Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 15 > Chapter 83 - Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution

• affiliate: means a business enterprise located in one country which is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a person of another country to the extent of 10 per centum or more of its voting stock for an incorporated business or an equivalent interest for an unincorporated business, including a branch. See 22 USC 3102
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney General: means the Attorney General of the United States. See 26 USC 7701
• 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.
• billing error: consists of any of the following:

  (A) A reflection on a billing statement for a telephone-billed purchase which was not made by the customer or, if made, was not in the amount reflected on such statement. See 15 USC 5724

• business enterprise: means any organization, association, branch, or venture which exists for profitmaking purposes or to otherwise secure economic advantage, and any ownership of any real estate. See 22 USC 3102
• Chairman: means the Chairman of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies. See 22 USC 262r
• Commission: means the Federal Trade Commission. See 15 USC 5724
• Commission: means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. See 22 USC 3203
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• customer: means any person who acquires or attempts to acquire goods or services in a telephone-billed purchase. See 15 USC 5724
• 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.
• 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.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• direct investment: means the ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by one person of 10 per centum or more of the voting securities of an incorporated business enterprise or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated business enterprise. See 22 USC 3102
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• domestic building and loan association: means a domestic building and loan association, a domestic savings and loan association, and a Federal savings and loan association&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• 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}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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}
• foreign: when used in a geographic sense, means that which is situated outside the United States or which belongs to or is characteristic of a country other than the United States. See 22 USC 3102
• foreign person: means any person resident outside the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of a country other than the United States. See 22 USC 3102
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Indian tribal government: means the governing body of any tribe, band, community, village, or group of Indians, or (if applicable) Alaska Natives, which is determined by the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to exercise governmental functions. See 26 USC 7701
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• international financial institutions: means the International Monetary Fund, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, African Development Bank, African Development Fund, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank ² Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa,,³ and Inter-American Investment Corporation. See 22 USC 262r
• international investment: means (A) the ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by contractual commitment or otherwise, by foreign persons of any interest in property in the United States, or of stock, other securities, or short- and long-term debt obligations of a United States person, and (B) the ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by contractual commitment or otherwise, by United States persons of any interest in property outside the United States, or of stock, other securities, or short-and long-term debt obligations of a foreign person. See 22 USC 3102
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• 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.
• nuclear materials and equipment: means source material, special nuclear material, production facilities, utilization facilities, and components, items or substances determined to have significance for nuclear explosive purposes pursuant to subsection 109b ¹ of the 1954 Act [42 U. See 22 USC 3203
• paid or accrued: shall be construed according to the method of accounting upon the basis of which the taxable income is computed under subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
• parent: means a person of one country who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls 10 per centum or more of the voting stock of an incorporated business enterprise, or an equivalent ownership interest in an unincorporated business enterprise, which is located outside that country. See 22 USC 3102
• person: means any individual, branch, partnership, associated group, association, estate, trust, corporation, or other organization (whether or not organized under the laws of any State), and any government (including a foreign government, the United States Government, a State or local government, and any agency, corporation, financial institution, or other entity or instrumentality thereof, including a government-sponsored agency). See 22 USC 3102
• person: as used in this chapter includes an officer or employee of a corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurs. See 26 USC 7343
• portfolio investment: means any international investment which is not direct investment. See 22 USC 3102
• 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.
• providing carrier: means a local exchange or interexchange common carrier providing telephone services (other than local exchange services) to a vendor for a telephone-billed purchase that is the subject of a billing error complaint. See 15 USC 5724
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• public utility: when used in this subchapter and subchapter III of this chapter means any person who owns or operates facilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission under this subchapter (other than facilities subject to such jurisdiction solely by reason of section 824e(e), 824e(f),¹ 824i, 824j, 824j-1, 824k, 824o, 824o-1, 824p, 824q, 824r, 824s, 824t, 824u, or 824v of this title). See 16 USC 824
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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}
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• sale of electric energy at wholesale: when used in this subchapter, means a sale of electric energy to any person for resale. See 16 USC 824
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 42 USC 201
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: includes , in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 42 USC 201
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• student: means any individual&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• tax return preparer: means any person who prepares for compensation, or who employs one or more persons to prepare for compensation, any return of tax imposed by this title or any claim for refund of tax imposed by this title. See 26 USC 7701
• telephone-billed purchase: means any purchase that is completed solely as a consequence of the completion of the call or a subsequent dialing, touch tone entry, or comparable action of the caller. See 15 USC 5724
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Treaty: means the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. See 22 USC 3203
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: when used in a geographic sense, means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and all territories and possessions of the United States. See 22 USC 3102
• United States person: means any person resident in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See 22 USC 3102
• vendor: means any person who, through the use of the telephone, offers goods or services for a telephone-billed purchase. See 15 USC 5724
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.