Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 493 > Part IV - Repossession Services

• Administrative assessment: means a review of conditions in a long-term care facility which impact the rights, health, safety, and welfare of residents with the purpose of noting needed improvement and making recommendations to enhance the quality of life for residents. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Administrator: means the licensed individual who has the general administrative charge of a facility. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Administrator: means a direct employee, as defined in subsection (10), who is a licensed physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse licensed to practice in this state or an individual having at least 1 year of supervisory or administrative experience in home health care or in a facility licensed under chapter 395, under part II of this chapter, or under part I of chapter 429. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Admission: means a decision by the home health agency, during or after an evaluation visit to the patient's home, that there is reasonable expectation that the patient's medical, nursing, and social needs for skilled care can be adequately met by the agency in the patient's place of residence. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Advanced practice registered nurse: means a person licensed in this state to practice professional nursing and certified in advanced or specialized nursing practice, as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration, which is the licensing agency under this part. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Approved training program: means a course of training approved by the agency, in consultation with the Board of Nursing, to train a family caregiver as a home health aide for medically fragile children. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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.
• Bed reservation policy: means the number of consecutive days and the number of days per year that a resident may leave the nursing home facility for overnight therapeutic visits with family or friends or for hospitalization for an acute condition before the licensee may discharge the resident due to his or her absence from the facility. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• 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}
• Board: means the Board of Pilot Commissioners. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Board: means the Board of Nursing Home Administrators. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• certificate: means the document issued by the board under seal of the department to pilots. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Certificate of operation: means a document issued by the department which indicates that the conveyance has had the required safety inspection and tests and that fees have been paid as provided in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Certified elevator inspector: is a natural person registered with and authorized by the division to construct, install, inspect, maintain, or repair any vertical conveyance, after having properly acquired the qualified elevator inspector credential as prescribed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Certified elevator technician: means a natural person authorized by the division to construct, install, maintain, or repair any vertical conveyance, after having been issued an elevator certificate of competency by the division. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Certified nursing assistant: means any person who has been issued a certificate under part II of chapter 464. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Client: means an elderly, handicapped, or convalescent individual who receives companion services or homemaker services in the individual's home or place of residence. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Department: means the Department of Elderly Affairs. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Department: means the Department of Elderly Affairs. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct employee: means an employee for whom one of the following entities pays withholding taxes: a home health agency; a management company that has a contract to manage the home health agency on a day-to-day basis; or an employee leasing company that has a contract with the home health agency to handle the payroll and payroll taxes for the home health agency. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Director of nursing: means a registered nurse who is a direct employee, as defined in subsection (10), of the agency and who is a graduate of an approved school of nursing and is licensed in this state; who has at least 1 year of supervisory experience as a registered nurse; and who is responsible for overseeing the delivery of professional nursing and home health aide services of the agency. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• District: means a geographical area designated by the state ombudsman in which individuals certified as ombudsmen carry out the duties of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Division: means the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Elevator: means one of the following mechanical devices:
  (a) A hoisting and lowering mechanism, equipped with a car and platform that moves in guide rails and serves two or more landings to transport material or passengers or both. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Elevator certificate of competency: means a credential issued by the division to any individual natural person successfully completing an examination as prescribed by rule and paying a nonrefundable fee of $50. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• Eligible relative: means a patient 21 years of age or younger who has an underlying physical, mental, or cognitive impairment that prevents him or her from safely living independently, is eligible to receive skilled care or respite care services under the Medicaid program, and is related to his or her family caregiver. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Facility: means any institution, building, residence, private home, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, including a place operated by a county or municipality, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide for a period exceeding 24-hour nursing care, personal care, or custodial care for three or more persons not related to the owner or manager by blood or marriage, who by reason of illness, physical infirmity, or advanced age require such services, but does not include any place providing care and treatment primarily for the acutely ill. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• 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.
