Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 45 > Chapter 13 > Part 4 - Prohibitions and Enforcement

• 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.
• Branch manager: means the individual whose principal office is physically located in, who is in charge of and who is responsible for the business operations of a branch office of a mortgage lender or mortgage loan broker licensed under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions or the commissioner's designated representative. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• 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.
• Control: means possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities by contract or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• License: means a license issued to a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or mortgage loan originator under this chapter, as applicable. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Licensee: means a person to whom a license has been issued under this chapter, whether a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or mortgage loan originator, as applicable, but "licensee" also applies to any person holding a certificate of registration on July 31, 2009, for so long as the certificate is still valid. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Managing principal: means an individual who agrees to be primarily responsible for the operations of a licensed mortgage lender or mortgage loan broker. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage lender: means any person who makes a residential mortgage loan or holds the person out as able to make a residential mortgage loan. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgage loan broker: means any person who for compensation or other gain, paid directly or indirectly, or in expectation of compensation or other gain, solicits, places, negotiates or originates a residential mortgage loan for another person or offers to solicit, place, negotiate or originate a residential mortgage loan for another person or who closes a residential mortgage loan that may be in the mortgage loan broker's own name with funds provided by another person and which loan is thereafter assigned to the person providing the funding of the loan, regardless of whether the acts are done directly or indirectly, through contact by telephone, by electronic means, by mail or in person with the borrower or borrowers or potential borrower or borrowers. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• Mortgage loan servicer: means any person who, in the regular course of business, assumes responsibility for servicing and accepting payments for a residential mortgage loan. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• 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.
• Person: means an individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, association or any other legal entity, however organized. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• 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.
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Residential mortgage loan: means any loan, including an extension of credit, primarily for personal, family or household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwelling, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
• 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.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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 Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on ^{Source: OCC}
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105