Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 38 > Article 16 - Fraudulent Common Law Liens

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• 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.
• 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.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Approval: means a finding by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources that a facility operated by the state has met the requirements of legislative rules promulgated for operation of that facility and that a certificate of approval or a certificate of operation has been issued. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
• Authority: means the governmental entity created in section five, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one, of this code. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Business: means any activity engaged in by any person, or caused to be engaged in by any person, with the object of direct or indirect economic gain, benefit or advantage, and includes any purposeful revenue generating activity in a county of this state that imposes transportation sales and use taxes pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Calendar quarter: means the three-month time period beginning on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 of each year. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Charter: shall mean , except where specific reference is made to a particular type of charter, either a special legislative charter (whether or not amended under the provisions of former §. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• child: means an individual who meets one of the following conditions:

  (A) Is under thirteen years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202

• child abuse or neglect: means any act or omission that creates an abused child or a neglected child as those terms are defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
• City: is a word of art and shall mean, include, and be limited to any Class I, Class II, and Class III city, as classified in section three of this article (except in those instances where the context in which used clearly indicates that a particular class of city is intended), heretofore or hereafter incorporated as a municipal corporation under the laws of this state, however created and whether operating under: (i) A special legislative charter. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Code: shall mean the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as heretofore and hereafter amended. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Commissioner of Highways: means the chief executive officer of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation provided in section one, article two-a, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Consumer: means any person purchasing tangible personal property, custom software or a taxable service from a retailer, as that term is defined in subdivision (14) of this section or from a seller, as that term is defined in section two, article fifteen-b, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• 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.
• County commission: shall mean the governmental body created by section 22, article eight of the Constitution of this state, or any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• County transportation sales and use taxes: means the transportation sales tax and the transportation use tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• County transportation sales tax: means the sales tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• County transportation use tax: means the use tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Court: means the circuit court of the county with jurisdiction of the case or the judge in vacation unless otherwise specifically provided. See West Virginia Code 49-1-207
• Custodian: means a person who has or shares actual physical possession or care and custody of a child, regardless of whether that person has been granted custody of the child by any contract or agreement. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
• Custom software: means software prepared for a particular customer to meet the specific needs or circumstances of the customer. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Division of Juvenile Services: means the division within the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
• Dower: A widow
• Eligible dwelling: means real estate upon which there is located a structure designed primarily for residential housing and consisting of dwelling units for not more than thirty families: Provided, That all ownership thereof shall be limited to persons who would qualify as eligible owners. See West Virginia Code 8-20A-2
• Eligible owner: means a person or persons residing within the boundaries of a municipality or county, and owning an eligible dwelling within the boundaries of that municipality or county, irrespective of race, creed, national origin or sex, with respect to whom it is determined by the governing body of such municipality or county that (a) such person or persons, because of financial condition, age, infirmity, family size or other reasons, is unable to obtain, on suitable terms and conditions, loans or other credit necessary for the rehabilitation of such eligible dwelling, and hence requires the assistance as provided in this article, (b) such rehabilitation is necessary to place such eligible dwelling in a safe, sanitary and decent condition, and (c) the assistance as authorized in this article shall make financing available to such person or persons, or enable such person or persons, to obtain such financing on terms and conditions substantially more favorable to such person or persons than would otherwise be available. See West Virginia Code 8-20A-2
• 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}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Facility: means a place or residence, including personnel, structures, grounds, and equipment used for the care of a child or children on a residential or other basis for any number of hours a day in any shelter or structure maintained for that purpose. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• 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}
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Governing body: shall mean the mayor and council together, the council, the board of directors, the commission, or other board or body of any municipality, by whatever name called, as the case may be, charged with the responsibility of enacting ordinances and determining the public policy of such municipality. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• 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.
• Imminent danger to the physical well-being of the child: means an emergency situation in which the welfare or the life of the child is threatened. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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.
• Juvenile: means any person under eighteen years of age or is a transitioning adult. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
• Law-enforcement officer: means a law-enforcement officer of the State Police, a municipality or county sheriff'. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
