Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 30 > Chapter 2 > Part 3 - Inventory and Management

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Automobile auction: means :
  (A) Any person offering motor vehicles for sale to the highest bidder where buyers are licensed motor vehicle dealers or their duly authorized agents. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Automobile club or association: as used in this chapter , means any individual or entity, who in consideration of fees, dues, periodic payments, or other specifically stated charges, promises its members to provide automobile club services. See Tennessee Code 55-18-101
• Automotive dismantlers and recyclers: means any person, firm, association, corporation, or trust resident or nonresident, who is engaged in the business and/or providing facilities for the purpose of recovering parts from automobiles and trucks, which have been wrecked or otherwise rendered inoperable as transportation vehicles with the parts recovered being for resale and further reduce used automobiles and trucks to a condition capable of salvage for their metal scrap content by scrap processors. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Automotive mobility dealer: means any motor vehicle dealer who:
  (A) Exclusively engages in the business of selling, offering to sell, or soliciting or advertising the sale of adapted vehicles. See Tennessee Code 55-17-301
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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.
• Buying and selling service: means any act by an automobile club or association whereby the member of any automobile club or association is aided in any way in the purchase or sale of an automobile or the purchase or sale of any accessories or equipment related to automobiles or travel, or any purchase of travel services. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Closed title: means an executed certificate of title indicating the motor vehicle dealer as the current owner or transferee. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Closed title: means an executed certificate of title indicating the recreational vehicle dealer as the current owner or transferee. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commission: means the motor vehicle commission created by this part. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Commission: means the Tennessee motor vehicle commission. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-1-111
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Dealer: means every person engaged in the business of buying, selling or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be registered and who has an established place of business for that purpose in this state. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discount service: means any act by an automobile club or association resulting in the giving of special discounts, rebates or reductions of price on gasoline, oil, repairs, parts, accessories or service for motor vehicles or other goods and services, to members of any automobile club or association. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Distributor: means any person who in whole or in part sells or distributes any new and unused recreational vehicles to recreational dealers or who maintains distributor representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Distributor branch: means a branch office similarly maintained by a distributor or wholesaler for the same purpose a factory branch is maintained. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Distributor representative: means a representative employed by a distributor or employed by a distributor branch or wholesaler for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of motor vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, contracting or contacting for any reason motor vehicle dealers or prospective motor vehicle dealers or their employees. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Driver: means :
  (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Emergency road service: means any act by an automobile club or association consisting of the fuel delivery, extrication, lockout service, repair, replacement or other adjustment of the equipment, tires or mechanical parts of an automobile so as to permit it to be operated under its own power. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• 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.
• Established place of business: means a permanent structure or structures owned, leased or rented by a motor vehicle dealer providing signs, facilities and office space used exclusively for buying, selling, displaying, advertising, demonstrating, servicing or repairing motor vehicles or functional or nonfunctional parts of motor vehicles and where replacement parts, repair tools and equipment as well as the books and records needed to conduct the business are kept. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Established place of business: means a permanent structure or structures owned, leased, or rented by a recreational vehicle dealer providing signs, facilities, and office space used exclusively for buying, selling, displaying, advertising, demonstrating, servicing, or repairing recreational vehicles or functional or nonfunctional parts of recreational vehicles and where replacement parts, repair tools, and equipment as well as the books and records needed to conduct the business are kept. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• 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
• Executor: includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Factory branch: means the branch office maintained by a manufacturer for the sale or transfer of motor vehicles to distributors or to motor vehicle dealers or which is maintained for directing and supervising the representatives of the manufacturer. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Factory representative: means a representative employed by a manufacturer or employed by a factory branch for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of motor vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, contracting or contacting for any reason motor vehicle dealers or prospective motor vehicle dealers or their employees. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Factory representative: means a representative employed by a manufacturer for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of recreational vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, controlling, or contacting for any reason recreational vehicle dealers or prospective recreational vehicle dealers or their employees. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial service: means any act by an automobile club or association whereby loans or other financial services such as stored value cards, deposit products, or advances of money, with or without security, are made or provided to or arranged for members of any automobile club association. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• 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}
• Franchise: means an oral or written agreement for a definite or indefinite period in which a manufacturer or distributor grants to a motor vehicle dealer a license to use a trade name, service mark, or related characteristic and in which there is a community of interest in the marketing of motor vehicles or services related thereto at wholesale, retail, leasing or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance service: means the selling or giving by an automobile club or association to a member of a policy of accident insurance covering liability or loss by a member as the result of death or personal injury or loss of or damage to the personal property of the member, or the selling of a hospital indemnity policy. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Legal service: means any act by an automobile club or association consisting of the hiring, retaining, engaging or appointing of an attorney or other person to give professional advice to, or represent, a member of any automobile club or association, in any court, as the result of liability incurred by the right of action accruing to the member as a result of the ownership, operation, use or maintenance of a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• 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.
