Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes > Motor Vehicle Industry Regulation Act

• Acquire: when used in connection with a grant of power or property right to any person shall include the purchase, grant, gift, devise, bequest, and obtaining by eminent domain. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Action: shall include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Action shall: include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Association: means any two or more persons acting with a common purpose, regardless of the relative degrees of involvement, and includes, but is not limited to, the following persons so acting:

  (1) A person and one or more of his or her family members. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.03

• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney: shall mean attorney at law. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Auction: means a sale of motor vehicles and trailers of types required to be registered in this state, except such vehicles as are eligible for registration pursuant to section Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.04
• Auction dealer: means any person engaged in the business of conducting an auction for the sale of motor vehicles and trailers. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.05
• Autocycle: means any motor vehicle (1) having a seat that does not require the operator to straddle or sit astride it, (2) designed to travel on three wheels in contact with the ground, (3) having antilock brakes, (4) designed to be controlled with a steering wheel and pedals, and (5) in which the operator and passenger ride either side by side or in tandem in a seating area that is equipped with a manufacturer-installed three-point safety belt system for each occupant and that has a seating area that either (a) is completely enclosed and is equipped with manufacturer-installed airbags and a manufacturer-installed roll cage or (b) is not completely enclosed and is equipped with a manufacturer-installed rollover protection system. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.42
• 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.
• Board: means the Nebraska Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.06
• Bona fide consumer: means an owner of a motor vehicle, motorcycle, or trailer who has acquired such vehicle for use in business or for pleasure purposes, who has been granted a certificate of title on such motor vehicle, motorcycle, or trailer, and who has registered such motor vehicle, motorcycle, or trailer, all in accordance with the laws of the residence of the owner, except that no owner who sells more than eight registered motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers within a twelve-month period shall qualify as a bona fide consumer. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.07
• Coerce: means to compel a dealer or manipulate a dealer to behave in an involuntary way, whether through action or inaction, by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.08
• Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
• Community: means a franchisee's area of responsibility as stipulated in the franchise or, if the franchise fails to designate a community, (1) the community of the franchisee is the area surrounding the location of the franchisee in a five-mile radius from the dealership if the location is within a city of the metropolitan class and (2) the community of the franchisee is the county in which the franchisee is located if the location is not within a city of the metropolitan class. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.09
• Company: shall include any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, joint venture, or association. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer care: means the performance, for the public, of necessary maintenance and repairs to motor vehicles. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.10
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Designated family member: means the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, or sister of the owner of a new motor vehicle dealership who, in the case of the owner's death, is entitled to inherit the ownership interest in the new motor vehicle dealership under the terms of the owner's will, who has been nominated in any other written instrument, or who, in the case of an incapacitated owner of such dealership, has been appointed by a court as the legal representative of the new motor vehicle dealer's property. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.12
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Distributor: means a person, resident or nonresident of this state, who, in whole or in part, sells or distributes new motor vehicles, trailers, or motorcycles to dealers or who maintains distributors or representatives who sell or distribute motor vehicles, trailers, or motorcycles to dealers and also has the same meaning as the term franchisor. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.13
• Distributor representative: means a representative employed by a distributor or distributor branch for the same purpose as set forth in the definition of factory representative. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.14
• Domestic: when applied to corporations shall mean all those created by authority of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• 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.
• Factory branch: means a branch office maintained in this state by a person who manufactures, assembles, or distributes motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers for the sale of such motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers to distributors or dealers or for directing or supervising, in whole or in part, its representatives in this state. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.16
• Factory representative: means a representative employed by a person who manufactures or assembles motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers, or by a factory branch, for the purpose of promoting the sale of its motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers to, or for supervising or contacting, its dealers or prospective dealers in this state. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.17
• 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.
• Finance company: means any person engaged in the business of financing sales of motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers, or purchasing or acquiring promissory notes, secured instruments, or other documents by which the motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers are pledged as security for payment of obligations arising from such sales and who may find it necessary to engage in the activity of repossession and the sale of the motor vehicles, motorcycles, or trailers so pledged. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.18
• 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}
• Franchise: means a contract between two or more persons when all of the following conditions are included:

  (1) A commercial relationship of definite duration or continuing indefinite duration is involved. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.19

• Franchisee: means a new motor vehicle dealer who receives motor vehicles from the franchisor under a franchise and who offers and sells such motor vehicles to the general public. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.20
• Franchisor: means a person who manufactures or distributes motor vehicles and who may enter into a franchise. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.21
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Line-make: means a collection of models, series, or groups of motor vehicles manufactured by or for a particular manufacturer, distributor, or importer that are offered for sale, lease, or distribution pursuant to a common brand name or mark, except that:

