Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 9 > Chapter 109 - Service Station Operators, Oil Companies, and Franchises

• agency: means a person who, for fees, dues, or on a cooperative basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating information concerning a consumer's credit or other information for the purpose of furnishing a credit report to another person. See
• Agreement: is a ny written agreement between a petroleum supplier and a gasoline dealer under which the gasoline dealer is granted the right to use a trademark, trade name, service mark, or other identifying symbol or name owned by the supplier. 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means a natural person other than a protected consumer. See
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Credit report: means any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a credit reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living, including an investigative credit report. See
• 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}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means any person who is not a petroleum supplier engaged in the retail sale of gasoline to the motoring public in the State under agreements entered into with a petroleum supplier. See
• Electronic payment system: means an entity that directly or through licensed members, processors, or agents provides the proprietary services, infrastructure, and software that route information and data to facilitate transaction authorization, clearance, and settlement, and that merchants are required to access in order to accept a specific brand of general-purpose credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, or stored-value cards as payment for goods and services. See
• 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}
• 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}
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• 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}
• Merchant: means a person or entity that, in Vermont:

• 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.
• 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, unincorporated association, two or more of the foregoing having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Security freeze: means a notice placed in a credit report, at the request of the consumer, pursuant to section 2480h of this title. See
• services: shall include any objects, wares, goods, commodities, work, labor, intangibles, courses of instruction or training, securities, bonds, debentures, stocks, real estate, or other property or services of any kind. See
• 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: 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
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supplier: means any person engaged in the sale, consignment, or distribution of petroleum products to retail outlets. See
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.