Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 31 > Subchapter 3 - State Ethics Commission

• Advertisements and promotions: include all forms of solicitation directed at prospective callers of pay-per-call services, including mailings and advertisements in newspapers and magazines and on radio and television. See
• Air compressor: means a compressor that is designed to compress air that has an inlet open to the atmosphere or other source of air and that consists of the bare compressor, also known as the compression element; one or more drivers; mechanical equipment to drive the compression element; and any ancillary equipment. See
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• 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.
• Ballast: means a device used with an electric discharge lamp to obtain necessary circuit conditions (voltage, current, and waveform) for starting and operating the lamp. See
• 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}
• Body spray: means a shower device for spraying water onto a bather other than from the overhead position. See
• buyer: means a person who buys or agrees to buy goods from a retail seller in a retail installment transaction, or who obtains services or agrees to have services furnished or rendered from a retail seller in a retail installment transaction. See
• Caller: means a person who accesses a pay-per-call service. See
• Cash price: means the minimum price for which the goods and services subject to the retail installment contract or the retail charge agreement, or for which other goods and services of like kind and quality, may be purchased for cash from the seller by the buyer, as stated in the retail installment contract or the retail charge agreement. See
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Commercial dishwasher: means a machine designed to clean and sanitize plates, pots, pans, glasses, cups, bowls, utensils, and trays by applying sprays of detergent solution, with or without blasting media granules, and a sanitizing rinse. See
• Commercial fryer: means an appliance, including a cooking vessel, in which oil is placed to such a depth that the cooking food is supported by displacement of the cooking fluid rather than by the bottom of the vessel. See
• Commercial hot-food holding cabinet: means a heated, fully enclosed compartment with one or more solid or transparent doors designed to maintain the temperature of hot food that has been cooked using a separate appliance. See
• Commercial steam cooker: means a device with one or more food-steaming compartments in which the energy in the steam is transferred to the food by direct contact. See
• Commission: means the State Ethics Commission established under subchapter 3 of this chapter. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation of Vermont. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Public Service. See
• Compensation: means money or any other valuable thing, regardless of form, received or to be received by a person for services rendered. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Compressor: means a machine or apparatus that converts different types of energy into the potential energy of gas pressure for displacement and compression of gaseous media to any higher-pressure values above atmospheric pressure and has a pressure ratio at full-load operating pressure greater than 1. See
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contract: means a contract entered into in this State and designated as a retail installment transaction, but not a retail charge agreement, or a document reflecting a sale under it, evidencing an agreement to pay the retail purchase price of goods or any part thereof in two or more installments over a period of time, and pursuant to which title to, or a lien upon, or a security interest in, the goods is retained or taken by the retail seller to secure the payment of a price that includes the charge as limited by section 2405 of this title. See
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Disbursement of loan funds: means the delivery of the loan funds by the lender to the settlement agent in one or more of the following forms:

• Disbursement of the settlement proceeds: means the payment of all proceeds of the transaction by the settlement agent to the persons or accounts designated to receive the proceeds. See
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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
• 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}
• Faucet: means a lavatory faucet, kitchen faucet, metering faucet, public lavatory faucet, or replacement aerator for a lavatory, public lavatory, or kitchen faucet. See
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• 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}
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Goods: means all tangible personal chattels when purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use and not for commercial, industrial, or agricultural use, but not including money, motor vehicles, things in action, or intangible personal property other than merchandise certificates or coupons as described in this subdivision. See
• Governmental conduct regulated by law: means conduct by an individual in regard to the operation of State government that is restricted or prohibited by law and includes:

• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Handheld shower: means a showerhead that can be held or fixed in place for the purpose of spraying water onto a bather and that is connected to a flexible hose. See
• Holder: means the retail seller of the goods or services, or the assignee if the retail installment contract or the retail charge agreement or any indebtedness thereunder has been sold or otherwise transferred. See
• Hot and cold unit: means a water cooler that dispenses both hot and cold water. See
• Immediate family: means an individual's spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner; child or foster child; sibling; parent; or such relations by marriage or by civil union or domestic partnership; or an individual claimed as a dependent for federal income tax purposes. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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}
• 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 person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• 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}
• Lender: means any person who is in the business of making loans secured by a mortgage on real estate and to whom the debt is initially payable on the face of the loan documents. See
• 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.
• Loan closing: means the time a borrower executes any loan document or becomes contractually obligated on a credit transaction, whichever occurs sooner. See
• Loan documents: means the note evidencing the debt due the lender, the mortgage securing the debt due the lender, and any other documents required by the lender to be executed by the borrower as part of the transaction. See
• Loan funds: means the proceeds of the loan to be disbursed by the lender to others at closing. See
• Luminaire: means a complete lighting unit consisting of a fluorescent lamp or lamps, together with parts designed to distribute the light, to position and protect such lamps, and to connect such lamps to the power supply through the ballast. See
• Medium voltage dry-type distribution transformer: means a transformer that:

