Terms Used In Alabama Code > Title 7 > Article 2A > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Commercial unit: means such a unit of goods as by commercial usage is a single whole for purposes of lease and division of which materially impairs its character or value on the market or in use. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Consumer lease: means a lease that a lessor regularly engaged in the business of leasing or selling makes to a lessee who is an individual and who takes under the lease primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose, if the total payments to be made under the lease contract, excluding payments for options to renew or buy, do not exceed $100,000. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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 lease: means a lease with respect to which:
  (i) the lessor does not select, manufacture, or supply the goods;
  (ii) the lessor acquires the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods in connection with the lease; and
  (iii) one of the following occurs:

  (A) the lessee receives a copy of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods before signing the lease contract;

  (B) the lessee's approval of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods is a condition to effectiveness of the lease contract;

  (C) the lease contract or a separate accurate and complete statement delivered to the lessee discloses in writing (a) all express warranties and other rights provided to the lessee by the lessor and the supplier in connection with the lease contract (b) that there are no other express warranties or rights provided to the lessee by the lessor or the supplier in connection with the lease contract, and (c) in a consumer lease, any waiver, disclaimer, or other negation of express or implied warranties and any limitation or modification of remedy or liquidation of damages for breach of those warranties or other rights of the lessee in a manner as provided in this article or in Article 2, as applicable; or

  (D) the lessor, before the lessee signs the lease contract, informs the lessee in writing (a) of the identity of the supplier, unless the lessee has selected the supplier and directed the lessor to purchase the goods from the supplier, (b) that the lessee is entitled under this article to all warranties and other rights provided to the lessee by the supplier in connection with the lease contract, and (c) to contact the supplier to receive an accurate and complete statement from the supplier of any such express warranties and other rights and any disclaimers or limitations of them or of remedies. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• 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: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Goods: means all things that are movable at the time of identification to the lease contract, or are fixtures (Section 7-2A-309), but the term does not include money, documents, instruments, accounts, chattel paper, general intangibles, or minerals or the like, including oil and gas, before extraction. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Hybrid lease: means a single transaction involving a lease of goods and:
  (i) the provision of services;
  (ii) a sale of other goods; or
  (iii) a sale, lease, or license of property other than goods. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103 v2
• 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}
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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}
• Lease: means a transfer of the right to possession and use of goods for a term in return for consideration, but a sale, including a sale on approval or a sale or return, or retention or creation of a security interest is not a lease. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Lease agreement: means the bargain, with respect to the lease, of the lessor and the lessee in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance as provided in this article. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Lease contract: means the total legal obligation that results from the lease agreement as affected by this article and any other applicable rules of law. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Leasehold interest: means the interest of the lessor or the lessee under a lease contract. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Lessee: means a person who acquires the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Lessor: means a person who transfers the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• month: means a calendar month. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• 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.
• person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• preceding: means next before. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Probate: Proving a will
• property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• Purchase: includes taking by sale, lease, mortgage, security interest, pledge, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating an interest in goods. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Sublease: means a lease of goods the right to possession and use of which was acquired by the lessor as a lessee under an existing lease. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supplier: means a person from whom a lessor buys or leases goods to be leased under a finance lease. See Alabama Code 7-2A-103
• 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: includes the territories thereof and the District of Columbia. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• writing: includes typewriting and printing on paper. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
• year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1