Terms Used In Texas Finance Code Chapter 204 - Foreign Banks

• Additional municipal sales and use tax: means only the additional tax authorized by Section Texas Tax Code 321.002
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraised value: means the value determined as provided by Chapter 23 of this code. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Collector: means the officer or employee responsible for collecting property taxes for a taxing unit by whatever title he is designated. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Comptroller: means the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Improvement: means :
  (A) a building, structure, fixture, or fence erected on or affixed to land;
  (B) a transportable structure that is designed to be occupied for residential or business purposes, whether or not it is affixed to land, if the owner of the structure owns the land on which it is located, unless the structure is unoccupied and held for sale or normally is located at a particular place only temporarily; or
  (C) for purposes of an entity created under § 52, Article III, or § 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, the:
  (i) subdivision of land by plat;
  (ii) installation of water, sewer, or drainage lines; or
  (iii) paving of undeveloped land. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by writing, printing, or other means. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• kiosk: means a small stand-alone area or structure that:
  (i) is used solely to display merchandise or to submit orders for taxable items from a data entry device, or both;
  (ii) is located entirely within a location that is a place of business of another retailer, such as a department store or shopping mall; and
  (iii) at which taxable items are not available for immediate delivery to a customer. See Texas Tax Code 321.002
• 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 tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• 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.
• Market value: means the price at which a property would transfer for cash or its equivalent under prevailing market conditions if:
  (A) exposed for sale in the open market with a reasonable time for the seller to find a purchaser;
  (B) both the seller and the purchaser know of all the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used and of the enforceable restrictions on its use; and
  (C) both the seller and purchaser seek to maximize their gains and neither is in a position to take advantage of the exigencies of the other. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Month: means a calendar month. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• most recent federal census: means the United States decennial census immediately preceding the action in question. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Municipality: includes any incorporated city, town, or village. See Texas Tax Code 321.002
• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: means property that is not real property. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Place of business of the retailer: means an established outlet, office, or location operated by the retailer or the retailer's agent or employee for the purpose of receiving orders for taxable items and includes any location at which three or more orders are received by the retailer during a calendar year. See Texas Tax Code 321.002
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• 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.
• Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: means :
  (A) land;
  (B) an improvement;
  (C) a mine or quarry;
  (D) a mineral in place;
  (E) standing timber; or
  (F) an estate or interest, other than a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property or an interest securing payment or performance of an obligation, in a property enumerated in Paragraphs (A) through (E) of this subdivision. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• 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.
• 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 any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Succeeding: means immediately following. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Tangible personal property: means personal property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or otherwise perceived by the senses, but does not include a document or other perceptible object that constitutes evidence of a valuable interest, claim, or right and has negligible or no intrinsic value. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Tax year: means the calendar year. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Taxable value: means the amount determined by deducting from assessed value the amount of any applicable partial exemption. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Taxing unit: means a county, an incorporated city or town (including a home-rule city), a school district, a special district or authority (including a junior college district, a hospital district, a district created by or pursuant to the Water Code, a mosquito control district, a fire prevention district, or a noxious weed control district), or any other political unit of this state, whether created by or pursuant to the constitution or a local, special, or general law, that is authorized to impose and is imposing ad valorem taxes on property even if the governing body of another political unit determines the tax rate for the unit or otherwise governs its affairs. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005