Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 49 > Chapter 17 > Article 11 - Assessments and Issuance of Bonds; Federal Aid

• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Chop shop: means any building, lot, or other premises where one or more persons are or have been knowingly engaged in altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or knowingly storing any motor vehicle, or motor vehicle part known to be illegally obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy to defraud, in order either to:
  
  (a) alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate, or remove the identity, including the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, in order to misrepresent the identity of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, or to prevent the identification of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, or
  
  (b) sell or dispose of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part. See South Carolina Code 56-29-20
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means the purchaser or lessor, other than for purposes of resale, of a motor vehicle normally used for personal, family, or household purposes and subject to the manufacturer's express warranty, and any other person entitled by the warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty. See South Carolina Code 56-28-10
• 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.
• Damage: means a loss or damage to a rented vehicle or rental vehicle including the loss of use and costs and expenses incident to the damage, loss, and loss of use. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Manufacturer: means any person, resident, or nonresident, who manufactures or assembles or imports or distributes new motor vehicles which are to be sold in the State. See South Carolina Code 56-28-10
• Motor vehicle: means :
  
  (a) a private passenger motor vehicle, as classified by § 56-3-630, but excluding the living portion of recreational vehicles and off-road vehicles, which is sold and registered in this State; and
  
  (b) a motorcycle as defined in § 56-1-10(8), including a motorcycle three-wheel vehicle as defined in § 56-1-10(18), which is sold and registered in this State. See South Carolina Code 56-28-10
• 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}
• 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: includes a natural person, company, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, professional corporation, and any other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 56-29-20
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• 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.
• Rental agreement: means a written agreement setting forth the terms and conditions governing the use of a private passenger automobile or rental vehicle provided by a rental company. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
• Rental company: means a person in the business of providing private passenger automobiles or rental vehicles to the public under the terms of a rental agreement. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
• Rental vehicle: means a truck under 26,001 pounds gross vehicle weight and used in the transportation of personal property that is rented without a driver, and is not used by the customer for business purposes, or a trailer with a gross weight of not more than 6,000 pounds. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Unidentifiable: means that the uniqueness of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part cannot be established by either expert law enforcement investigative personnel specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigative procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques, or by expert employees of not-for-profit motor vehicle theft prevention agencies specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigation procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques. See South Carolina Code 56-29-20
• Vehicle: includes every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, which is self-propelled or which may be connected to and towed by a self-propelled device, and also includes any and all other land-based devices which are self-propelled but which are not designed for use upon a highway including, but not limited to, farm machinery and construction equipment. See South Carolina Code 56-29-20
• vehicle: means a private passenger motor vehicle including passenger vans and minivans that are intended primarily for the transport of persons. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
• Vehicle identification number: means a number, a letter, a character, a datum, a derivative, or a combination thereof, used by the manufacturer or the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of uniquely identifying a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part. See South Carolina Code 56-29-20
• warranty: means the written warranty, so labeled, of the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle, including any terms or conditions precedent to the enforcement of obligations under that warranty. See South Carolina Code 56-28-10
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.