• Fair market value: means the value in arms length transactions, consistent with the price that an asset would bring as the result of bona fide bargaining between well-informed buyers and sellers who are not otherwise in a position to generate business for the other party, or the compensation that would be included in a service agreement as the result of bona fide bargaining between well-informed parties to the agreement who are not otherwise in a position to generate business for the other party, on the date of acquisition of the asset or at the time of the service agreement. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Family caregiver: means a person who provides or intends to provide significant personal care to an eligible relative. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Geriatric outpatient clinic: means a site for providing outpatient health care to persons 60 years of age or older, which is staffed by a registered nurse, a physician assistant, or a licensed practical nurse under the direct supervision of a registered nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, or physician. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Home health agency: means a person that provides one or more home health services. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Home health aide: means a person who is trained or qualified, as provided by rule, and who provides hands-on personal care, performs simple procedures as an extension of therapy or nursing services, assists in ambulation or exercises, assists in administering medications as permitted in rule and for which the person has received training established by the agency under this part, or performs tasks delegated to him or her under chapter 464. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Home health aide for medically fragile children: means a family caregiver who meets the qualifications specified in this part and who performs tasks delegated to him or her under chapter 464 while caring for an eligible relative, and provides care relating to activities of daily living, including those associated with personal care; maintaining mobility; nutrition and hydration; toileting and elimination; assistive devices; safety and cleanliness; data gathering; reporting abnormal signs and symptoms; postmortem care; patient socialization and reality orientation; end-of-life care; cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency care; residents' or patients' rights; documentation of services performed; infection control; safety and emergency procedures; hygiene, grooming, skin care, and pressure sore prevention; wound care; portable oxygen use and safety and other respiratory procedures; tracheostomy care; enteral care and therapy; peripheral intravenous assistive activities and alternative feeding methods; and any other tasks delegated to the family caregiver under chapter 464. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Home health services: means health and medical services and medical supplies furnished to an individual in the individual's home or place of residence. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Home infusion therapy: means the administration of intravenous pharmacological or nutritional products to a patient in his or her home. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Homemaker: means a person who performs household chores that include housekeeping, meal planning and preparation, shopping assistance, and routine household activities for an elderly, handicapped, or convalescent individual. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Hospice: means a centrally administered corporation or a limited liability company that provides a continuum of palliative and supportive care for the terminally ill patient and his or her family. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Hospice care team: means an interdisciplinary team of qualified professionals and volunteers who, in consultation with the patient, the patient's family, and the patient's primary or attending physician, collectively assess, coordinate, and provide the appropriate palliative and supportive care to hospice patients and their families. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Hospice residential unit: means a homelike living facility, other than a facility licensed under other parts of this chapter, under chapter 395, or under chapter 429, that is operated by a hospice for the benefit of its patients and is considered by a patient who lives there to be his or her primary residence. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Hospice services: means items and services furnished to a patient and family by a hospice, or by others under arrangements with such a program, in a place of temporary or permanent residence used as the patient's home for the purpose of maintaining the patient at home; or, if the patient needs short-term institutionalization, the services shall be furnished in cooperation with those contracted institutions or in the hospice inpatient facility. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Immediate family member: means a husband or wife; a birth or adoptive parent, child, or sibling; a stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother, or stepsister; a father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; a grandparent or grandchild; or a spouse of a grandparent or grandchild. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• 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.
• Jurisdictional water management district: means the chapter 373 water management district or districts within which the lands encompassed by a water control district are located. See Florida Statutes 298.005
• 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}
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local council: means a local long-term care ombudsman council designated by the ombudsman pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Local ombudsman council: means a local long-term care ombudsman council established pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Long-term care facility: means a nursing home facility, assisted living facility, adult family-care home, board and care facility, or any other similar residential adult care facility. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Medical director: means a physician who is a volunteer with, or who receives remuneration from, a home health agency. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nurse registry: means any person that procures, offers, promises, or attempts to secure health-care-related contracts for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, companions, or homemakers, who are compensated by fees as independent contractors, including, but not limited to, contracts for the provision of services to patients and contracts to provide private duty or staffing services to health care facilities licensed under chapter 395, this chapter, or chapter 429 or other business entities. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Nursing home bed: means an accommodation which is ready for immediate occupancy, or is capable of being made ready for occupancy within 48 hours, excluding provision of staffing; and which conforms to minimum space requirements, including the availability of appropriate equipment and furnishings within the 48 hours, as specified by rule of the agency, for the provision of services specified in this part to a single resident. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Nursing home facility: means any facility which provides nursing services as defined in part I of chapter 464 and which is licensed according to this part. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• 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.
