Terms Used In New York Laws > Banking > Article 14-A - Student Loan Servicers

• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• 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.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• 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
• approved program: means a program for the education of physician assistants which has been formerly approved by the department. See N.Y. Education Law 6540
• approved program: means a program for the education of specialist assistants which has been approved by the department. See N.Y. Education Law 6547
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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: shall mean a person who is receiving a benefit from a public retirement system of the state or who has met all the conditions precedent for the actual receipt of a benefit from a public retirement system of the state, and the monies are due and owing to such person by the public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• 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}
• certificate of approval: when used in this article, shall mean the certificate of approval as it may be amended from time to time. See N.Y. Railroad Law 303
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• comptroller: shall mean the state comptroller. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• conventional mortgage: as used in this article four-a, shall mean (a) any single bond and mortgage or note and mortgage constituting a first lien upon real estate (including leasehold estates), not insured by the federal housing administrator or any of his successors in office or guaranteed by the United States under the provisions of the national housing act, as amended or supplemented, (b) first mortgage bonds issued under an indenture of mortgage and deed of trust, constituting a first lien upon real estate (including leasehold estates), and issued to a corporate trustee authorized to act as such in this state and approved by the fund. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 176
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• costs of the improvement and rehabilitation program: when used in this article, shall include the interest and principal payments on any obligations incurred for such purpose;
  
  (C) The amount of working cash which such corporation is entitled to have as a minimum throughout its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation; and an estimate of the amount of funds, if any, of such corporation which, upon its qualification as a railroad redevelopment corporation, and after provision for such amount of working cash and for the payment of such obligations of the debtor or of its trustee or trustees as shall be specified in the certificate, will be available to pay the costs of such improvement and rehabilitation program, or if there be a deficiency in such funds, an estimate of the amount thereof;
  
  (D) The amount of funds which will be made available to such corporation by its stockholders and the additional amount estimated to become available from other private investors in order to pay the costs of such improvement and rehabilitation program;
  
  (E) The amount of funds which such corporation will require from its operating revenues and other income in each year of its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation in order to pay the costs of such improvement and rehabilitation program, which yearly amounts shall be prorated for any other period;
  
  (F) The limitations, during the period of its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation, upon the payment of interest or principal on the bonds or other indebtedness of such corporation consented to by the bondholders or other creditors affected thereby and the limitations, during such period, upon the payment of dividends on the capital stock of such corporation, which are necessary and reasonable to carry out the policy and purposes of section three hundred;
  
  (G) The passenger fares and charges (and the classifications, regulations, and practices pertaining thereto) of such corporation reasonably required when it qualifies as a railroad redevelopment corporation in order to enable it to have sufficient operating revenues and other income to provide for items (1) through (9) enumerated in section three hundred six; and
  
  (H) Provisions that such corporation shall:
  
  (1) apply, as soon as practicable,
  
  (a) the amounts by which its operating revenues and other income during the period of its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation shall exceed the sums required during such period to provide for items (1) through (8) enumerated in section three hundred six, plus or minus, as the case may be,
  
  (b) the amount of available funds, or of the deficiency therein, determined pursuant to paragraph (C) of subdivision two, plus
  
  (c) the amounts received by such corporation from the sources specified in paragraph (D) of subdivision two, only to maintain the amount of working cash determined pursuant to paragraph (C) of subdivision two and to the payment of the costs of such improvement and rehabilitation program; and if the aggregate of said items (a), (b) and (c) shall be more than sufficient for that purpose, to the payment of the costs of such further additions and betterments of such corporation's facilities as it may be permitted or directed to make by order of the commissioner of transportation;
  
  (2) upon the termination of its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation, set aside any of the foregoing amounts not so applied during such period in a separate fund to be used only for such purposes; and
  
  (3) in the event it shall sell any of its capital assets, apply, subject to the provisions of any mortgage or deed of trust covering such property, the proceeds thereof received during the period of its existence as a railroad redevelopment corporation, at its option, either to the payment of the costs of such improvement and rehabilitation program or of other additions or betterments of its facilities. See N.Y. Railroad Law 303
• Crime related to public office: shall mean any of the following criminal offenses whether committed in this state or in any other jurisdiction by a public official through the use of his or her public office or by the individual representing that he or she was acting with the authority of any governmental entity, and acting as a public official:
  
  (a) a felony for committing, aiding or abetting a larceny of public funds from the state or a municipality;
  
  (b) a felony committed in direct connection with service as a public official; or
  
