Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 2 > Chapter 17 - Lobbyists and Lobbying

• Accident and health insurance: means insurance of human beings against death or personal injury by accident, and each insurance of human beings against sickness, ailment, and any type of physical disability resulting from accident or disease, and prepaid dental service, but not including coverages required by the Workers' Compensation Law of this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Adjuster: means an individual who determines the extent of insured losses and assists in settling or attempts to settle claims. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Administrator: means the administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Admitted assets: means assets of an insurer considered admitted on the most recent statutory financial statement of the insurer filed with the department pursuant to § 38-13-80. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Admitted insurer: means an insurer licensed to do business in this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Affordable housing: means residential housing that, so long as the same is occupied by lower or very low income households, requires payment of monthly housing costs of no more than thirty percent of one-twelfth adjusted annual income. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Alien insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of a country other than the United States of America, its states, commonwealths, territories, or insular possessions. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Annual income: means the anticipated total income from all sources received by the family head and spouse and by each additional member of the household, including all net income derived from assets. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• 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}
• Appointment: means an individual designated by an official or authorized representative of an authorized insurer to act on its behalf as a producer. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• 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.
• Authority: means the South Carolina State Housing, Finance, and Development Authority created by Act 500 of 1971. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Authority: means the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Bail bondsman: means as defined in § 38-53-10. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• beneficiary classes: means the class consisting of persons and families of low income and the class consisting of persons and families of moderate to low income. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the Board of Commissioners of the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Buyer: means a purchaser of a motor vehicle under the terms of a retail installment contract. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• cable television service: includes (1) services provided by or through the facilities of any cable television system or closed circuit coaxial cable communication system, and (2) any transmission service used in connection with any cable television system or similar closed circuit coaxial cable communication system. See South Carolina Code 16-11-815
• Casualty insurance: means each insurance against legal liability of the insured for bodily injury to or death of another person, including workers' compensation insurance, and for damages to or loss or destruction of the property of another person; medical payments insurance when written in conjunction with insurance covering liability for the deaths or bodily injuries of another person; guaranteeing the fidelity of a person holding a position of public or private trust; loss of or damage to property caused by burglary, theft, larceny, robbery, fraud, or unlawful taking or secretion of property owned by or entrusted to the insured; loss of or damage to property of the insured resulting from the explosion of or damage to a fired or unfired boiler or other pressure vessel, engine, turbine, compressor, pump, wheel, or an apparatus generating, transmitting, or using electric power, and machinery or equipment connected with any of them; loss resulting from nonpayment of debts owed to merchants or another person extending credit. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Commission: means the part of the premium paid to the producer as compensation for his services. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Consumer: means a natural person who is the object of a telephone solicitation. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Continuing care contract: means a contract to provide board or lodging together with nursing, medical, or other health-related services:
  
  (a) to a person sixty-five years of age or older at the time the contract is signed or purchased; or
  
  (b) which provides for services for the life of the person or for more than one year, including mutually terminable contracts; and
  
  (c) which requires payment of an entrance fee or other fee in return for a promise of future care. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Continuing care retirement community: means a community in which there is furnished, pursuant to a continuing care contract, to two or more persons not related to the administrator or owner of the facility within the third degree of consanguinity, board or lodging together with nursing, medical, or other health-related services, regardless of whether the services or lodging are provided at the same location or not. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• County: means any county in the State. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Covered agency actions: means the proposal, drafting, development, consideration, amendment, withdrawal, or promulgation of a regulation under Article 1, Chapter 23 of Title 1 of the 1976 Code. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Covered gubernatorial actions: means :
  
  (a) gubernatorial approval or veto of legislation;
  
  (b) gubernatorial consideration or issuance of any executive order;
  
