Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 741 - Marriage; Domestic Violence

• Accommodation: means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, hotel or motel room, campground, cruise ship cabin, houseboat or other vessel, recreational or other motor vehicle, or any private or commercial structure which is real or personal property and designed for overnight occupancy by one or more individuals. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• 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.
• Amounts secured by the lien: means all amounts secured by an assessment lien or mortgage lien, including, but not limited to, all past due amounts, accrued interest, late fees, taxes, advances for the payment of taxes, insurance and maintenance of the timeshare interest, and any fees or costs incurred by the lienholder or trustee, including any reasonable attorney's fees, trustee's fees, and costs incurred in connection with the default. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• 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.
• Applicable law: means the law of the jurisdiction where the accommodations and facilities referred to are located. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assessment: means the share of funds required for the payment of common expenses which is assessed from time to time against each purchaser by the managing entity. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Assessment lien: means :
  (a) A lien for delinquent assessments as provided in ss. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Common expenses: means :
  (a) Those expenses, fees, or taxes properly incurred for the maintenance, operation, and repair of the accommodations or facilities, or both, constituting the timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Component site: means a specific geographic site where a portion of the accommodations and facilities of the multisite timeshare plan are located. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Conspicuous type: means :
  (a) Type in upper and lower case letters two point sizes larger than the largest nonconspicuous type, exclusive of headings, on the page on which it appears but in at least 10-point type; or
  (b) Where the use of 10-point type would be impractical or impossible with respect to a particular piece of written advertising material, a different style of type or print may be used, so long as the print remains conspicuous under the circumstances. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract: means any agreement conferring the rights and obligations of a timeshare plan on the purchaser. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• 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.
• Developer: includes :
  (a)1. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Division: means the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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.
• Escrow account: means an account established solely for the purposes set forth in this chapter with a financial institution located within this state. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Escrow agent: includes only:
  (a) A savings and loan association, bank, trust company, or other financial institution, any of which must be located in this state and any of which must have a net worth in excess of $5 million;
  (b) An attorney who is a member of The Florida Bar or his or her law firm;
  (c) A real estate broker who is licensed pursuant to chapter 475 or his or her brokerage firm; or
  (d) A title insurance agent that is licensed pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• Exchange company: means any person owning or operating, or owning and operating, an exchange program. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Exchange program: means any method, arrangement, or procedure for the voluntary exchange of the right to use and occupy accommodations and facilities among purchasers. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Facility: means any permanent amenity, including any structure, furnishing, fixture, equipment, service, improvement, or real or personal property, improved or unimproved, other than an accommodation of the timeshare plan, which is made available to the purchasers of a timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Filed public offering statement: means a public offering statement that has been filed with the division pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Interestholder: means a developer, an owner of the underlying fee or owner of the underlying personal property, a mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor, or any other person having an interest in or lien or encumbrance against the accommodations or facilities of the timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Inventory: means the accommodations and facilities located at a particular component site or sites owned, leased, licensed, or otherwise acquired for use by a developer and offered as part of the multisite timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Junior interestholder: means any person who has a lien or interest of record against a timeshare interest in the county or counties in which the timeshare interest is located, which is inferior to the mortgage lien or assessment lien being foreclosed under this part. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• 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.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lienholder: means a holder of an assessment lien or a holder of a mortgage lien, as applicable. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Managing entity: means the person who operates or maintains the timeshare plan pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• Mortgage lien: means a security interest in a timeshare interest created by a mortgage encumbering the timeshare interest. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagee: means a person holding a mortgage lien. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Mortgagor: means a person granting a mortgage lien or a person who has assumed the obligation secured by a mortgage lien. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Multisite timeshare plan: means any method, arrangement, or procedure with respect to which a purchaser obtains, by any means, a recurring right to use and occupy accommodations or facilities of more than one component site, only through use of a reservation system, whether or not the purchaser is able to elect to cease participating in the plan. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• 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.
• Nonspecific multisite timeshare plan: means a multisite timeshare plan with respect to which a purchaser receives a right to use all of the accommodations and facilities, if any, of the multisite timeshare plan through the reservation system, but no specific right to use any particular accommodations and facilities for the remaining term of the multisite timeshare plan in the event that the reservation system is terminated for any reason prior to the expiration of the term of the multisite timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Notice address: means :
  (a) As to an assessment lien, the address of the owner of a timeshare interest as reflected by the books and records of the timeshare plan under ss. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• 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.
• Obligor: means the mortgagor, the person subject to an assessment lien, or the record owner of the timeshare interest. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• offer: means the solicitation, advertisement, or inducement, or any other method or attempt, to encourage any person to acquire the opportunity to participate in a timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• One-to-one use right to use night requirement ratio: means that the sum of the nights that owners are entitled to use in a given 12-month period shall not exceed the number of nights available for use by those owners during the same 12-month period. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• Permitted delivery service: means any nationally recognized common carrier delivery service, international airmail service that allows for return receipt service, or a service recognized by an international jurisdiction as the equivalent of certified, registered mail for that jurisdiction. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• 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.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• 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
• 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.
• Public offering statement: means the written materials describing a single-site timeshare plan or a multisite timeshare plan, including a text and any exhibits attached thereto as required by ss. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Purchaser: means any person, other than a developer, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a timeshare plan other than as security for an obligation. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Purchaser public offering statement: means that portion of the filed public offering statement which must be delivered to purchasers pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Registered agent: means an agent duly appointed by the obligor under…. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• registered mail: includes certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Registered office: means the street address of the business office of the registered agent appointed under…. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Reservation system: means the method, arrangement, or procedure by which a purchaser, in order to reserve the use and occupancy of any accommodation or facility of the multisite timeshare plan for one or more use periods, is required to compete with other purchasers in the same multisite timeshare plan regardless of whether such reservation system is operated and maintained by the multisite timeshare plan managing entity, an exchange company, or any other person. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Seller: means any developer or any other person, or any agent or employee thereof, who offers timeshare interests in the ordinary course of business. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Specific multisite timeshare plan: means a multisite timeshare plan with respect to which a purchaser receives a specific right to use accommodations and facilities, if any, at one component site of a multisite timeshare plan, together with use rights in the other accommodations and facilities of the multisite timeshare plan created by or acquired through the reservation system. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Timeshare estate: means a right to occupy a timeshare unit, coupled with a freehold estate or an estate for years with a future interest in a timeshare property or a specified portion thereof, or coupled with an ownership interest in a condominium unit pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Timeshare instrument: means one or more documents, by whatever name denominated, creating or governing the operation of a timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Timeshare interest: means a timeshare estate, a personal property timeshare interest, or a timeshare license. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Timeshare license: means a right to occupy a timeshare unit, which right is not a personal property timeshare interest or a timeshare estate. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• timeshare plan: includes :
  (a) A "personal property timeshare plan" which means a timeshare plan in which the accommodations are comprised of personal property that is not permanently affixed to real property; and
  (b) A "real property timeshare plan" which means a timeshare plan in which the accommodations of the timeshare plan are comprised of or permanently affixed to real property. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Timeshare property: means one or more timeshare units subject to the same timeshare instrument, together with any other property or rights to property appurtenant to those timeshare units. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• Timeshare unit: means an accommodation of a timeshare plan which is divided into timeshare periods. See Florida Statutes 721.05
• 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.
• Trustee: means an attorney who is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar and who has been practicing law for at least 5 years or that attorney's law firm, or a title insurer authorized to transact business in this state under…. See Florida Statutes 721.82
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Vacation club: means a multisite timeshare plan. See Florida Statutes 721.52
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• 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