• legal voter: shall mean any individual who, at the time he or she offers to vote or at the time he or she participates in any event or activity (such as signing a petition) under the provisions of this chapter for which he or she must be a qualified elector, elector, qualified voter, or legal voter, is a resident within the corporate limits of the municipality or within the boundaries of a territory referred to in this chapter, as the case may be, and who: (i) Has been a resident of the state for one year and of the municipality or territory in question for at 60 sixty days next preceding such election or date pertinent to any such event or activity. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mayor: shall mean the individual called mayor unless as to a particular municipality a commissioner (in a commission form of government) or the city manager (in a manager form of government) is designated or constituted by charter provision as the principal or chief executive officer or chief administrator thereof, in which event the term "mayor" shall mean as to such municipality such commissioner or city manager unless as to any particular power, authority, duty or function specified in this chapter to be exercised, discharged or fulfilled by the mayor it is provided by charter provision or ordinance that such particular power, authority, duty, or function shall be exercised, discharged, or fulfilled by the individual called mayor and not by a commissioner or city manager, in which event such particular power, authority, duty, or function shall in fact be exercised, discharged, or fulfilled in and for such municipality by the individual called mayor: Provided, That in the exercise and discharge of the ex officio justice of the peace, conservator of the peace, and mayor's court functions specified in this chapter, the term "mayor" shall always mean the individual called mayor. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• 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.
• Multidisciplinary team: means a group of professionals and paraprofessionals representing a variety of disciplines who interact and coordinate their efforts to identify, diagnose and treat specific cases of child abuse and neglect. See West Virginia Code 49-1-207
• 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.
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Ordinance: shall mean the ordinances and laws enacted by the governing body of a municipality in the exercise of its legislative power, and in one or more articles of this chapter, ordinances enacted by a county commission. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Out-of-home placement: means a post-adjudication placement in a foster family home, kinship parent home, group home, nonsecure facility, emergency shelter, hospital, psychiatric residential treatment facility, staff secure facility, hardware secure facility, detention facility, or other residential placement other than placement in the home of a parent, custodian, or guardian. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Parent: means an individual defined as a parent by law or on the basis of a biological relationship, marriage to a person with a biological relationship, legal adoption or other recognized grounds. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
• 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 any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, association, public or private corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, cooperative, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, executor, administrator, any other fiduciary, any representative appointed by order of any court or otherwise acting on behalf of others, or any other group or combination acting as a unit and the plural as well as the singular number. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Person: shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or any other entity or organization of whatever character or description. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Placement: means any temporary or permanent placement of a child who is in the custody of the state in any foster home, kinship parent home, group home, or other facility or residence. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Project costs: means capital costs, costs of financing, planning, designing, constructing, expanding, improving, or maintaining a road. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Public question: shall mean any issue or proposition required to be submitted to the qualified voters of a municipality or of a territory referred to in this chapter for decision at an election, as the case may be. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Purchaser: means a person to whom a sale of personal property is made or to whom a service is furnished. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Recorder: shall mean the recorder, clerk, or other municipal officer, by whatever name called, charged with the responsibility of keeping the journal of the proceedings of the governing body of the municipality and other municipal records. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Rehabilitation: means a specific work of improvement within a municipality or county undertaken primarily to remodel, repair or rehabilitate an eligible dwelling. See West Virginia Code 8-20A-2
• Resident: shall mean any individual who maintains a usual and bona fide place of abode within the corporate limits of a municipality or within the boundaries of a territory referred to in this chapter, as the case may be. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Retailer: means and includes every person engaging in the business of selling, leasing or renting tangible personal property or custom software or furnishing a taxable service for use within the meaning of this article, or in the business of selling, at auction, tangible personal property or custom software owned by the person or others for use in the county imposing taxes pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Road: means a public highway, road, bridge, tunnel, or overpass to be used for the transportation of persons or goods including bicycle and pedestrian facilities. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Sale: means any transaction resulting in the purchase or lease of tangible personal property, custom software or a taxable service from a retailer. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
• service: means and includes, but is not limited to, customer support services, help desk services, call center services, repair services, engineering services, installation service, assembly service, delivery service by means other than common carrier or the United States Postal Service, technical assistance services, the service of investigating, handling or otherwise assisting in resolving customer issues or complaints while in the county, the service of operating a mail order business or telephone, Internet or other remote order business from facilities located within the county, the service of operating a website or internet-based business from a location within the county imposing the use tax or any other service. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Sexual abuse: means :

  (A) Sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion, sexual contact, or conduct proscribed by §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201

• Sexual assault: means any of the offenses proscribed in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Tax Commissioner: means the State Tax Commissioner provided in article one, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: includes a city, village or town, and the word "council" any body or board, whether composed of one or more branches, which is authorized to make ordinances for the government of a city, town, or village. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Town or village: is a term of art and shall, notwithstanding the provisions of §. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Treasurer: shall mean the treasurer or other municipal officer, by whatever name called, exercising the power and authority commonly exercised by a treasurer. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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}
• Vendor: means any person furnishing services subject to a county&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.