  (c) a felony committed by such person who, with the intent to defraud, realizes or obtains, or attempts to realize or obtain, a profit, gain or advantage for himself or herself or for some other person, through the use or attempted use of the power, rights, privileges or duties of his or her position as a public official. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 156
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Defendant: shall mean a state or local officer against whom a forfeiture action is commenced. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 156
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• 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}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• fiduciary-controlled entities: shall mean the common retirement fund, state teachers retirement fund, state insurance fund and state deferred compensation plan. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 176
• final salary: means the maximum salary or compensation which the retired person currently would be receiving in the position from which he was last retired if he had not retired. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 210
• 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.
• 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}
• former employer: means the state or a political subdivision, public corporation, school district, board of cooperative educational services, county vocational education and extension board, or an agency or organization which contributes as a participating employer in a retirement system or pension plan administered by the state or any of its civil divisions, which directly paid the salary or compensation of a retired person at any time during the two years immediately preceding his retirement and who paid the salary on which the retiree's retirement allowance is based. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 210
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• fund: as used in this article four-a, shall mean any public retirement system or pension fund which grants retirement or pension benefits to employees of the city of New York, employees of the state of New York, employees of any department or agency of the city of New York or the state of New York, and employees of any municipality or other participating employer participating in the New York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 176
• fund: shall mean any public retirement system or pension fund which grants retirement or pension benefits to employees of the city of New York, employees of the state of New York, employees of any department or agency of the city of New York or of the state of New York, employees of any municipality or other participating employer participating in the New York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, and employees of school districts participating in the New York state teachers' retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 185
• Head of the retirement system: shall mean the state comptroller, with respect to the New York state and local employees' retirement system and the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, and the retirement board of the other public retirement systems of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• hospital: means an institution or facility possessing a valid operating certificate issued pursuant to Article 28 of the public health law and authorized to employ physician assistants in accordance with rules and regulations of the public health and health planning council. See N.Y. Education Law 6540
• hospital: means an institution or facility possessing a valid operating certificate issued pursuant to Article 28 of the public health law and authorized to employ specialist assistants in accordance with rules and regulations of the public health and health planning council. See N.Y. Education Law 6547
• 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}
• insured mortgage: as used in this article four-a, shall mean any single bond and mortgage or note and mortgage constituting a first lien upon real estate (including leasehold estates), insured by the federal housing administrator or any of his successors in office and guaranteed by the United States under the provisions of the national housing act, as amended or supplemented. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 176
• 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}
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• local retired employee: shall mean a person who shall have retired prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, and receives as a result of such retirement, a retirement allowance or pension from any retirement or pension system or plan of a municipality, which retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, is or would be twelve hundred dollars per annum or less, and who, unless retired for disability, (a) is sixty years of age or over and (b) has had not less than fifteen years of allowable and credited service on which his retirement allowance or pension is based, provided, however, that
  
  (1) in the case of such a person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-five before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-six, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if such person is then sixty-five years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age sixty-five;
  
  (2) in the case of a female person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-two before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if she is then sixty-two years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which she attains age sixty-two;
  
  (3) in the case of a person retired for disability, either before or after attaining age fifty, who attained such age before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if he is then fifty years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age fifty. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• local retired teacher: shall mean a person who shall have retired prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, and receives as a result of such retirement, a retirement allowance from any teachers' retirement system administered and operated by a municipality or a school district located therein, which retirement allowance, computed without optional modification, is or would be twelve hundred dollars per annum or less, or as hereinafter provided thirteen hundred and two or eighteen hundred dollars per annum or less, as the case may be, and who, unless retired for disability, has had not less than fifteen years of allowable and credited service on which his retirement allowance is based, provided, however, that
  
  (1) In the case of such a person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-five before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-six, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to subdivision five of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if such person is then sixty-five years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age sixty-five;
  
  (2) in the case of a female person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-two before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if she is then sixty-two years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which she attains age sixty-two;
  
  (3) in the case of a person retired for disability, either before or after attaining age fifty, who attained such age before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum in the event a local law, ordinance or resolution is adopted pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-three of this act, beginning with the month when such local law, ordinance or resolution shall become effective, if he is then fifty years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age fifty;
  
  (4) in the case where a local law, ordinance or resolution authorizing additional supplemental pension payments pursuant to subdivision six of section one hundred sixty-three of this act is adopted effective on or after April first, nineteen hundred fifty-eight, such term shall for the purposes hereof refer to such a person entitled to receive a monthly supplemental pension in an amount which when added to his monthly retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall be equal to one hundred fifty dollars. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• Member: shall mean a member of any public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• municipality: shall mean a county, city, town or village. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• 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}
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• 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.
• Pension: shall mean the annual allowance for life, payable in monthly installments, derived from contributions made by a public official to the appropriate pension accumulation fund of a retirement system pursuant to applicable law. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 156
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• physician: means a practitioner of medicine licensed to practice medicine pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of this chapter. See N.Y. Education Law 6540
• physician: means a practitioner of medicine licensed to practice medicine pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of this chapter. See N.Y. Education Law 6547
• physician assistant: means a person who is licensed as a physician assistant pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Education Law 6540
• 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.
• 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.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public employee pension plan: shall mean any plan, fund, or program which was heretofore or is hereafter established or maintained, in whole or in part, by a public employer of the state, as the term public employer is defined in Article 14 of the civil service law, and administered by a public retirement system of the state, which provides retirement income to employees or their beneficiaries. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• 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 official: shall mean any of the following individuals:
  
