Bussiness Law

State statutes and local ordinances that regulate the creation and performance of certain types of contracts on Sundays and legal holidays

A contract made on a Sunday; in a small number of jurisdictions, such contracts are invalid unles they are ratified on a weekday.

An agrrement in which performance by one party depends on the occurrence of an uncertain event.

The charge for using borrowed money, generally expressed as an annual percentage of the amount of the loan.

Charging interest higher than the law permits.

An agreement with a person who does not have a required license.

an agreement to encourage a lawsuit in which one or more of the parties have no legitimate interest

A limitation on the full exercise of doing business with others

A situation in which one or more peole or firms control the market in a particual area for for a particular product

A federal statute that forbids certain agreements that tend to unreasonably inhibit competion, fix prices, allocate territories, or limit production.

A federal statute thta makes it unlawful to discriminate, directly or indirectly, in matters involving product pricing, advertising, and promotion.

A legal monopoly in which a state or federal gov. grants a person or firm a license to conduct a specific business, usually an essencial service.

The parent firm in a franchise agreement.

The rule that any spoken or written words in conflict with what the written contract states cannot be introduced as evidence in a court of law.

A law requiring certain contracts to be in writing to be enforceable.

A personal representative named in a will to handle matters involving the estate of a deceased person.

Personal representative named by the court to perform as the executor would, in instances in which the deceased person has not left a will

Promise to pay the debt or settle the wrongdoings of another if he or she does not make settlement personally.

An exchange of promises made by persons planning to marry.

A sale in which goods are sold to the highest bidder.

Written contract or agreement

Person who is not a party to a contract but intended by the contracting parties to benefit as a consequence of a contract.

Person who will benefit as an indirect consequence of a contract, although that was not the intent of the contracting parties.

The transer of a contract right to a third party who can receive the benefits of the contract.

Person who transfers his or her rights in an assignment.

Third party to whom rights are transferred in an assignment.

Party who guarantees the promises assigned.

Contract in which services that require a unique skill, talent, ability, and so forth are provided by a specific person

The appointment of a third party by a party to an existing contract to perform contractual duties that do not involve unique skills, talents, abilities, and so on.

Condition in which a person or business is legally recognized as unable to pay legitimate debts.

Situation in which all parties to a contract agree to a significant change to a contract.

When a party to a contract, in good faith, executes all of the promised terms and conditions of the contract with the exception of minor details that do not affect the real intent of their agreement.

An offer to perform that is considered evidence of a party's willingness to fulfill the terms of a contract.

An offer to provide the goods agreed upon that is considered evidence of a party's willingness to fulfill the terms of a contract.

A money offer of payment of an obligation.

When unforeseen circumstances make it impossible to fulfill the terms of a contract; in these cases, the contract is considered void.

Doctrine that states that where both parties know the purpose of a contract and, through no fault of either party, the reason for the contract no longer exists, the contrct is terminated.

A deliberate change or alteration of an important element in a written contract that affects the rights or obligations of the parties.

When a party to a contract refuses to perform as required by the contract or performs in an unsatisfactory manner.

When a party to a contract announces his or her intention to break the contract in the future.

The obligation of the injured party to protect the other party from any unnecessary damages.

Written promise to pay a specified sum of money.

Statement wherein damages are explicitly set in the event one of the parties breaches an agreement.

A court order directing a person to perform-or not perform-as he or she agreed to do in a contract.

Court order prohibiting the performance of a certain act. In some states, a restraining order is temporary.

A permanent court order prohibiting the performance of a certain act.

Ownership and the right to possess something.

A written statement that the sealer is passing ownership to the buyer.

receipt for goods to be shipped, acknowledging that such goods have been received and indicating agreement that the goods will be transported to the destination specified.

Nonnegotiable receipt for goods to be shipped, acknowldedging that such goods have been received and indicating agreement that the goods will be transported to the destination specified.

A receipt for goods to be shipped that is negotiable and is proof of title that can be used to transfer title from one person to another.

Much like a bill of lading except that the goods are not being shipped but merely stored.

