Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 6-27 - Truth in Lending and Retail Selling

• Agreement: means a written contractual agreement between the merchant and the third-party delivery service. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-58-1
• Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Credit: means any loan, mortgage, deed of trust, advance, or discount; any conditional sales contract; any contract to sell, or sale or contract of sale of property or services either for present or future delivery, under which part or all of the price is payable subsequent to the making of the sale or contract and the creditor imposes a finance charge; any contract or arrangement for the hire, bailment, or leasing of property in connection with which the creditor imposes a finance charge; any option, demand, lien, pledge, or other claim against or for the delivery of property or money; any purchase, or other acquisition of, or any credit upon the security of, any obligation or claim arising out of any of the foregoing; and any transaction or series of transactions having a similar purpose or effect. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-27-3
• Creditor: means any person engaged in the business of extending credit, including any person who as a regular business practice makes loans or sells or rents property or services on a time, credit, or installment basis, either as principal or as agent, who requires, as an incident to the extension of credit, the payment of a finance charge. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-27-3
• Customer: means the person, business, or other entity that places an order for merchant products through the marketplace. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-58-1
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Director: means the director of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-27-3
• 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.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• 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.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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 any individual, corporation, partnership, association, or other organized group of persons, or the legal successor or representative of the foregoing. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-27-3
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Revolving or open-end credit plan: means a credit plan prescribing the terms of credit transactions exclusive of cash advances under the plans. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-27-3
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.