Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 34-44 - Abandoned Property

• abandonment: means a situation where the owner of a building has intended to abandon the building and has manifested the intent with some act or failure to act. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-44-2
• Building: means any building or structure used for residential purposes or used for retail stores, shops, salesrooms, markets, or similar commercial uses, or for offices, banks, civic administration activities, professional services, or similar business or civic uses. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-44-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interested party: means any owner, mortgagee, lienholder, or other entity or person who or that possesses an interest of record in any property that becomes subject to the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to this chapter and any applicant for the appointment of a receiver pursuant to this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-44-2
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Neighboring landowner: means any owner of property, including any entity or person who or that is purchasing property by land installment contract or under a duly executed purchase contract, that is located within two hundred feet (200?) of any property that becomes subject to the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-44-2
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Public nuisance: means a building that is a menace to the public health, welfare, or safety; or that is structurally unsafe, unsanitary; or not provided with adequate safe egress; or that constitutes a fire hazard; or is otherwise dangerous to human life; or is otherwise no longer fit and habitable; or that, in relation to existing use, constitutes a hazard to the public health, welfare, or safety by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, obsolescence, or abandonment. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-44-2
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.