Terms Used In California Codes > Civil Code > Division 3 > Part 4 > Title 1.7 > Chapter 1 - Consumer Warranty Protection

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Alternative dispute resolution: means mediation, arbitration, conciliation, or other nonjudicial procedure that involves a neutral party in the decisionmaking process. See California Civil Code 5925
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assistive device: means any instrument, apparatus, or contrivance, including any component or part thereof or accessory thereto, that is used or intended to be used, to assist an individual with a disability in the mitigation or treatment of an injury or disease or to assist or affect or replace the structure or any function of the body of an individual with a disability, except that this term does not include prescriptive lenses and other ophthalmic goods unless they are sold or dispensed to a blind person, as defined in §. See California Civil Code 1791
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• Catalog or similar sale: means a sale in which neither the seller nor any employee or agent of the seller nor any person related to the seller nor any person with a financial interest in the sale participates in the diagnosis of the buyer's condition or in the selection or fitting of the device. See California Civil Code 1791
• clearly and conspicuously: means a larger type than the surrounding text, or in a contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from the surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks, in a manner that clearly calls attention to the language. See California Civil Code 1791
• Clothing: means any wearing apparel, worn for any purpose, including under and outer garments, shoes, and accessories composed primarily of woven material, natural or synthetic yarn, fiber, or leather or similar fabric. See California Civil Code 1791
• Commercial real property: has the meaning specified in subdivision (d) of Section 1954. See California Civil Code 1993
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumables: means any product that is intended for consumption by individuals, or use by individuals for purposes of personal care or in the performance of services ordinarily rendered within the household, and that usually is consumed or expended in the course of consumption or use. See California Civil Code 1791
• Consumer goods: means any new product or part thereof that is used, bought, or leased for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, except for clothing and consumables. See California Civil Code 1791
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• County: includes "city and county. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• creditor: means the state or the department or agency of the state seeking to collect the liability. See California Code of Civil Procedure 688.040
• debtor: means the debtor from whom the liability is sought to be collected. See California Code of Civil Procedure 688.040
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• 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:
• Distributor: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that stands between the manufacturer and the retail seller in purchases, consignments, or contracts for sale of consumer goods. See California Civil Code 1791
• Enforcement action: means a civil action or proceeding, other than a cross-complaint, for any of the following purposes:

  California Civil Code 5925

• 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.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Home appliance: means any refrigerator, freezer, range, microwave oven, washer, dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, trash compactor, or room air-conditioner normally used or sold for personal, family, or household purposes. See California Civil Code 1791
• Home electronic product: means any television, radio, antenna rotator, audio or video recorder or playback equipment, video camera, video game, video monitor, computer equipment, telephone, telecommunications equipment, electronic alarm system, electronic appliance control system, or other kind of electronic product, if it is normally used or sold for personal, family, or household purposes. See California Civil Code 1791
• home-to-school transportation: includes all of the following:

  California Education Code 41850

• Implied warranty of fitness: means (1) that when the retailer, distributor, or manufacturer has reason to know any particular purpose for which the consumer goods are required, and further, that the buyer is relying on the skill and judgment of the seller to select and furnish suitable goods, then there is an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose and (2) that when there is a sale of an assistive device sold at retail in this state, then there is an implied warranty by the retailer that the device is specifically fit for the particular needs of the buyer. See California Civil Code 1791.1
• Income: as used in this chapter means the return derived from principal. See California Civil Code 731.03
• independent service dealer: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, not an employee or subsidiary of a manufacturer or distributor, that engages in the business of servicing and repairing consumer goods. See California Civil Code 1791
• 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}
• Landlord: means any operator, keeper, lessor, or sublessor of any furnished or unfurnished premises for hire, or his or her agent or successor in interest. See California Civil Code 1980
• Landlord: means any operator, keeper, lessor, or sublessor of any furnished or unfurnished premises for hire, or his or her agent or successor in interest. See California Civil Code 1993
• Lease: means any contract for the lease or bailment for the use of consumer goods by an individual, for a term exceeding four months, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not it is agreed that the lessee bears the risk of the consumer goods' depreciation. See California Civil Code 1791
• 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}
• Lessee: means an individual who leases consumer goods under a lease. See California Civil Code 1791
• Lessor: means a person who regularly leases consumer goods under a lease. See California Civil Code 1791
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Manufacturer: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that manufactures, assembles, or produces consumer goods. See California Civil Code 1791
• month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See California Civil Code 14
• 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}
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means any person other than the landlord who has any right, title, or interest in personal property. See California Civil Code 1980
• Owner: means any person other than the landlord who has any right, title, or interest in property. See California Civil Code 1993
• Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity that engages in any of these businesses. See California Civil Code 1791
• personal property: include money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See California Civil Code 14
• Place of business: means , for the purposes of any retail seller that sells consumer goods by catalog or mail order, the distribution point for consumer goods. See California Civil Code 1791
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Premises: includes any common areas associated therewith. See California Civil Code 1980
• Premises: includes any common areas associated therewith. See California Civil Code 1993
• Principal: as used in this chapter means any realty or personalty which has been so set aside or limited by the owner thereof or a person thereto legally empowered that it and any substitutions for it are eventually to be conveyed, delivered, or paid to a person, while the return therefrom or use thereof or any part of such return or use is in the meantime to be taken or received by or held for accumulation for the same or another person. See California Civil Code 731.03
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• project: means any major, localized, undertaking by or under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Water Resources, or by or under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Water Resources and the federal government, jointly, which has a duration, estimated by the Director of the Department of Water Resources, of more than three years. See California Education Code 41930
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Records: means any material, regardless of the physical form, on which information is recorded or preserved by any means, including in written or spoken words, graphically depicted, printed, or electromagnetically transmitted. See California Civil Code 1980
• Records: means any material, regardless of the physical form, on which information is recorded or preserved by any means, including in written or spoken words, graphically depicted, printed, or electromagnetically transmitted. See California Civil Code 1993
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• Remainderman: as used in this chapter means the person ultimately entitled to the principal, whether named or designated by the terms of the transaction by which the principal was established or determined by operation of law. See California Civil Code 731.03
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• retail buyer: means any individual who buys consumer goods from a person engaged in the business of manufacturing, distributing, or selling consumer goods at retail. See California Civil Code 1791
• retailer: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that engages in the business of selling or leasing consumer goods to retail buyers. See California Civil Code 1791
• Sale: means either of the following:

  California Civil Code 1791

• Service contract: means a contract in writing to perform, over a fixed period of time or for a specified duration, services relating to the maintenance or repair of a consumer product, except that this term does not include a policy of automobile insurance, as defined in §. See California Civil Code 1791
• 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.
• special education transportation: means either of the following:

  California Education Code 41850

• 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.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tenant: includes any paying guest, lessee, or sublessee of any premises for hire. See California Civil Code 1980
• Tenant: includes any lessee or sublessee of any commercial real property and its premises for hire. See California Civil Code 1993
• Tenant: as used in this chapter means the person to whom income is presently or currently payable, or for whom it is accumulated or who is entitled to the beneficial use of the principal presently and for a time prior to its distribution. See California Civil Code 731.03
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ: means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of the people, or of a court or judicial officer. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17