• Manufacturer: means any person who manufactures or assembles new and unused motor vehicles or recreational vehicles, or who maintains factory representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Manufacturer: means any person who manufactures or assembles new and unused recreational vehicles, or who maintains factory representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Map service: means any act by an automobile club or association by which road maps are furnished with or without cost to members of any automobile club or association. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means any self-propelled motor-driven vehicle of the type and kind required to be registered and titled under chapter 1 of this title, and includes, but is not limited to, "motor vehicle" as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Motor vehicle dealer: means any person not excluded by subdivision (17), engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting or advertising the sale of motor vehicles or used recreational vehicles, or possessing motor vehicles or used recreational vehicles for the purpose of resale, either on that person's own account or on behalf of another, either as that person's primary business or incidental to that person's business. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• 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.
• Operator: means :
  (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Other services: means additional services furnished by an automobile club or association which augment or are incidental to any service performed by the automobile club or association as authorized under this chapter or any other service which is of assistance and is beneficial to its members and is feasible for the automobile club to render. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• 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: means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Person: means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probate court: means the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estates of decedents. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public automobile auction: means offering motor vehicles for sale to the highest bidder where buyers are members of the public by any motor vehicle dealer licensed to sell used motor vehicles, and which dealer is licensed as a public automobile auctioneer by the Tennessee auctioneer commission. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Public automobile auctioneer: means any individual who, for a fee, commission, or any other valuable consideration, or with the intention or expectation of receiving a fee, commission, or any other valuable consideration, by the means or process of auction or sale at auction, offers, negotiates, or attempts to negotiate a listing contract, sale, purchase or exchange of goods, including motor vehicles. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Sale: means the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, mortgage in any form, whether by transfer in trust or otherwise, of any motor vehicle or interest therein or of any franchise related thereto, as well as any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation looking to a sale, offer or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Sale: means the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, or mortgage in any form, whether by transfer in trust or otherwise, of any recreational vehicle or interest in such vehicle, as well as any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation looking to sell, offer, or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Subscription: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Theft service: means any act by an automobile club or association the purpose of which is to locate, identify or recover a motor vehicle owned or controlled by a member of any automobile club or association, which has been, or may be, stolen or to detect or apprehend the person guilty of the theft. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Touring service: includes any act by an automobile club or association by which touring information is furnished with or without cost to members of any automobile club or association or the making of arrangements or reservations for lodging or travel space, discounts for accommodations or vehicle rental, procurement of tickets or permits for travel to any place in the world for a member of any automobile club or association. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Towing service: means any act by an automobile club or association consisting of the drafting or moving of a motor vehicle from one (1) place to another under other than its own power. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trip interruption service: means the provision of or reimbursement for travel expenses, including food, lodging, and transportation to the member's intended destination if the member's motor vehicle is stolen or is rendered inoperable due to an accident, theft, or mechanical breakdown. See Tennessee Code 55-18-102
• Truck: means every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• vehicle salesperson: means any person who is not excluded by subdivision (17), and who is:
  (A) Employed by a licensed motor vehicle dealer who is engaged in the business of effecting or attempting to effect the sale or purchase of motor vehicles or used recreational vehicles owned by some other person to residents of the state, for which service some form of remuneration is expected, whether the remuneration be designated as a salary, fee commission, rental, or otherwise, and regardless of whether the remuneration is paid by the buyer, seller, or a third party. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• Vehicle salesperson: means a person licensed as a motor vehicle salesperson pursuant to part 1 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• wholesaler: means any person who in whole or in part sells or distributes any new and unused motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers or who maintains distributor representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-102
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105