  (c) gubernatorial consideration or making of any appointment; or
  
  (d) gubernatorial consideration of or the decision to award any grant derived from federal or other funds or from any source. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• 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}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Crop insurance: includes insurance providing protection against damage to crops from unfavorable weather conditions, fire, lightning, flood, hail, insect infestation, disease, or other yield-reducing conditions or perils provided by the private insurance market, or that is subsidized by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, including Multi-Peril Crop Insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Customer: means an individual who pays for the right to receive the benefits of a discount medical plan. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Department: means the Department of Insurance of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Department: means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Department: means the Department of Consumer Affairs. See South Carolina Code 37-16-10
• Department: means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Designee or deputy director: means the person or persons appointed by the director, serving at the will and pleasure of the director as his designee, to supervise and carry out the functions and duties of the department as provided by law. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the person who is appointed by the Governor upon the advice and consent of the Senate and who is responsible for the operation and management of the department. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Discount medical plan organization: means an entity that, in exchange for fees, dues, charges, or other consideration, provides access for customers to providers of health care services and the right to receive health care services from those providers at a discount. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Economic interest: means an interest distinct from that of the general public in a purchase, sale, lease, contract, option, or other transaction or arrangement involving property or services in which a public official or public employee may gain an economic benefit of fifty dollars or more. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Eligible surplus lines insurer: means a nonadmitted insurer with which a licensed broker, or a licensed producer as provided in § 38-45-10(8)(b)(ii), may place surplus lines insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• 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}
• 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.
• Entrance fee: means a payment that assures a resident a place in a facility. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Established business relationship: means a relationship between the consumer and the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation call is being made based on the consumer's:
  
  (a) purchase from, or transaction with, the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the eighteen months immediately preceding the solicitation date; or
  
  (b) inquiry or application regarding a property, good, or service offered by the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the three months immediately preceding the solicitation date. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive director: means the executive director of the authority. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Exempt commercial policies: means policies for commercial insureds as may be provided for in regulation issued by the director. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, loan, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit, transfer of funds, gift of money or anything of value for any purpose, and a payment to a lobbyist for compensation, for expenses, or lobbying, including the direct payment of expenses incurred at the request or suggestion of a lobbyist. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Facility: means the place in which an operator undertakes to provide continuing care to a person. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• 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}
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Family member: means an individual who is:
  
  (a) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, child, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild; or
  
  (b) a member of the individual's immediate family. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Federal mortgage: means a mortgage loan made by the federal government or for which there is a commitment by the federal government to make such a mortgage loan. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• 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}
• Foreign insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States other than this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• fund: means the South Carolina Housing Trust Fund. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• Handling charge: means a charge, fee, or sum of money that is paid by a consumer to receive a prize, gift, or an item of value including, but not limited to, promotional fees, redemption fees, registration fees, or delivery costs. See South Carolina Code 37-15-20
• Health care services: means any care, service, or treatment of an illness or dysfunction of, or injury to, the human body. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Health-related services: includes a degree of personal assistance in feeding, dressing, or other essential daily living activities. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Housing development costs: means the sum total of all costs incurred in the development of a residential land or housing development or project which are approved by the Authority as reasonable and necessary. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• housing project: means any work or undertaking which is designed and financed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for the primary purpose of providing sanitary, decent and safe dwelling accommodations for persons and families of low income and persons and families of moderate to low income in need of housing. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Housing sponsor: means individuals, corporations, public housing authorities or other legal entities or any combination thereof appointed by the Authority to act and who shall have agreed either to own, construct, acquire, rehabilitate, operate, manage or maintain a housing development upon terms and conditions that insure the occupancy of such housing development by persons and families of low income and persons and families of moderate to low income upon terms compatible with the income capabilities of such persons and families. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Immediate family: means :
  
  (a) a child residing in a public official's or public employee's household;
  
  (b) a spouse of a public official or public employee; or
  
  (c) an individual claimed by the public official or public employee or the public official's or public employee's spouse as a dependent for income tax purposes. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Income: means the receipt or promise of any consideration, whether or not legally enforceable, including attorney's fees attributable to lobbying. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Individual: means one human being. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• insurance: includes annuities. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Insurance broker: means an individual licensed by the department to represent citizens of this State in placing their insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Insurance company: means an "insurer". See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Insurance premium service company: means a person engaged in the business of entering into insurance premium service agreements. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Insurer: includes a corporation, fraternal organization, burial association, other association, partnership, society, order, individual, or aggregation of individuals engaging or proposing or attempting to engage as principals in any kind of insurance or surety business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships, and corporations. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• International major medical insurance: means a temporary health insurance policy that covers the expenses associated with illnesses or accidents that occur while traveling or when temporarily residing outside of a person's home country. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• item: means an item or service with monetary value. See South Carolina Code 37-15-20
• Lease: means an agreement between a lessor and lessee where the lessee obtains the possession and use of a motor vehicle for the period of time, for the purposes, and for the consideration set forth in the agreement whether or not the agreement includes an option to purchase the motor vehicle. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Legislation: means :
  
  (a) bills, resolutions, amendments, reports, legislative acts, vetoes, nominations, rules, and regulations pending or proposed in either the House or Senate;
  