• Metal halide lamp: means a high intensity discharge lamp in which the major portion of the light is produced by radiation of metal halides and their products of dissociation, possibly in combination with metallic vapors. See
• Metering faucet: means a fitting that, when turned on, will gradually shut itself off over a period of several seconds. See
• mobile home: means :

• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• 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.
• Official fees: means the filing or other fees required by law to be paid to a public officer to perfect the interest or lien on the goods retained or taken by a retail seller under a retail installment contract. See
• 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.
• Pay-per-call service: means any passive, interactive, polling, conference, or other similar audiotext service that is accessed through a telephone number and that generates an audiotext service related fee billed to a subscriber. See
• Permanently sited: means the mobile home has become affixed to the land. See
• Person: means an individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, banking organization, association, or any other group however organized. See
• Person: means any individual, group, business entity, association, or organization. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plumbing fixture: means an exchangeable device that connects to a plumbing system to deliver and drain away water and waste. See
• Portable air conditioner: means a portable encased assembly, other than a packaged terminal air conditioner, room air conditioner, or dehumidifier, that includes a source of refrigeration; delivers cooled, conditioned air to an enclosed space; and is powered by single-phase electric current. See
• Portable electric spa: means a factory-built electric spa or hot tub, which may or may not include any combination of integral controls, water heating, or water circulating equipment. See
• Principal balance: means the cash price of the goods and services that are the subject matter of a retail installment contract plus the amount, if any, included therein, if a separate identified charge is made therefor and stated in the contract, for insurance and official fees, less the amount of the buyer's down payment in money or goods, or both. See
• Public lavatory faucet: means a fitting intended to be installed in nonresidential bathrooms that are exposed to walk-in traffic. See
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• Replacement aerator: means an aerator sold as a replacement, separate from the faucet to which it is intended to be attached. See
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Residential ventilating fan: means a ceiling, wall-mounted, or remotely mounted in-line fan designed to be used in a bathroom or utility room whose purpose is to move air from inside the building to the outdoors. See
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retail charge agreement: means an agreement other than a retail installment contract that prescribed the terms of retail installment transactions that may be made thereafter from time to time under it, under which the buyer's total unpaid balance under the agreement, whenever incurred, is payable in one or more deferred installments and under the terms of which the retail buyer pays a price that includes a charge as limited by section 2406 of this title, which charge is to be computed in relation to the buyer's unpaid balance from time to time. See
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• seller: means a person regularly and principally engaged in a business of selling goods to retail buyers. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Services: means :

• 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.
• Settlement: means the time when the settlement agent has received the loan funds, loan documents, and other documents and funds to carry out the terms of the contract between the parties, and the settlement agent reasonably determines that all conditions of such contracts have been satisfied. See
• Settlement agent: means the person responsible for conducting the settlement and disbursement of the settlement proceeds, and includes an individual, corporation, partnership, or other entity conducting the settlement and disbursement of the settlement proceeds. See
• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
• Showerhead: means an accessory to a supply fitting for spraying water onto a bather, typically from an overhead position. See
• Sponsor: means an individual, corporation, association, partnership, or other entity that sells or offers to sell a pay-per-call service to a person in this State and on whose behalf charges are billed, but shall not include a public utility regulated by the State or the Federal Communications Commission or an interexchange carrier which provides transport or billing and collection services for a pay-per-call service unless the public utility or interexchange carrier actually produces or advertises the pay-per-call service. See
• Spray sprinkler body: means the exterior case or shell of a sprinkler incorporating a means of connection to the piping system designed to convey water to a nozzle or orifice. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State-regulated incandescent reflector lamp: means a lamp that is not colored or designed for rough or vibration service applications, that has an inner reflective coating on the outer bulb to direct the light, an E26 medium screw base, and a rated voltage or voltage range that lies at least partially within 115 and 130 volts, and that falls into either of the following categories:

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Storage-type: means that a water cooler stores thermally conditioned water in a tank and the conditioned water is available instantaneously. See
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• transaction: means any transaction in which a retail buyer purchases goods or services for a price consisting of the cash price and other amounts as limited by this chapter and agrees under a retail installment contract or retail charge agreement to pay a part or all of the price in one or more deferred installments. See
• Transformer: means a device that consists of two or more coils of insulated wire and that is designed to transfer alternating current by electromagnetic induction from one coil to another, in order to change the original voltage or current value. See
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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 Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Uninterruptible power supply: means a battery charger consisting of a combination of convertors, switches, and energy storage devices, such as batteries, constituting a power system that maintains continuity of load power in case of input power failure. See
• Urinal: means a plumbing fixture that receives only liquid body waste and conveys the waste through a trap into a drainage system. See
• vehicle: means and is limited to any automobile, mobile home, motorcycle, truck, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer, and bus designed and used primarily to transport persons or property on a public highway, excepting, however, any boat trailer and any vehicle propelled or drawn exclusively by muscular power or that is designed to run only on rails or tracks. See
• Water cooler: means a freestanding device that consumes energy to cool or heat potable water, or both. See