A receipt for the goods to be stored

Proof of ownership that can be used to transfer title from one person to another.

A sale with contract provisions that specify conditions that must be met by one of the parties.

Conditions in a sales contract that must be met before title passes.

Condition in a sales contract that must be met after title has pased.

A legal bar to the use of contradictory words or acts in asserting a claim against another.

Person with the right to make legitimate sales as a representative of the owner of the goods, although he or she is not a titleholder.

When property, such as stolen goods, is transferred without permission of the owner.

Goods that are generally sold by weight or measure

A legally enforceable agreement that has as its purpose the immediate transfer of title to personal property in return for consideration.

Goods that physically exist and are owned by the seller at the time of sale

Goods that do not exist at the time of the sales transaction but are expected to come into the possession of the seller.

An agreement to sell future goods.

A sales contract for goods of special design, construction, or manufacture

A contract for the sale of goods that gives the buyer both title to the goods and the opportunity to return them to the seller at a later time.

A contract for the sale of goods subject to the buyer's approval

Agreement wherby the seller will accept the return of goods at the request of the buyer to maintain goodwill, rather than because the seller is legally obliged to accept the returned goods.

One at which the goods must be sold to the highest bidder and may not be withdrawn after bidding has begun.

One that gives the auctioneer the right to withdraw the goods at any time before announcing completion of the sale if reasonable bids are not made.

A sales contract that includes conditions that must be met either before or after the sale is completed.

Title of goods passes from the seller to the buyer when the carrier receives the shipment and it is understood that the buyer will pay the tranportaion charges.

Title passes from the seller to the buyer when the goods are delivered to the buyer.

When the buyer is insolvent, the right of an unpaid seller to stop goods in transit and order the carrier to hold them for the seller.

An order tht requires the seller to deliver the goods specified in the contract or face being held in contempt of court.

An action to recover possession of specific goods wrongfully taken or detained by another.

When the seller fails to deliver the goods, the right of a buyer to buy similar goods elsewhere to substitute for those not delivered by the seller.

A guarantee or promise made by the manufacture or seller that the goods or services offered really are what they claim to be, or that goods or services are what a reasonable person has a right to expect.

An explicit, specifically stated promise

A guarantee suggested or infered from known facts and circumstances

What a warranty usually means in similar transactions

A denial or repudiation in an express warranty that places specific limitations in the warranty.

The law's assumption that goods sold by a merchant/seller are fit to be sold and are adequate for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are sold

An individual who deals in goods of the kind being sold in the ordinary course of business, or who presents himself or herself as having the skills or knowledge relating to the goods.

The law's assumption that goods are fit for their intended use

A federal statute that addresses many different kinds of abuses to consumers relating to warranties.

Trade between two or more states

The promise that a defective product will be repaired without charge and within a reasonable time after a complaint has been made.

A written warranty that does not meet the minimum requirements of a full warranty.

Statutes that provide remedies to consumers for products such as automobiles that repeatedly fail to meet certain standards of quality and performance.

Person authorized to act on behalf of another and subject to the others control in dealing with third parties.

Person who authorizes an agent to act on his or her behalf and subject to his or her control.

An agreement between a principal and an agent by which the agent is vested with authority to represent the principal.

Person authorized to assume complete charge of his or her principal's busssiness or who is entrusted with general authority to act for the principal in all bussiness-related matters.

A person delegated to act only in a particular transaction, under definite instructions, and with specific limits on the scope of his or her authority.

An instrument in writing by which one person, as principal, appoints another person as agent and confers the authority to perform certain specified acts on befalf of the principal.

The person appointed as agent when the power of attorney is exercised.

An agency that results when a principal approves an unauthorized act performed by an agent or approves an act done in the principal's name by an unauthorized person.

An agency that is created when circumstances make such an agency necessary

An agency that is created when a court finds the need for an agency to achieve a desired social policy.

