photography, such projects as construction or restoration of wildlife viewing areas, observation towers, blinds, platforms, land and water trails, water access, field trialing, trail heads, and access for such projects. See 16 USC 669a
• wildlife-restoration project: includes the wildlife conservation and restoration program and means the selection, restoration, rehabilitation, and improvement of areas of land or water adaptable as feeding, resting, or breeding places for wildlife, including acquisition of such areas or estates or interests therein as are suitable or capable of being made suitable therefor, and the construction thereon or therein of such works as may be necessary to make them available for such purposes and also including such research into problems of wildlife management as may be necessary to efficient administration affecting wildlife resources, and such preliminary or incidental costs and expenses as may be incurred in and about such projects. See 16 USC 669a
• work of the United States Government: is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties. See 17 USC 101