Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 5-38.3 - Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Act

• Affiliate: means an entity that directly or indirectly controls, is under common control with, or is controlled by the business. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• 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.
• Applicant: means a business applying for assistance under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Applicant: means an eligible graduate who applies for a tax credit for education loan repayment expenses under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• 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
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Award: means a tax credit awarded by the commerce corporation to an applicant as provided under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Business: means a corporation as defined in § 44-11-1(4), or is a partnership, an S corporation, a nonprofit corporation, a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Commerce corporation: means the Rhode Island commerce corporation established by § 42-64-1 et seq. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Commerce corporation: means the Rhode Island commerce corporation established pursuant to chapter 64 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Commerce corporation: means the Rhode Island commerce corporation established pursuant to § 42-64-1 et seq. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.28-2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer protection unit: means the consumer protection unit of the department of the attorney general. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Day: means calendar day, except that if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, there is an extension of time to the conclusion of the next business day. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• Development: means the improvement of land through the carrying out of building, engineering, or other operations in, on, over, or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or land for the purposes of accommodating land uses. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Documentary material: means the original or a copy of any book, record, report, memorandum, paper, communication, tabulation, map, chart, photograph, mechanical transcription, or other tangible document or recording wherever situate. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• education loan repayment expenses: means annual higher education loan repayment expenses, including, without limitation, principal, interest and fees, as may be applicable, incurred by an eligible graduate and which the eligible graduate is obligated to repay for attendance at a postsecondary institution of higher learning. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Eligibility period: means a term of up to four (4) consecutive service periods beginning with the date that an eligible graduate receives initial notice of award under this chapter and expiring at the conclusion of the fourth service period after such date specified. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Eligibility requirements: means the following qualifications or criteria required for an applicant to claim an award under this chapter:

  (i)  That the applicant shall have graduated from an accredited two-year (2), four-year (4) or graduate postsecondary institution of higher learning with an associate's, bachelor's, graduate, or post-graduate degree and at which the applicant incurred education loan repayment expenses;

  (ii)  That the applicant shall be a full-time employee with a Rhode Island-based employer located in this state throughout the eligibility period, whose employment is for work in one or more of the following covered fields: life, natural or environmental sciences; computer, information or software technology; advanced mathematics or finance; engineering; industrial design or other commercially related design field; or medicine or medical device technology. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3

• Eligible graduate: means an individual who meets the eligibility requirements under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Estimate: means the repair shop's determination of the cost of parts and the cost of labor needed to perform offered services. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Flat rate: means relevant time allocated to a job as indicated in the manual used. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Full-time employee: means a person who is employed by a business for consideration for a minimum of at least thirty-five (35) hours per week, or who renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment, or who is employed by a professional employer organization pursuant to an employee leasing agreement between the business and the professional employer organization for a minimum of thirty-five (35) hours per week, or who renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment, and whose wages are subject to withholding. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Full-time employee: means a person who is employed by a business for consideration for a minimum of at least thirty-five (35) hours per week, or who renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment, or who is employed by a professional employer organization pursuant to an employee leasing agreement between the business and the professional employer organization for a minimum of thirty-five (35) hours per week, or who renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment, and whose wages are subject to withholding. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Guarantee: means an obligation undertaken by a repair shop to re-repair a vehicle at no charge, or at a reduced charge, for parts or labor or both. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• Healthcare applicant: means any applicant who meets the eligibility requirements and works as a full-time employee as a high-demand healthcare practitioner or mental health professional, including, but not limited to, clinical social workers and mental health counselors licensed by the department of health, and as defined in regulations to be promulgated by the commerce corporation, in consultation with the executive office of health and human services, pursuant to chapter 35 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Healthcare fund: refers to the "Healthcare Stay Invested in RI Wavemaker Fellowship Fund" established pursuant to § 42-64. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Invoice: means a bill, in writing, listing the details of the transaction between the repair shop and the customer as required by this part. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• 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}
• Manufacturer: shall mean any entity that:

  (i)  Uses any premises within the state primarily for the purpose of transforming raw materials into a finished product for trade through any or all of the following operations: adapting, altering, finishing, making, processing, refining, metalworking, and ornamenting, but shall not include fabricating processes incidental to warehousing or distribution of raw materials, such as alteration of stock for the convenience of a customer; or

  (ii)  Is described in codes 31-33 of the North American Industry Classification system, as revised from time to time. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.28-2

• Match: shall mean a funding match, or in kind services provided by a third party. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.28-2
• Motor vehicle: means every vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway that is propelled by any power other than muscular power, except:

  (A)  Electrically-driven mobility assistance devices operated or driven by a person with a disability;

  (B)  Vehicles that run only upon rails or tracks;

  (C)  Snowmobiles;

  (D)  Farm-type tractors and all-terrain vehicles used exclusively for agricultural purposes; and

  (E)  Towed vehicles designed and primarily used for some purpose other than transporting people or property. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2

• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation; the word "sworn" includes affirmed; and the word "engaged" includes either sworn or affirmed. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-11
• 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.
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Project cost: means the costs incurred in connection with a project by an applicant until the issuance of a permanent certificate of occupancy, or until such other time specified by the commerce corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3
• Project financing gap: means

  (i)  The part of the total project cost that remains to be financed after all other sources of capital have been accounted for (such sources will include, but not be limited to, developer-contributed capital), which shall be defined through rules and regulations promulgated by the commerce corporation, or

  (ii)  The amount of funds that the state may invest in a project to gain a competitive advantage over a viable and comparable location in another state by means described in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.23-3

• real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable fee for making an estimate: means an amount based on no more than the shop's labor charge, calculated by clock hours, or one dollar ($1. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• 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.
• Repair: means any alteration or adjustment to a motor vehicle, or diagnoses of a malfunction. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• repair shop: means any person who, for compensation, is wholly or partially engaged in the business of repairing or diagnosing motor vehicle malfunctions, except that these terms do not include:

  (i)  Any employee of a motor vehicle repair shop who engages in the business of repairing motor vehicles solely by reason of his or her employment;

  (ii)  Any person who is solely engaged in the business of repairing the motor vehicles of a single commercial or industrial establishment, or of the federal, state, or local government or any agency thereof;

  (iii)  Any person whose activities consist solely of fueling, changing oil, water, batteries, or tires, replacing fan belts, air filters, or oil filters, installing windshield wiper blades or light bulbs, or other minor repair and servicing functions that the director by rule prescribes;

  (iv)  Any person solely engaged in the business of repairing farm- or road-building machines, or any other utility vehicles that the director may by regulation designate;

  (v)  Any person who is governed by the provisions of chapters 5 and 5. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2

• Rhode Island-based employer: means : (i) An employer having a principal place of business or at least fifty-one percent (51%) of its employees located in this state; or (ii) An employer registered to conduct business in this state that reported Rhode Island tax liability in the previous tax year. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Service period: means a twelve-month (12) period beginning on the date that an eligible graduate receives initial notice of award under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• 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.
• small business: means a business that is resident in Rhode Island and employs two hundred (200) or fewer persons. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.25-3
• Small business: means a business that is resident in Rhode Island, has its business facility located within the state, and employs five hundred (500) or fewer persons. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.28-2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Student loan: means a loan to an individual by a public authority or private lender to assist the individual to pay for tuition, books, and living expenses in order to attend a postsecondary institution of higher learning. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Taxpayer: means an applicant who receives a tax credit under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.26-3
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Timely written demand: means a request, in writing, made to the repair shop operator by the customer before any work is done on the vehicle. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Warranty: means a promise made by a manufacturer that a vehicle will be repaired at no charge, or at a reduced charge, for parts or labor or both. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2
• Work order: means an authorization, either oral or written, on the part of the customer for the repair shop to perform a service. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-38.3-2