  (b) any other matter which may be the subject of action by either house; or
  
  (c) the appointment of committees of conference and free conference by the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President of the Senate. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Legislative special interest caucus: means two or more legislators who seek to be affiliated based upon a special interest. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Lessee: means a person who obtains possession and use of a motor vehicle through a motor vehicle lease agreement. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Lessor: means a person who in the regular course of business or as a part of regular business activity leases motor vehicles under motor vehicle lease agreements or purchases motor vehicle lease agreements or a sales finance company that purchases motor vehicle lease agreements. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• License: means a document issued by the state's director or his designee authorizing a person to act as an insurance producer for the lines of authority specified in the document. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Life insurance: means a contract of insurance upon the lives of human beings. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Limited line credit insurance: includes credit life, credit disability, credit property, credit unemployment, involuntary unemployment, mortgage life, mortgage guaranty, mortgage disability, guaranteed automobile protection insurance, and another form of insurance offered in connection with an extension of credit that is limited to partially or wholly extinguishing that credit obligation that the director or his designee determines should be designated a form of limited line credit insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Limited line insurance: includes crop, travel surety, Federal Crop Insurance Program, and any other form of insurance that the director considers necessary in order to ensure compliance with the reciprocal provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Living unit: means a room, apartment, cottage, or other area within a facility set aside for the exclusive use or control of one or more identified residents. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Lobbying: means promoting or opposing through direct communication with public officials or public employees:
  
  (a) the introduction or enactment of legislation before the General Assembly or the committees or members of the General Assembly;
  
  (b) covered gubernatorial actions;
  
  (c) covered agency actions; or
  
  (d) consideration of the election or appointment of an individual to a public office elected or appointed by the General Assembly. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Lobbyist: means any person who is employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by another person to influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees: (i) the action or vote of any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer concerning any legislation; (ii) the vote of any public official on any state agency, board, or commission concerning any covered agency actions; or (iii) the action of the Governor or any member of his executive staff concerning any covered gubernatorial actions. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Lower income household: means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose annual income adjusted for household size is more than fifty percent, but less than eighty percent, of the median income of the area of residence as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Marine insurance: means each insurance against loss or destruction of or damage to aircraft, vessels, or watercraft and their cargoes; insurance covering the risks or perils of navigation, transit, or transportation of all forms of property, including the liability of a carrier for hire for the loss of property of shippers delivered for transporting; marine builder's risks; bridges, tunnels, piers, wharves, docks and slips, dry docks, marine railways, and other aids to navigation and transportation, precious stones, precious metals, and jewelry, whether in the course of transportation or otherwise; coverage of personal property by all risk forms known as the "Personal Property Floater"; and coverage of mobile machinery and equipment. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Marketer: means a corporation, partnership, or other business entity including, but not limited to, a health maintenance organization, an insurance company, or third party payor, who sells, markets, promotes, advertises, or distributes a discount medical plan or other purchasing mechanism or device that purports to offer discounts or access to discounts from the health care providers described in item (3) in this State on behalf of a discount medical plan organization. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Mobile home: as used in this article shall have the meaning assigned in § 31-17-20. See South Carolina Code 31-17-310
• Mortgage: means a mortgage or other instrument which constitutes a lien on improvements and real property or on a leasehold estate of duration satisfactory to the Authority or which can be insured to the satisfaction of the Authority. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Mortgage lender: means any bank or trust company, savings bank, national banking association, savings and loan association or building and loan association, life insurance company, mortgage banker or other financial institutions authorized to transact business in the State. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgage loan: means an interest bearing obligation incurred for the construction, rehabilitation or financing of residential housing or for land development and secured by a mortgage, except that such definition shall not preclude a mortgage loan made for the sole purpose of refinancing an existing mortgage loan. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• 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.
• Municipality: means any incorporated municipality or other political subdivision of the State. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• 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}
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Negotiate: means the act of conferring directly with or offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of a particular contract of insurance concerning substantive benefits, terms, or conditions of the contract, provided that the person engaged in that act either sells insurance or obtains insurance from insurers for purchasers. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• 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.
• Nonadmitted insurer: means an insurer not licensed to do an insurance business in this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Official capacity: means activities which:
  
  (a) arise because of the position held by the public official or public employee;
  
  (b) involve matters which fall within the official responsibility of the agency, the public official, or the public employee; and
  