• Office: means the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program created by…. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Office of Economic and Demographic Research: means an entity designated by joint rule of the Legislature or by agreement between the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Ombudsman: means an individual who has been certified by the state ombudsman as meeting the requirements of ss. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means the owner of the freehold estate, subject to assessment pursuant to this chapter, as appears by the deed record. See Florida Statutes 298.005
• 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.
• Patient: means any person who receives home health services in his or her home or place of residence. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Patient: means the terminally ill individual receiving hospice services. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• 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 care: means assistance to a patient in the activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, eating, or personal hygiene, and assistance in physical transfer, ambulation, and in administering medications as permitted by rule. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: means a person licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or chapter 461. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Physician assistant: means a person who is a graduate of an approved program or its equivalent, or meets standards approved by the boards, and is licensed to perform medical services delegated by the supervising physician, as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Pilot: means a licensed state pilot or a certificated deputy pilot. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Pilotage: means the compensation fixed by the Pilotage Rate Review Committee which is payable by a vessel, its owners, agents, charterers, or consignees to one or more pilots in the port where piloting is performed. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Pilotage waters of the state: means the navigable waters within the boundaries of the state. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Piloting: means the acts of pilots in conducting vessels through the pilotage waters of the state. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan of care: means a written assessment by the hospice of each patient's and family's needs and preferences, and the services to be provided by the hospice to meet those needs. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Port: means any place in the state into which vessels enter or depart and includes, without limitation, Fernandina, Nassau Inlet, Jacksonville, St. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Registered elevator company: means an entity registered with and authorized by the division employing persons to construct, install, inspect, maintain, or repair any vertical conveyance. See Florida Statutes 399.01
• 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.
• Remuneration: means any payment or other benefit made directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Resident: means an individual 18 years of age or older who resides in a long-term care facility. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Resident care plan: means a written comprehensive person-centered care plan developed in accordance with Florida Statutes 400.021
• Resident designee: means a person, other than the owner, administrator, or employee of the facility, designated in writing by a resident or a resident's guardian, if the resident is adjudicated incompetent, to be the resident's representative for a specific, limited purpose. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Respite care: means admission to a nursing home for the purpose of providing a short period of rest or relief or emergency alternative care for the primary caregiver of an individual receiving care at home who, without home-based care, would otherwise require institutional care. See Florida Statutes 400.021
• Satellite office: means a secondary office of a nurse registry established pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Elderly Affairs. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• 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.
• sitter: means a person who spends time with or cares for an elderly, handicapped, or convalescent individual and accompanies such individual on trips and outings and may prepare and serve meals to such individual. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Skilled care: means nursing services or therapeutic services required by law to be delivered by a health care professional who is licensed under part I of chapter 464; part I, part III, or part V of chapter 468; or chapter 486 and who is employed by or under contract with a licensed home health agency or is referred by a licensed nurse registry. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• Staffing services: means services provided to a health care facility, school, or other business entity on a temporary or school-year basis pursuant to a written contract by licensed health care personnel and by certified nursing assistants and home health aides who are employed by, or work under the auspices of, a licensed home health agency or who are registered with a licensed nurse registry. See Florida Statutes 400.462
• State council: means the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Council created by…. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• State ombudsman: means the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, who is the individual appointed by the Secretary of Elderly Affairs to head the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. See Florida Statutes 400.0060
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Terminally ill: means that the patient has a medical prognosis that his or her life expectancy is 1 year or less if the illness runs its normal course. See Florida Statutes 400.601
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See Florida Statutes 310.002
• 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
• Water control plan: means the comprehensive operational document that describes the activities and improvements to be conducted by a water control district authorized under this chapter and includes any district "plan of reclamation" "water management plan" or "plan of improvement" that details the system of water management improvements implemented by a water control district. See Florida Statutes 298.005
• 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