Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 242 > Subchapter C - General Enforcement

• Accommodation: means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, hotel or motel room, cabin, lodge, or other private or commercial structure that:
  (A) is affixed to real property;
  (B) is designed for occupancy or use by one or more individuals; and
  (C) is part of a timeshare plan. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Advertisement: means any written, oral, or electronic communication that is directed to or targeted at individuals in this state and contains a promotion, inducement, or offer to sell a timeshare interest, including a promotion, inducement, or offer to sell:
  (A) contained in a brochure, pamphlet, or radio or television transcript;
  (B) communicated by electronic media or telephone; or
  (C) solicited through direct mail. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amenities: means all common areas and includes recreational and maintenance facilities of the timeshare plan. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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.
• Association: means a council or association composed of all persons who have purchased a timeshare interest. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Commission: means the Texas Real Estate Commission. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Component site: means a specific geographic location where accommodations that are part of a multisite timeshare plan are located. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Developer: means :
  (A) any person, excluding a sales agent, who creates a timeshare plan or is in the business of selling timeshare interests or employs a sales agent to sell timeshare interests; or
  (B) any person who succeeds in the developer's interest by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage, or other transfer if the person:
  (i) offers at least 12 timeshare interests in a particular timeshare plan; and
  (ii) is in the business of selling timeshare interests or employs a sales agent to sell timeshare interests. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• disposition: means a voluntary transfer of any legal or equitable timeshare interest but does not include the transfer or release of a real estate lien or of a security interest. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Escrow agent: means a bonded escrow company, a financial institution whose accounts are insured by a governmental agency or instrumentality, or an attorney or title insurance agent licensed in this state who is responsible for the receipt and disbursement of funds in accordance with this chapter. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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.
• Exchange company: means any person who owns or operates an exchange program. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Exchange disclosure statement: means a written statement that includes the information required by § 221. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Exchange program: means any method, arrangement, or procedure for the voluntary exchange of timeshare interests among purchasers or owners. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by writing, printing, or other means. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Incidental use right: means the right to use accommodations and amenities at one or more timeshare properties that is not guaranteed and is administered by the managing entity of the timeshare properties that makes vacant accommodations at the timeshare properties available to owners of timeshare interests in the timeshare properties. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• 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}
• 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.
• Managing entity: means the person responsible for operating and maintaining a timeshare property. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Multisite timeshare plan: means a plan in which a timeshare purchaser has:
  (A) a specific timeshare interest, which is the right to use and occupy accommodations at a specific timeshare property and the right to use and occupy accommodations at one or more other component sites created by or acquired solely through the reservation system of the timeshare plan; or
  (B) a nonspecific timeshare interest, which is the right to use and occupy accommodations at more than one component site created by or acquired solely through the reservation system of the timeshare plan but which does not include a right to use and occupy a particular accommodation. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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.
• offer: means any advertisement, inducement, or solicitation and includes any attempt to encourage a person to purchase a timeshare interest other than as a security for an obligation. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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 corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Project instrument: means a timeshare instrument or one or more recordable documents, by whatever name denominated, applying to the whole of a timeshare project and containing restrictions or covenants regulating the use, occupancy, or disposition of units in a project, including a declaration for a condominium, association articles of incorporation, association bylaws, and rules for a condominium in which a timeshare plan is created. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Promotion: means any program, activity, contest, or gift, prize, or other item of value used to induce any person to attend a timeshare sales presentation. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Purchaser: means any person, other than a developer, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a timeshare interest other than as a security for an obligation. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reservation system: means the method, arrangement, or procedure by which a purchaser, in order to reserve the use and occupancy of an accommodation of a multisite timeshare plan for one or more timeshare periods, is required to compete with other purchasers in the same multisite timeshare plan, regardless of whether the reservation system is operated and maintained by the multisite timeshare plan, a managing entity, an exchange company, or any other person. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• 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.
• Single-site timeshare plan: means a timeshare plan in which a timeshare purchaser's right to use and occupy accommodations is limited to a single timeshare property. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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.
• Timeshare disclosure statement: means a written statement that includes the information required by § 221. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare estate: means an arrangement under which the purchaser receives a right to occupy a timeshare property and an estate interest in the real property. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare instrument: means a master deed, master lease, declaration, or any other instrument used in the creation of a timeshare plan. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare interest: means a timeshare estate or timeshare use. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare period: means the period within which the purchaser of a timeshare interest is entitled to the exclusive possession, occupancy, and use of an accommodation. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare plan: means any arrangement, plan, scheme, or similar method, excluding an exchange program but including a membership agreement, sale, lease, deed, license, or right-to-use agreement, by which a purchaser, in exchange for consideration, receives an ownership right in or the right to use accommodations for a period of time less than a year during a given year, but not necessarily consecutive years. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare property: means :
  (A) one or more accommodations and any related amenities subject to the same timeshare instrument; and
  (B) any other property or property rights appurtenant to the accommodations and amenities. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• Timeshare use: means any arrangement under which the purchaser receives a right to occupy a timeshare property, but under which the purchaser does not receive an estate interest in the timeshare property. See Texas Property Code 221.002
• 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: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005