Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 31 > Subchapter 1 - General Provisions; State Code of Ethics

• Administrator: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. See
• Advertisement: means any material designed to create public interest in a product or induce the public to purchase, increase, modify, reinstate, borrow on, surrender, replace, or retain a policy as more specifically defined in the rules and operating procedures of the Commission. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Annual meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• 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}
• buyer: means a person who agrees to buy or buys a motor vehicle other than principally for the purpose of resale, or other than principally for a commercial purpose, from a retail seller in a retail installment transaction. See
• Bylaws: means those bylaws established by the Commission for its governance or for directing or controlling the Commission's actions or conduct. See
• Cash price: means the minimum price for which the motor vehicle, including accessories, subject to the retail installment contract or another motor vehicle of like kind and quality, including similar accessories, may be purchased for cash from the seller by the buyer. See
• Commercial purpose: means a purpose related to the production, exhibition, marketing, transportation, processing, or manufacture of goods or services by any person, where the cash price of the motor vehicle, exclusive of any finance charges, exceeds the sum of $20,000. See
• Commission: means the State Ethics Commission established under subchapter 3 of this chapter. See
• Commission: means the "Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission" established by this compact. See
• Commissioner: means the chief insurance regulatory official of a state, including commissioner, superintendent, director, or administrator. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. See
• Compacting state: means any state that has enacted this compact legislation and that has not withdrawn pursuant to subsection 8512(a) of this chapter or been terminated pursuant to subsection 8512(b) of this chapter. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Confidential information: means information that is exempt from public inspection and copying under 1 V. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contract: means a contract entered into in this State evidencing a retail installment transaction under which the title to or a lien or security in the motor vehicle, which is the subject matter of the transaction, is retained or taken to secure the retail buyer's obligations. See
• 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.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Domestic partner: means an individual in an enduring domestic relationship of a spousal nature with the Executive officer or the public servant, provided the individual and Executive officer or public servant:

• 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.
• Executive officer: means :

• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fair market value: means the price the leased property would be sold for in a transaction between willing and informed parties in an arms-length transaction. See
• Farmer: means any person engaged in farming. See
• Farming: means those activities described in 10 V. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• 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}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Holder: means the retail seller of the motor vehicle or the sales finance company or other assignee if the retail installment contract is purchased or otherwise acquired by a sales finance company or other assignee. See
• Immediate family: means an individual's spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner; child or foster child; sibling; parent; or such relations by marriage or by civil union or domestic partnership; or an individual claimed as a dependent for federal income tax purposes. See
• 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}
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Insurer: means any entity licensed by a state to issue contracts of insurance for any of the lines of insurance covered by this chapter. See
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• 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}
• 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 person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• lease: means a lease of property to a farmer under which:

• 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 a person who acquires the right to possession and use of leased property under an agricultural finance lease. See
• Lessor: means a person who transfers the right to possession and use of leased property under an agricultural finance lease, and agents, successors, and assigns of the lessor. See
• 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.
• Member: means the person chosen by a compacting state as its representative to the Commission, or his or her designee. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means and is limited to the following:

• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• NAIC: means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See
• 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}
• Oath: shall include affirmation where by law an affirmation may be substituted. See
• 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.
• Official fees: means the amount of the fees prescribed by law for filing, recording, or otherwise perfecting a retained title, lien, or other security interests created in a retail installment transaction. See
• Operating procedures: means procedures adopted by the Commission implementing a rule, uniform standard, or a provision of this compact. See
• 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: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person: means any individual, group, business entity, association, or organization. See
• Person: means an individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, banking organization, association, or any other group however organized. See
• Personal estate: shall include all property other than real estate. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Principal balance: means the cash sale price of the motor vehicle plus the amounts, if any, included in the retail installment contract, if a separate identified charge is stated therein, for insurance and other benefits and official fees, less the amount of the buyer's down payment, if any, in money or goods, or both. See
• Product: means the form of a policy or contract, including any application, endorsement, or related form that is attached to and made a part of the policy or contract, and any evidence of coverage or certificate, for an individual or group annuity, life insurance, disability income, or long-term care insurance product that an insurer is authorized to issue. See
• property: means personal property leased by a lessor to a farmer lessee for use in farming, including goods, livestock, equipment and machinery, bulk milk tanks, silos, manure storage systems, tools, fixtures that were personal property at the time the lease was entered into, and accessories. See
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• 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.
• Rule: means a statement of general or particular applicability and future effect adopted by the Commission, including a uniform standard developed pursuant to section 8505 of this chapter, designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of the Commission, that shall have the force and effect of law in the compacting states. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Sales finance company: means a person engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring from one or more sellers retail installment contracts. See
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
• seller: means a person engaged in the business of selling motor vehicles to retail buyers in retail installment transactions and includes an owner of a mobile home park who sells mobile homes to residents of the park, whether or not the sales are the principal business of the park owner. See
• 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.
• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State: means any state, district, or territory of the United States of America. See
• State officer: means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts, or Attorney General. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Third-party filer: means an entity that submits a product filing to the Commission on behalf of an insurer. See
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• transaction: means any transaction in which a retail buyer purchases a motor vehicle from a retail seller under a retail installment contract for a time sale price consisting of a cash sale price and other amounts as limited by this chapter and agrees to pay part or all of the price in one or more deferred installments. See
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Uniform standard: means a standard adopted by the Commission for a product line, pursuant to section 8505 of this chapter, and shall include all of the product requirements in aggregate; provided, that each uniform standard shall be construed, whether express or implied, to prohibit the use of any inconsistent, misleading, or ambiguous provisions in a product, and the form of the product made available to the public shall not be unfair, inequitable, or against public policy as determined by the Commission. See
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See