Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 507 - Household Moving Services

• Accessorial services: means any service performed by a mover which results in a charge to the shipper and is incidental to the transportation or shipment of household goods, including, but not limited to, valuation coverage; preparation of written inventory; equipment, including dollies, hand trucks, pads, blankets, and straps; storage, packing, unpacking, or crating of articles; hoisting or lowering; waiting time; carrying articles excessive distances to or from the mover's vehicle, which may be cited as "long carry"; overtime loading and unloading; reweighing; disassembly or reassembly; elevator or stair carrying; boxing or servicing of appliances; and furnishing of packing or crating materials. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Advertise: means to advise, announce, give notice of, publish, or call attention by use of oral, written, or graphic statement made in a newspaper or other publication or on radio or television, any electronic medium, or contained in any notice, handbill, sign, including signage on vehicle, flyer, catalog or letter, or printed on or contained in any tag or label attached to or accompanying any good. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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}
• bill of lading: means a written document prepared by a registered mover which is approved and electronically acknowledged or signed by the shipper in writing before the performance of any service by the mover and which authorizes the named mover to perform the services and lists all costs associated with the household move and accessorial services to be performed. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• broker: means a person who, for compensation, arranges with a registered mover for loading, transporting or shipping, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move or who, for compensation, refers a shipper to a registered mover. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Compensation: means money, fee, emolument, quid pro quo, barter, remuneration, pay, reward, indemnification, or satisfaction. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Estimate: means a written document prepared by a registered mover which sets forth the total costs and describes the basis of those costs relating to a shipper's household move, including, but not limited to, the loading, transportation or shipment, and unloading of household goods and accessorial services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• goods: means personal effects or other personal property commonly found in a home, personal residence, or other dwelling, including, but not limited to, household furniture. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• 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}
• 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.
• move: means the loading of household goods into a vehicle, moving container, or other mode of transportation or shipment; the transportation or shipment of those household goods; and the unloading of those household goods, when the transportation or shipment originates and terminates at one of the following ultimate locations, regardless of whether the mover temporarily stores the goods while en route between the originating and terminating locations:
  (a) From one dwelling to another dwelling;
  (b) From a dwelling to a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent; or
  (c) From a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent to a dwelling. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Mover: means a person who, for compensation, contracts for or engages in the loading, transportation or shipment, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Moving container: means a receptacle holding at least 200 cubic feet of volume which is used to transport or ship household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• 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.
• 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 individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Shipper: means a person who uses the services of a mover to transport or ship household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Storage: means the temporary warehousing of a shipper's goods while under the care, custody, and control of the mover. See Florida Statutes 507.01
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01