Part I Regulated Investment Companies
Part II Real Estate Investment Trusts
Part III Provisions Which Apply to Both Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts
Part IV Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits

Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 26 > Subtitle A > Chapter 1 > Subchapter M - Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts

  • advertising: means any advertising or promotion program involving only fluid milk products and directed toward increasing the general demand for fluid milk products. See 7 USC 6402
  • Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
  • agricultural commodity: as used in this chapter includes any agricultural commodity or product thereof. See 7 USC 1769
  • agricultural product: means any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed in the United States for human or livestock consumption. See 7 USC 6502
  • Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • beginning farmer or rancher: means such term as defined by the Secretary. See 7 USC 1991
  • 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.
  • Board: means the National Processor Advertising and Promotion Board established under section 6407(b) of this title. See 7 USC 6402
  • Board: means the Pecan Marketing Board established in section 6005(b) of this title. See 7 USC 6002
  • Board: means the Lime Board provided for under section 6204(b) of this title. See 7 USC 6202
  • Board: means the United Soybean Board established under section 6304(b) of this title. See 7 USC 6302
  • borrower: means any farm borrower who has outstanding obligations to the Secretary under any farmer program loan, without regard to whether the loan has been accelerated, but does not include any farm borrower all of whose loans and accounts have been foreclosed on or liquidated, voluntarily or otherwise. See 7 USC 1991
  • 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).
  • certified organic farm: means a farm, or portion of a farm, or site where agricultural products or livestock are produced, that is certified by the certifying agent under this chapter as utilizing a system of organic farming as described by this chapter. See 7 USC 6502
  • certifying agent: includes any person (including a private entity)&mdash. See 7 USC 6502
  • commerce: means interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce. See 7 USC 6002
  • commerce: means interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce. See 7 USC 6102
  • commerce: includes interstate, foreign, and intrastate commerce. See 7 USC 6302
  • Committee: means the Soybean Program Coordinating Committee established under section 6304(g) of this title. See 7 USC 6302
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • conflict of interest: means a situation in which a member has a direct or indirect financial interest in a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, or other business entity dealing directly or indirectly with the Board. See 7 USC 6002
  • consumer information: means information and programs that will assist consumers and other persons in making evaluations and decisions regarding the purchase, preparation, and use of pecans. See 7 USC 6002
  • consumer information: means information and programs that will assist consumers and other persons in making evaluations and decisions regarding the purchase, preparation, and use of mushrooms. See 7 USC 6102
  • consumer information: means any action taken to provide information to, and broaden the understanding of, the general public regarding the use, nutritional attributes, and care of limes. See 7 USC 6202
  • consumer information: means information that will assist consumers and other persons in making evaluations and decisions regarding the purchase, preparation, and use of soybeans or soybean products. See 7 USC 6302
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • contract of insurance: includes a contract of guarantee. See 7 USC 1991
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • corporation: includes associations, joint-stock companies, and insurance companies. See 26 USC 7701
  • Council: means the Mushroom Council established under section 6104(b) of this title. See 7 USC 6102
  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • debt forgiveness: means reducing or terminating a farmer program loan made or guaranteed under this chapter, in a manner that results in a loss to the Secretary, through&mdash. See 7 USC 1991
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6402
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6002
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6102
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6302
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • direct loan: means a loan made or insured from funds in the account created by section 1929 of this title. See 7 USC 1991
  • 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:
  • district: means a geographical area of the United States, as determined by the Board and approved by the Secretary, in which there is produced approximately one-fourth of the volume of pecans produced in the United States. See 7 USC 6002
  • domestic: when applied to a corporation or partnership means created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State unless, in the case of a partnership, the Secretary provides otherwise by regulations. See 26 USC 7701
  • 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.
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
  • 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.
  • farmer: includes a person who is engaged in, or who, with assistance afforded under this chapter, intends to engage in, fish farming. See 7 USC 1991
  • farmer program loan: means a farm ownership loan (FO) under section 1923 of this title, operating loan (OL) under section 1942 of this title, soil and water loan (SW) under section 1924 of this title, emergency loan (EM) under section 1961 of this title, economic emergency loan (EE) under section 202 of the Emergency Agricultural Credit Adjustment Act (title II of Public Law 95-334), economic opportunity loan (EO) under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1961 (42 U. See 7 USC 1991
  • farming: shall be deemed to include fish farming. See 7 USC 1991
  • 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.
  • first handler: means the first person who buys or takes possession of pecans from a grower for marketing. See 7 USC 6002
  • first handler: means any person, as described in an order issued under this chapter, who receives or otherwise acquires mushrooms from a producer and prepares for marketing or markets such mushrooms, or who prepares for marketing or markets mushrooms of that person's own production. See 7 USC 6102
  • first purchaser: means &mdash. See 7 USC 6302
  • 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).