  (i) the governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller or attorney general;
  
  (ii) members of the state legislature;
  
  (iii) state officers and employees including:
  
  (A) heads of state departments and their deputies and assistants other than members of the board of regents of the university of the state of New York who receive no compensation or are compensated on a per diem basis;
  
  (B) officers and employees of statewide elected officials;
  
  (C) officers and employees of state departments, boards, bureaus, divisions, commissions, councils or other state agencies; and
  
  (D) members or directors of public authorities, other than multi-state authorities, public benefit corporations and commissions at least one of whose members is appointed by the governor, and employees of such authorities, corporations and commissions;
  
  (iv) judges, justices and employees of the unified court system;
  
  (v) officers and employees of the legislature; and
  
  (vi) paid municipal officers and employees including an officer or employee of a municipality, paid members of any administrative board, commission or other agency thereof and in the case of a county, shall be deemed to also include any officer or employee paid from county funds. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 156
• Public retirement system of the state: shall mean the New York state and local employees' retirement system, New York state and local police and fire retirement system, New York state teachers' retirement system, New York city employees' retirement system, New York city teachers' retirement system, New York city police pension fund, New York city fire department pension fund and the New York city board of education retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• public service: means the service of the state or any political division thereof, including a special district, district corporation, school district, board of cooperative educational services or county vocational education and extension board, or the service of a public benefit corporation or public authority created by or pursuant to laws of the state of New York, or the service of any agency or organization which contributes as a participating employer in a retirement system or pension plan administered by the state or any of its political subdivisions. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 210
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retired member: shall mean a person who is retired from and who is receiving a retirement allowance from a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• retired person: means a retired member of a retirement system or pension plan administered by the state or any of its political subdivisions who is receiving a retirement allowance for other than physical disability. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 210
• retirement allowance: means the total amount payable to a retired person, whether in the form of pension or annuity, or both, from a retirement system or systems or pension plan or plans administered by the state or any of its political subdivisions. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 210
• Retirement system: shall mean the New York state and local employees' retirement system, and the New York city employees' retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 156
• 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.
• specialist assistant: means a person who is registered pursuant to this article as a specialist assistant for a particular medical specialty as defined by regulations promulgated by the commissioner of health pursuant to § 3711 of the public health law. See N.Y. Education Law 6547
• state retired employee: shall mean a person who shall have retired prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, and receives as a result of such retirement, a retirement allowance or pension from any state administered and operated retirement or pension plan or system, which retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, is or would be twelve hundred dollars per annum or less, and who, unless retired for disability, (a) is sixty years of age or over and (b) has had not less than fifteen years of allowable and credited service on which his retirement allowance or pension is based, provided, however, that
  
  (1) in the case of such a person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-five before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-six, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum beginning with the month of April, nineteen hundred fifty-six, if he is then sixty-five years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age sixty-five;
  
  (2) in the case of a female person meeting such requirements who attained age sixty-two before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum beginning with the month of April, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, if she is then sixty-two years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which she attains age sixty-two;
  
  (3) in the case of a person retired for disability, either before or after attaining age fifty, who attained such age before April first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, or who attains such age on or after such date, the maximum retirement allowance or pension, computed without optional modification, shall for the purposes hereof be thirteen hundred and two dollars per annum beginning with the month of April, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, if he is then fifty years of age or beginning with the month thereafter during which he attains age fifty. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• state retired teacher: shall mean a person who shall have retired prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, and receives a retirement allowance from the New York state teachers' retirement system, which retirement allowance, computed without optional modification, including any modification due to additional contributions as authorized by subdivision three of § 516 of the education law, is or would be twenty-four hundred dollars per annum or less and who, unless retired for disability, has been credited with not less than twenty-five years of service, at least fifteen of which shall have been service within the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 161
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• terminable permit: as used in this article shall mean and embrace every grant from a city, town or village of power, right or privilege to occupy or use any of the streets, roads, highways, avenues, parks or public places of such city, town or village for the construction and operation of a street surface railroad, until such time as the city, town or village shall exercise its right to purchase the property, plant and equipment of such street surface railroad in accordance with the provisions of sections one hundred and seventy-three-a to one hundred and seventy-three-h, both inclusive, of this article, or until it shall be otherwise terminated according to law. See N.Y. Railroad Law 173-A
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Total accumulated plan benefits: shall mean an interest obtained by a member in that part of a public employee pension plan which arises from the member's continued service for a public employer based on service to date. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 152
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.