  (c) are services the agency would normally provide and for which the public official or public employee would be subject to expense reimbursement by the agency with which the public official or public employee is associated. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Operator: means the promoter, developer, or owner of a continuing care retirement community or of an institution, building, residence, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, or a person who solicits or undertakes to provide continuing care under a continuing care facility contract. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Person: means a corporation, agency, partnership, association, voluntary organization, individual, or another entity, organization, or aggregation of individuals. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Person: means an individual, a partnership, committee, an association, a corporation, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Person: means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, an association, or other group however organized. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Person: means an individual, corporation, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 37-15-20
• Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, unincorporated organization, or other form of entity, however organized. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Personal relationship: means the relationship between a telephone solicitor making a telephone solicitation and a family member, friend, or acquaintance of that telephone solicitor. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Persons and families of low income: means those individuals who are members of households whose gross income is less than the income of those within the definition of the class "Persons and families of moderate to low income". See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Persons and families of moderate to low income: means those individuals who are members of households whose gross income falls between seventy-five percent and one hundred fifty percent of the "median gross income" of all households in South Carolina as determined on the basis of the latest available statistics furnished to the Authority by the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• 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.
• Policy: means a contract of insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Premium: means payment given in consideration of a contract of insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Premium service agreement: means an agreement by which an insured or prospective insured promises to pay to an insurance premium service company the amount advanced or to be advanced under the agreement to an insurer or to an insurance producer or insurance broker in payment of premiums on an insurance contract together with a service charge as authorized by Chapter 39 of this title. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Prepaid legal company: means a person or entity offering prepaid legal services to the general public or a segment of the general public. See South Carolina Code 37-16-10
• Prepaid legal services: means legal services or reimbursement for legal services provided by an individual licensed or admitted to practice law in the jurisdiction in which the services are to be rendered, and which are provided in return for a predetermined, specified, periodic fee. See South Carolina Code 37-16-10
• Prize promotion: means :
  
  (a) a sweepstakes or other game of chance; or
  
  (b) an oral or written representation that a person has won, has been selected to receive, or may be eligible to receive a prize or purported prize. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation: means allowing a licensed person the director has found to have violated South Carolina, any United States territory, or another state's laws to continue selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance on behalf of an insurer. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• producer: means a person who represents an insurance company and is required to be licensed pursuant to § 38-43-10. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Professional bondsman: means as defined in § 38-53-10. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Property insurance: means each insurance against direct or indirect loss of or damage to a property resulting from fire, smoke, weather disturbances, climatic conditions, earthquake, volcanic eruption, rising waters, insects, blight, animals, war damage, riot, civil commotion, destruction by order of civil authority to prevent spread of conflagration or for other reason, water damage, vandalism, glass breakage, explosion of a water system, collision, theft of automobiles, and personal effects in them (but no other forms of theft insurance), loss of or damage to domestic or wild animals, and any other perils to property which in the discretion of the director or his designee form proper subjects of property insurance, if not specified in items (1), (7), (11), (35), (40), (54), or (59) of this section. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Public body: means the General Assembly, the Executive Office of the Governor, any department of the State, or any state board, commission, agency, or authority, including committees of any such body, by whatever name known. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Public employee: means any person employed by the State. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Public official: means any elected or appointed official of the State, including candidates for any such state office. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Real property: means all lands within the State, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith and every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, thereon, including leasehold estates. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Representative: means an individual who is designated by a discount medical plan organization, as defined in this section, and acts or aids on behalf of the discount medical plan organization in the solicitation, negotiation, or renewal of a discount medical plan with respect to South Carolina citizens. See South Carolina Code 37-17-20
• Resident: means a purchaser of, a nominee of, or a subscriber to a continuing care contract. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• Residential housing: means a specific work or improvement within the State which provides dwelling accommodations for persons and families of low income and persons and families of moderate to low income and such other recreational, community, educational and commercial facilities as may be incidental or appurtenant thereto as shall be approved by the Authority as necessary or desirable for the particular undertaking. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Runner: means as defined in § 38-53-10. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Secured party: means a lender, a seller, or other person in whose favor there is a security interest including a person to whom accounts or retail installment sales contracts have been sold. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Security interest: means an interest in personal property that secures performance of an obligation. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Sell: means to exchange a contract of insurance by any means, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance company. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Solicit: means attempting to sell insurance or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Special appointment: means an individual designated by an insurer to supervise and assist other producers in the proper discharge of their duties under an insurer's policy contract. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• State: means the State of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• State Fiscal Accountability Authority: means the State Fiscal Accountability Authority. See South Carolina Code 31-13-170
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Sublease: means an agreement whether written or oral to transfer:
  