  • fluid milk processor: means any person who processes and markets commercially more than 3,000,000 pounds of fluid milk products in consumer-type packages per month (excluding products delivered directly to the place of residence of a consumer). See 7 USC 6402
  • fluid milk product: has the meaning given the term in&mdash. See 7 USC 6402
  • 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
  • foreign: when applied to a corporation or partnership means a corporation or partnership which is not domestic. See 26 USC 7701
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • 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
  • grower: means any person engaged in the production and sale of pecans in the United States who owns, or who shares the ownership and risk of loss of, such pecans. See 7 USC 6002
  • grower-sheller: means a person who&mdash. See 7 USC 6002
  • handler: means any person engaged in the business of handling agricultural products, except such term shall not include final retailers of agricultural products that do not process agricultural products. See 7 USC 6502
  • handler: means any person in the business of handling limes. See 7 USC 6202
  • handling operation: means any operation or portion of an operation (except final retailers of agricultural products that do not process agricultural products) that&mdash. See 7 USC 6502
  • importer: means any person who imports pecans from outside of the United States for sale in the United States. See 7 USC 6002
  • importer: means any person who imports, on average, over 500,000 pounds of mushrooms annually from outside the United States. See 7 USC 6102
  • importer: means any person who imports limes into the United States. See 7 USC 6202
  • in-shell pecan: means a pecan that has a shell that has not been removed. See 7 USC 6002
  • including: when used in a definition contained in this title shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined. See 26 USC 7701
  • industry information: means information and programs that will lead to the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increased efficiency, and activities to enhance the image of the pecan industry. See 7 USC 6002
  • industry information: means information and programs that are designed to lead to the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increased efficiency, and activities to enhance the image of the mushroom industry. See 7 USC 6102
  • industry information: means information and programs that will lead to the development of new markets, new marketing strategies, or increased efficiency for the soybean industry, and activities to enhance the image of the soybean industry. See 7 USC 6302
  • insure: as used in this chapter includes guarantee, which means to guarantee the payment of a loan originated, held, and serviced by a private financial agency or other lender approved by the Secretary. See 7 USC 1991
  • 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
  • international organization: means a public international organization entitled to enjoy privileges, exemptions, and immunities as an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U. See 26 USC 7701
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • joint operation: means a joint farming operation in which two or more farmers work together sharing equally or unequally land, labor, equipment, expenses, and income. See 7 USC 1991
  • Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
  • 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.
  • lime: means the fruit of a citrus latifolia tree for the fresh market. See 7 USC 6202
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • livestock: means any cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, wild or domesticated game, or other nonplant life. See 7 USC 6502
  • loan service program: means , with respect to a farmer program borrower, a primary loan service program or a preservation loan service program. See 7 USC 1991
  • Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
  • marketing: means the sale or other disposition of mushrooms in any channel of commerce. See 7 USC 6102
  • marketing: means the sale or other disposition of limes in commerce. See 7 USC 6202
  • marketing: means the sale or other disposition of soybeans or soybean products in any channel of commerce. See 7 USC 6302
  • member: means a member of the Board. See 7 USC 6002
  • Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
  • 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
  • Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
  • mushrooms: means all varieties of cultivated mushrooms grown within the United States for the fresh market, or imported into the United States for the fresh market, that are marketed, except that such term shall not include mushrooms that are commercially marinated, canned, frozen, cooked, blanched, dried, packaged in brine, or otherwise processed, as may be determined by the Secretary. See 7 USC 6102
  • 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
  • National List: means a list of approved and prohibited substances as provided for in section 6517 of this title. See 7 USC 6502
  • national organic program import certificate: means a form developed for purposes of the program under this chapter&mdash. See 7 USC 6502
  • net market price: means &mdash. See 7 USC 6302
  • 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.
  • order: means a lime research, promotion, and consumer information order issued by the Secretary under section 6203(a) of this title. See 7 USC 6202
  • order: means an order issued under section 6303 of this title. See 7 USC 6302
  • organic plan: means a plan of management of an organic farming or handling operation that has been agreed to by the producer or handler and the certifying agent and that includes written plans concerning all aspects of agricultural production or handling described in this chapter including crop rotation and other practices as required under this chapter. See 7 USC 6502
  • organically produced: means an agricultural product that is produced and handled in accordance with this chapter. See 7 USC 6502
  • Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • owner-operator: shall include in the State of Hawaii the lessee-operator of real property in any case in which the Secretary determines that such real property cannot be acquired in fee simple by such lessee-operator, that adequate security is provided for the loan with respect to such real property for which such lessee-operator applies under this chapter, and that there is a reasonable probability of accomplishing the objectives and repayment of such loan. See 7 USC 1991
  • partner: includes a member in such a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture, or organization. See 26 USC 7701
  • partnership: includes a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture, or other unincorporated organization, through or by means of which any business, financial operation, or venture is carried on, and which is not, within the meaning of this title, a trust or estate or a corporation. See 26 USC 7701
  • 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.