  (1) Multiple brand names or marks may constitute a single line-make, but only when included in a common dealer agreement and the manufacturer, distributor, or importer offers such vehicles bearing the multiple names or marks together only, and not separately, to its authorized dealers. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.22

• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Manufactured home: means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length or when erected on site is three hundred twenty or more square feet and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure, except that manufactured home includes any structure that meets all of the requirements of this section other than the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.23
• Manufacturer: means any person, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, who is engaged in the business of distributing, manufacturing, or assembling a line-make of new motor vehicles, trailers, or motorcycles, and includes any such person who distributes such motor vehicles, trailers, or motorcycles directly or indirectly through one or more distributors to one or more new motor vehicle, trailer, or motorcycle dealers in this state. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.24
• Manufacturer also: includes a central or principal sales corporation or other entity through which, by contractual agreement or otherwise, a manufacturer distributes its products. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.24
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• Month: shall mean calendar month. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means any vehicle for which evidence of title is required as a condition precedent to registration under the laws of this state but does not include trailers. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.25
• Motor vehicle also: means any engine, transmission, or rear axle, regardless of whether attached to a vehicle chassis, that is manufactured for installation in any motor-driven vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than sixteen thousand pounds for which motor-driven vehicle evidence of title is required as a condition precedent to registration under the laws of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.25
• Motor vehicle dealer: means any person, other than a bona fide consumer, actively and regularly engaged in the act of selling, leasing for a period of thirty or more days, or exchanging new or used motor vehicles, trailers, and manufactured homes who buys, sells, exchanges, causes the sale of, or offers or attempts to sell new or used motor vehicles. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.26
• Motor vehicle dealer does not: include a lessor who was not involved in or associated with the selection, location, acquisition, or supply of a motor vehicle which is the subject of a lease agreement. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.26
• Motorcycle: means every motor vehicle, except a tractor, having a seat or saddle for use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground and for which evidence of title is required as a condition precedent to registration under the laws of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.28
• Motorcycle dealer: means any person, other than a bona fide consumer, actively and regularly engaged in the business of selling or exchanging new or used motorcycles. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.29
• New motor vehicle: means all motor vehicles which are not included within the definition of a used motor vehicle. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.30
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: shall include affirmation in all cases in which an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• 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.
• Peace officer: shall include sheriffs, coroners, jailers, marshals, police officers, state highway patrol officers, members of the National Guard on active service by direction of the Governor during periods of emergency, and all other persons with similar authority to make arrests. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Peace officer shall: include sheriffs, coroners, jailers, marshals, police officers, state highway patrol officers, members of the National Guard on active service by direction of the Governor during periods of emergency, and all other persons with similar authority to make arrests. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Person: means every natural person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.31
• Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Person shall: include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: shall mean a summons, subpoena, or notice to appear issued out of a court in the course of judicial proceedings. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Scrap metal processor: means any person engaged in the business of buying vehicles, motorcycles, or parts thereof for the purpose of remelting or processing into scrap metal or who otherwise processes ferrous or nonferrous metallic scrap for resale. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.34
• 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.
• State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stop-sale order: means a notification issued by a manufacturer, distributor, factory branch, or distributor branch to its franchised new motor vehicle dealers stating that certain used motor vehicles in inventory shall not be sold or leased, at either retail or wholesale, due to a federal safety recall for a defect or a noncompliance or due to a federal emissions recall. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.43
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Sworn: shall include affirmed in all cases in which an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trailer: means semitrailers and trailers as defined in sections Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.36
• Trailer dealer: means any person, other than a bona fide consumer, actively and regularly engaged in the business of selling or exchanging new or used trailers and manufactured homes. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.37
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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}
• United States: shall include territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Used motor vehicle: means every motor vehicle which has been sold, bargained, exchanged, or given away or for which title has been transferred from the person who first acquired it from the manufacturer, importer, dealer, or agent of the manufacturer or importer. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.38
• Violate: shall include failure to comply with. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
• Violator: means a person acting without a license or registration as required by the Motor Vehicle Industry Regulation Act. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.39
• Wrecker or salvage dealer: means any person who acquires one or more motor vehicles or trailers for the purpose of dismantling them for the purpose of reselling the parts or reselling the vehicles as scrap. See Nebraska Statutes 60-1401.40
• Year: shall mean calendar year. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801