Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 501 > Part IV - Florida Telemarketing Act

• Accident: means only an unexpected or unusual event or result that happens suddenly. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• adopted: means legal adoption prior to the time of the injury. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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.
• affiliated: includes , but is not limited to, the officers, directors, executives, shareholders active in management, employees, and agents of the affiliated corporation. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• agricultural labor: includes field foremen, timekeepers, checkers, and other farm labor supervisory personnel. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• carrier: as used in this chapter , means an insurer as defined in this subsection. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Child: includes a posthumous child, a child legally adopted prior to the injury of the employee, and a stepchild or acknowledged child born out of wedlock dependent upon the deceased, but does not include married children unless wholly dependent on the employee. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Commercial telephone seller: means a person who engages in commercial telephone solicitation on his or her own behalf or through salespersons. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• Commercial telephone solicitation: means :
  (a) An unsolicited telephone call to a person initiated by a commercial telephone seller or salesperson, or an automated dialing machine used in accordance with the provisions of…. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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 the money allowance payable to an employee or to his or her dependents as provided for in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Construction design professional: means an architect, professional engineer, landscape architect, or surveyor and mapper, or any corporation, professional or general, that has a certificate to practice in the construction design field from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Construction industry: means for-profit activities involving any building, clearing, filling, excavation, or substantial improvement in the size or use of any structure or the appearance of any land. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Consumer: means an individual; child, by and through its parent or legal guardian; business; firm; association; joint venture; partnership; estate; trust; business trust; syndicate; fiduciary; corporation; any commercial entity, however denominated; or any other group or combination. See Florida Statutes 501.203
• Consumer goods or services: means any real property or any tangible or intangible personal property which is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes or any property of any nature which is solicited for the purpose of providing a profit or investment opportunity, including, without limitation, any such property intended to be attached to or installed in any real property, without regard to whether it is so attached or installed, as well as timeshare estates and licenses, and any services related to such property. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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.
• Date of maximum medical improvement: means the date after which further recovery from, or lasting improvement to, an injury or disease can no longer reasonably be anticipated, based upon reasonable medical probability. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Financial Services; the term does not include the Financial Services Commission or any office of the commission. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Disability: means incapacity because of the injury to earn in the same or any other employment the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of the injury. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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 Workers' Compensation of the Department of Financial Services. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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}
• Employee: includes any person who is an officer of a corporation and who performs services for remuneration for such corporation within this state, whether or not such services are continuous. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Employer: means the state and all political subdivisions thereof, all public and quasi-public corporations therein, every person carrying on any employment, and the legal representative of a deceased person or the receiver or trustees of any person. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Employment: includes :
  1. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Enforcing authority: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the office of the state attorney if a violation of this part occurs in or affects the judicial circuit under the jurisdiction of the office of the state attorney. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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.
• 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.
• farm: includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-bearing animals, fish, and truck farms, ranches, nurseries, and orchards. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Final judgment: means a judgment, including any supporting opinion, that determines the rights of the parties and concerning which appellate remedies have been exhausted or the time for appeal has expired. See Florida Statutes 501.203
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Individual: means a single human being and does not mean a firm, association of individuals, corporation, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, or any other entity. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• Individual self-insurer: means any employer who has secured payment of compensation pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Injury: means personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, and such diseases or infection as naturally or unavoidably result from such injury. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• insolvent: means :
  (a) With respect to an individual self-insurer:

  1. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Insurer: means a group self-insurers' fund authorized by…. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• mechanism: means a system that is purchased by a person on a prepaid basis, that enables access to the funds via an authorization code or other security measure, and that is not directly used as a general-use prepaid card. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• money transfer provider: means a person or financial institution that provides cash-to-cash money transfers for a person in the normal course of its business, regardless of whether the person holds an account with such person or financial institution. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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.
• Novelty payment: means a payment method that does not provide systematic monitoring to detect and deter fraud. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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 of Insurance Regulation: means the Office of Insurance Regulation of the Financial Services Commission. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• officer of a corporation: includes a member owning at least 10 percent of a limited liability company as defined in and organized pursuant to chapter 605. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Order: means a cease and desist order issued by the enforcing authority as set forth in…. See Florida Statutes 501.203
• Parent: includes stepparents and parents by adoption, parents-in-law, and any persons who for more than 3 years prior to the death of the deceased employee stood in the place of a parent to him or her and were dependent on the injured employee. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Partner: means any person who is a member of a partnership that is formed by two or more persons to carry on as co-owners of a business with the understanding that there will be a proportional sharing of the profits and losses between them. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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: means individual, partnership, association, or corporation, including any public service corporation. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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
• Person: includes any individual, group of individuals, firm, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, or any other business entity. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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.
• 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.
• Purchaser: means a person who is solicited to become or does become obligated to a commercial telephone seller. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• 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.
• Salesperson: means any individual employed, appointed, or authorized by a commercial telephone seller, regardless of whether the commercial telephone seller refers to the individual as an agent, representative, or independent contractor, who attempts to solicit or solicits a sale on behalf of the commercial telephone seller. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• Self-insurer: means :
  (a) Any employer who has secured payment of compensation pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Sole proprietor: means a natural person who owns a form of business in which that person owns all the assets of the business and is solely liable for all the debts of the business. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Solicit: means to initiate contact with a purchaser for the purpose of attempting to sell consumer goods or services, where such purchaser has expressed no previous interest in purchasing, investing in, or obtaining information regarding the property, goods, or services attempted to be sold. See Florida Statutes 501.603
• Specificity: means information on the petition for benefits sufficient to put the employer or carrier on notice of the exact statutory classification and outstanding time period of benefits being requested and includes a detailed explanation of any benefits received that should be increased, decreased, changed, or otherwise modified. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• sports official: means any person who is a neutral participant in a sports event, including, but not limited to, umpires, referees, judges, linespersons, scorekeepers, or timekeepers. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Spouse: includes only a spouse substantially dependent for financial support upon the decedent and living with the decedent at the time of the decedent's injury and death, or substantially dependent upon the decedent for financial support and living apart at that time for justifiable cause. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Time of injury: means the time of the occurrence of the accident resulting in the injury. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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
• Violation of this part: means any violation of this act or the rules adopted under this act and may be based upon any of the following as of July 1, 2017:
  (a) Any rules promulgated pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U. See Florida Statutes 501.203
• volunteer: includes , but is not limited to:
  a. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• Wages: means the money rate at which the service rendered is recompensed under the contract of hiring in force at the time of the injury and includes only the wages earned and reported for federal income tax purposes on the job where the employee is injured and any other concurrent employment where he or she is also subject to workers' compensation coverage and benefits, together with the reasonable value of housing furnished to the employee by the employer which is the permanent year-round residence of the employee, and gratuities to the extent reported to the employer in writing as taxable income received in the course of employment from others than the employer and employer contributions for health insurance for the employee or the employee's dependents. See Florida Statutes 440.02
• 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