  • pecan: means the nut of the pecan tree carya illinoensis. See 7 USC 6002
  • person: means an individual, group of individuals, corporation, association, organization, cooperative, or other entity. See 7 USC 6502
  • person: shall be construed to mean and include an individual, a trust, estate, partnership, association, company or corporation. See 26 USC 7701
  • person: means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or any other entity. See 7 USC 6002
  • person: means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or any other legal entity. See 7 USC 6102
  • person: means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or other legal entity. See 7 USC 6202
  • person: means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or any other legal entity. See 7 USC 6302
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • pesticide: means any substance which alone, in chemical combination, or in any formulation with one or more substances, is defined as a pesticide in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U. See 7 USC 6502
  • plan: means a plan issued under section 6003 of this title. See 7 USC 6002
  • preservation loan service program: means homestead retention as authorized under section 2000 of this title. See 7 USC 1991
  • Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
  • producer: means a person who engages in the business of growing or producing food or feed. See 7 USC 6502
  • producer: means any person engaged in the production of mushrooms who owns or who shares the ownership and risk of loss of such mushrooms and who produces, on average, over 500,000 pounds of mushrooms per year. See 7 USC 6102
  • producer: means any person who produces limes in the United States for sale in commerce. See 7 USC 6202
  • producer: means any person engaged in the growing of soybeans in the United States who owns, or who shares the ownership and risk of loss of, such soybeans. See 7 USC 6302
  • producer-handler: means any person who is both a producer and handler of limes. See 7 USC 6202
  • promotion: means any action taken by the Board, pursuant to this chapter, to present a favorable image of pecans to the public with the express intent of improving the competitive position of pecans in the marketplace and stimulating sales of pecans, including paid advertising. See 7 USC 6002
  • promotion: means any action determined by the Secretary to enhance the image or desirability of mushrooms, including paid advertising. See 7 USC 6102
  • promotion: means any action taken under this chapter (including paid advertising) to present a favorable image for limes to the general public with the express intent of improving the competitive position and stimulating the sale of limes. See 7 USC 6202
  • promotion: means any action, including paid advertising, technical assistance, and trade servicing activities, to enhance the image or desirability of soybeans or soybean products in domestic and foreign markets, and any activity designed to communicate to consumers, importers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, government officials, or others information relating to the positive attributes of soybeans or soybean products or the benefits of importation, use, or distribution of soybeans and soybean products. See 7 USC 6302
  • 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 law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • qualified beginning farmer or rancher: means an applicant, regardless of whether the applicant is participating in a program under section 1935 of this title&mdash. See 7 USC 1991
  • qualified State soybean board: means a State soybean promotion entity that is authorized by State law. See 7 USC 6302
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • 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.
  • Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
  • research: means market research to support advertising and promotion efforts, including educational activities, research directed to product characteristics, product development, including new products or improved technology in production, manufacturing or processing of milk and the products of milk. See 7 USC 6402
  • research: means any type of test, study, or analysis designed to advance the image, desirability, usage, marketability, production, product development, or quality of pecans. See 7 USC 6002
  • research: means any type of study to advance the image, desirability, marketability, production, product development, quality, or nutritional value of mushrooms. See 7 USC 6102
  • research: means any type of research relating to the use and nutritional value of limes and designed to advance the image, desirability, marketability, or quality of limes. See 7 USC 6202
  • research: means any type of study to advance the image, desirability, marketability, production, product development, quality, or functional or nutritional value of soybeans or soybean products, including any research activity designed to identify and analyze barriers to export sales of soybeans and soybean products. See 7 USC 6302
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6402
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6502
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture, unless otherwise specified in this chapter. See 7 USC 1732
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate. See 26 USC 7701
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6002
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6102
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6202
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 6302
  • 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.
  • shareholder: includes a member in an association, joint-stock company, or insurance company. See 26 USC 7701
  • shell: means to remove the shell from an in-shell pecan. See 7 USC 6002
  • sheller: means any person who&mdash. See 7 USC 6002
  • soybean products: means products produced in whole or in part from soybeans or soybean by-products. See 7 USC 6302
  • soybeans: means all varieties of Glycine max or Glycine soya. See 7 USC 6302
  • State: shall include each of the several States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and, to the extent the Secretary determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 7 USC 1991
  • State: shall be construed to include the District of Columbia, where such construction is necessary to carry out provisions of this title. See 26 USC 7701
  • State: means any of the several States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6002
  • State: means each of the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6202
  • State organic certification program: means a program that meets the requirements of section 6506 of this title, is approved by the Secretary, and that is designed to ensure that a product that is sold or labeled as "organically produced" under this chapter is produced and handled using organic methods. See 7 USC 6502
  • 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.
  • stock: includes shares in an association, joint-stock company, or insurance company. See 26 USC 7701
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • synthetic: means a substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources, except that such term shall not apply to substances created by naturally occurring biological processes. See 7 USC 6502
  • Tax Court: means the United States Tax Court. See 26 USC 7701
  • taxable year: means the calendar year, or the fiscal year ending during such calendar year, upon the basis of which the taxable income is computed under subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
  • taxpayer: means any person subject to any internal revenue tax. See 26 USC 7701
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • trade or business: includes the performance of the functions of a public office. See 26 USC 7701
  • transaction: includes a series of transactions. See 26 USC 7701
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • United States: when used in a geographical sense includes only the States and the District of Columbia. See 26 USC 7701
  • United States: means collectively the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6002
  • United States: include the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6102
  • United States: means the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6202
  • United States: consist of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 6302
  • 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.
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.