Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 5-29 - Podiatrists

• Accelerate: means the advancing of a loan agreement's maturity date so that payment of the entire debt is due immediately. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• Affiliate: means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company, as set forth in Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Ancillary administration: Probate administration of property (usually real property) owned in a State other than the one in which the decedent had his (her) principal residence at the time of death.
• Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Annual percentage rate: means the annual percentage rate for the loan calculated according to the provisions of Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• 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.
• 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}
• Beneficiary: means any person to whom, and any estate, trust, corporation, or other legal entity to which, an interest in property would pass in any manner described in § 34-5-2, except for the execution and filing of a disclaimer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-5-1
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Bona fide discount points: means an amount knowingly paid by the borrower for the express purpose of reducing, and which in fact does result in a bona fide reduction of, the interest rate applicable to the home loan; provided the undiscounted interest rate for the home loan does not exceed the conventional mortgage rate by two (2) percentage points for a home loan secured by a first lien, or by three and one-half (3. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Borrower: means any person obligated to repay the loan, including a co-borrower, co-signor or guarantor. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Brokering: means to act as a loan broker as defined in Rhode Island general laws § 19-14-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conventional mortgage rate: means the most recently published annual yield on conventional mortgages published by the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, as published in statistical release H. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Conventional prepayment penalty: means any prepayment penalty or fee that may be collected or charged in a home loan, and that is authorized by law other than this chapter, provided the home loan: (1) does not have an annual percentage rate that exceeds the conventional mortgage rate by more than two (2) percentage points; and (2) does not permit any prepayment fees or penalties that exceed two percent (2%) of the amount prepaid. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Creditor: means any person who regularly makes available a home loan and shall include a loan broker. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• 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.
• Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the director of the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Document: means information that is:

  (i)  Inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; and

  (ii)  Eligible to be recorded in the land records maintained by the recorder of deeds. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2

• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Dower: A widow
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2
• Electronic signature: means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2
• 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}
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• High-cost home loan: means a home loan in which the terms of the loan meet or exceed one of more of the thresholds as defined in subsection (r) of this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Home loan: means a loan, including an open-end credit plan, other than a reverse mortgage transaction, where the loan is secured by:

  (1)  A mortgage or deed of trust on real estate in this state upon which there is located or there is to be located a structure or structures designed principally for occupancy of from one to four (4) families which is or will be occupied by a borrower as the borrower's principal dwelling; or

  (2)  A security interest on a manufactured home which is or will be occupied by a borrower as the borrower's principal dwelling. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4

• Homeowner: shall mean and include any person, corporation, partnership or association owning a residential dwelling which is located on leased land. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-18.2-2
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• 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.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• justice of the peace: include warden of the peace and the words "district court" include warden's court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-14
• 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}
• Leased land: shall mean and include any land owned by any person, corporation, partnership or association upon which there is situated a leased residential dwelling owned by any person, corporation, partnership or association other than the owner of the land. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-18.2-2
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• 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.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• magistrate: may be construed to mean a justice, or a clerk acting as a justice, of a district court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Marketable record title: means a title of record which operates to extinguish such interest and claims, existing prior to the effective date of the root of title as are stated in Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.1-1
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation; the word "sworn" includes affirmed; and the word "engaged" includes either sworn or affirmed. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-11
• 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.
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• 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 an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited-liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Points and fees: means :

  (1)  All items included in the definition of finance charge in Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4

• 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}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Predatory lending: means any act and practice which is found in violation of those acts and practices prohibited by Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• 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 law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recorded: means recorded as provided by chapter 13 of this title;

  (d)  "Records" means the Land Evidence Records of the town or city where the particular land is located;

  (e)  "Root of title" means that conveyance or other title transaction in the chain of title of a person, purporting to create or containing language sufficient to transfer the interest claimed by such person, upon which he relies as a basis for the marketability of his title, and which was the most recent to be recorded as of a date forty (40) years prior to the time when marketability is being determined. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.1-1

• Recorder of deeds: means the officer who has authority under state law to accept documents for recording in the land records office. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2
• 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.
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Residential dwelling: shall mean and include any structure located on leased land and used primarily for residential purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-18.2-2
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• State: means the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.2-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Title transaction: means any transaction affecting title to any interest in land, including, but not limited to, title by will or descent, title by tax deed, by public sale, by trustee's, referee's, guardian's, executor's, administrator's, conservator's, Tax collector's, sheriff's, commissioner's, constable's warranty or quitclaim deed, by mortgagee's deed or by decree of any court. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-13.1-1
• 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.
• Total loan amount: means the total amount the consumer will borrow, as reflected by the face amount of the note. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-25.2-4
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• 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.
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• unprofessional conduct: as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, the following items or any combination of them and may be further defined by regulations established by the board with the approval of the director:

  (1)  Fraudulent or deceptive procuring or use of a license of limited registration;

  (2)  All advertising of podiatry business that is intended or has a tendency to deceive the public;

  (3)  Conviction of a felony, or conviction of a crime arising out of the practice of podiatry;

  (4)  Abandonment of a patient;

  (5)  Dependence upon a controlled substance, habitual drunkenness, or rendering professional services to a patient while the podiatrist or limited registrant is intoxicated or incapacitated by the use of drugs;

  (6)  Promotion by a podiatrist or limited registrant of the sale of drugs, devices, appliances, or goods or services provided for a patient in a manner that exploits the patient for the financial gain of the podiatrist or limited registrant;

  (7)  Immoral conduct of a podiatrist or limited registrant in the practice of podiatry;

  (8)  Willfully making and filing false reports or records in the practice of podiatry;

  (9)  Willful omission to file or record, or willfully impeding or obstructing a filing or recording, or inducing another person to omit to file or record podiatry/medical or other reports as required by law;

  (10)  Failure to furnish details of a patient's medical record to a succeeding podiatrist or medical facility upon proper request pursuant to this chapter;

  (11)  Solicitation of professional patronage by agents or persons or profiting from acts of those representing themselves to be agents of the licensed podiatrist or limited registrant;

  (12)  Division of fees or agreeing to split or divide the fees received for professional services for any person for bringing to or referring a patient;

  (13)  Agreeing with clinical or bioanalytical laboratories to accept payments from those laboratories for individual tests or test series for patients, or agreeing with podiatry laboratories to accept payment from those laboratories for work referred;

  (14)  Willful misrepresentation in treatment;

  (15)  Practicing podiatry with an unlicensed podiatrist except in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board, or aiding or abetting those unlicensed persons in the practice of podiatry;

  (16)  Gross and willful overcharging for professional services, including filing of false statements for collection of fees for which services are not rendered or willfully making or assisting in making a false claim or deceptive claim or misrepresenting a material fact for use in determining rights to podiatric care or other benefits;

  (17)  Offering, undertaking, or agreeing to cure or treat disease by a secret method, procedure, treatment, or medicine;

  (18)  Professional or mental incompetence;

  (19)  Incompetent, negligent, or willful misconduct in the practice of podiatry that includes the rendering of unnecessary podiatry services and any departure from or the failure to conform to the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing podiatry practice in his or her area of expertise as is determined by the board. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-29-16

• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.