  (a) to a third party possession of a motor vehicle which is and, while in that third party's possession, remains the subject of a security interest which secures performance of a retail installment contract or consumer loan;
  
  (b) or assign to a third party any of the buyer's rights, interests, or obligations under the retail installment contract or consumer loan;
  
  (c) to a third party possession of a motor vehicle which is and, while in the third party's possession, remains the subject of a motor vehicle lease agreement; or
  
  (d) or assign to a third party any of the lessee's or buyer's rights, interests, or obligations under the motor vehicle lease agreement. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Sublease arranger: means a person who engages in the business of inducing by any means buyers and lessees to enter into subleases as sublessors and inducing third parties to enter into subleases or sublessees, however these contracts are called. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Surety: includes insurance or a bond that covers obligations to pay the debts, or answer for the default, of another, including faithlessness in a position of public or private trust. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Surety bondsman: means as defined in § 38-53-10. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Surplus lines insurance: means insurance in this State of risks located or to be performed in this State, permitted to be placed through a licensed broker, or a licensed broker as provided in § 38-45-10(8)(b)(ii), with a nonadmitted insurer eligible to accept the insurance, other than reinsurance, wet marine and transportation insurance, insurance independently procured, and life and health insurance and annuities. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Telephone solicitation: means the initiation of a telephone call, or a text or media message sent, to a natural person's residence in the State, or to a wireless telephone with a South Carolina area code, for the purpose of offering or advertising a property, good, or service for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit, prize promotion, or for the purposes of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation thereof. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• Telephone solicitor: means a person who makes, or causes another person to make, a telephone solicitation. See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• 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.
• Terminate: means the cancellation of the relationship between an insurance producer and the insurer or the termination of a producer's authority to transact insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Text Message: means a communication consisting of text, images, sounds, or other information that is transmitted to or from a device that is identified as the receiving or transmitting device by means of a ten-digit telephone number or N11 service code;
  
  (a) includes a short message service (commonly referred to as "SMS") message and a multimedia message service (commonly referred to as "MMS") message; and
  
  (b) does not include:
  
  (i) a real-time, two-way voice or video communication; or
  
  (ii) a message sent over an IP-enabled messaging service to another user of the same messaging service, except a message described in subitem (a). See South Carolina Code 37-21-20
• thing of value: means :
  
  (i) a pecuniary item, including money, a bank bill, or a bank note;
  
  (ii) a promissory note, bill of exchange, an order, a draft, warrant, check, or bond given for the payment of money;
  
  (iii) a contract, agreement, promise, or other obligation for an advance, a conveyance, forgiveness of indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge, or transfer of money;
  
  (iv) a stock, bond, note, or other investment interest in an entity;
  
  (v) a receipt given for the payment of money or other property;
  
  (vi) a chose-in-action;
  
  (vii) a gift, tangible good, chattel, or an interest in a gift, tangible good, or chattel;
  
  (viii) a loan or forgiveness of indebtedness;
  
  (ix) a work of art, an antique, or a collectible;
  
  (x) an automobile or other means of personal transportation;
  
  (xi) real property or an interest in real property, including title to realty, a fee simple or partial interest in realty including present, future, contingent, or vested interests in realty, a leasehold interest, or other beneficial interest in realty;
  
  (xii) an honorarium or compensation for services;
  
  (xiii) a promise or offer of employment;
  
  (xiv) any other item that is of pecuniary or compensatory worth to a person. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
• Third party: means a person other than the buyer or the lessee of the vehicle. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Title insurance: means insurance of the owners of real property and other persons lawfully interested in the title insurance against loss by reason of defective titles and undisclosed liens and encumbrances affecting the property. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• 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.
• Transfer: means to transfer possession of a motor vehicle by sale, loan assumption, lease, sublease, or lease assignment. See South Carolina Code 37-13-10
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trust institution: means a state or national bank, state or federal savings and loan association, or trust company authorized to act in a fiduciary capacity in this State. See South Carolina Code 37-11-20
• 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}
• Uniform agency application: means the current version of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Uniform Business Entity Application for resident and nonresident business entities. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Uniform application: means the current version of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Uniform Application for resident and nonresident producer licensing. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Very low income household: means a household that has an annual income adjusted for household size of less than fifty percent of the median income of the area of residence as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. See South Carolina Code 31-13-410
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Voluntary membership organization: means an organization composed of persons who are members thereof on a voluntary basis and who, as a condition of membership, are required to make regular payments to the organization. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10