An agent's authority that the principal voluntarily and specifically sets forth as oral or written instructions in an agency agreement

The authority an agent reasonably assumes he or she has that related to the express authority granted by the principal

The authority that a third party may reasonably assume an agent possesses, despite the fact that the agent does not actually possess such authority

An agency contract that cannot be terminated by a principal in which the agent has an interest in the subject mater of the agency in addition to the remuneration that he or she receives for services

A business owned and operated by one person

Legal exposure in which an owner of a business is personally liable for all of the debts and obligations of the business

A business owned and operatd by two or more persons.

the time after dissolution of a partnership during which there is an orderly liquidation of the partnership's assets.

An activity in which individuals become partners for only a short period of time, or for only a single project

Legal exposure such that a person with a claim against a general parthership can elect to sue either all of the partners together or any individual partner whonm he or she chooses.

Business in which there are one or more general partners and one or more limited partners

Legal exposure in which an owner of a business is not personally liable for all of the debts and obligations of the business

Business formed as a separtate legal entity

Document that lists the general powers of a corporation

Documents that provides rules for the meetings of a corporation

Minimum number of shares necessary to be present at a corporate meeting in order for action to be taken.

Corporation that is taxed as a partnership

Legal document that transfers the right to vote in a corporate election to another person

Legal requirement that a person will exercise his or her authority while working under a duty of loyalty and a duty of care.

Legal and ethical obligation placed upon a director to administer to the affairs of the corporation with personal integrity, honesty, and candor.

A legal and ethical obligation placed upon a director to act diligently and prudently in conducting the affairs of the corp.

Relatively new org. form available in most states that provides all of the owners with limited liability.

Number of legally binding and commercially acceptable documents that are used to transfer money from one person to another.

Unconditional written promise to pay, or pay to the order of another party a certain sum of money on demand or at a definite time

Written order drawn on a bank by a depositor that requests the bank to pay, on demand and unconditioanally, a definite sum of money to the bearere of the check or to the order of a specified person.

Unconditional written order to a person instructing him to pay money to another, third person.

Ability to be transferred freely from one person to another and be accepted as readily as cash.(MONEY, CHECKS)

An item of commercial paper that contains the key words of negotiability, "pay to the order of," or their equivalent.

Check presented more than six months after its date

Check that the bank has promised to pay when it is presented for payment

Check issued by a cashier or other designated officer of a bank and drawn against bank funds.

Certified check, useful when traveling in foreign countries, that is issued in denominations of $10 or more by certain banks, travel agencies, and financial service companies.

Check against a bank in which the drawers has insufficient funds on deposit to cover the check or no funds at all.

Act of fraudulently making or altering a note, check, draft, or some other document causing financial loss.

Check that is signed by a person other than the drawer

Check on which the amount has been raised by the payee or bearer

One that is dated later than the date the check is written

An instruction a depositor gives to his bank not to pay a particular check.

Variety of electronic applications for handling money

Federal statute that established the rights responsibilities, and iabilities of consumers in dealings with financial institutions

When holder of commercial paper signs his name with or without words on the back of an instrument to transfer ownership to another.

Person who signs his name to a negotiable instrument

Person to whom instrument is transferred

Indrsmnt. in which name of the payee is written by the payeee on back of negotiable instrument

Instrument that is payable to anyone who is in possession of it

Indorsement in which the payee specifies the person to whom, or to whose order, it is to be paid

Indorsement in which words have been aded restricting further indorsement of the instrument

Indorsement in which the indorser avoids liability fo payment even if the maker of draer defaults on the instrument

Phrase used to indicate a qualified indorsement

Holder who has taken a negotiable instrument in good faith and for value, before maturiey, and without actual or constructive notice of any defects in the instrument.

Defense against payment of commercial paper that may be used against any party except a holder in due course

Defense against payment of commercial paper that claims the instrument was void from the beginning

When the maker of a note or other drawer or acceptor of a bill exchange may deduct from the amount demanded by an immediate party any amounts owed him by the payee

Deliberate change or alteration of an important element in a written contract that affects the rights or obligations of the parties.

Deliberate change or alteration of an imortant element in a written contract that affects the rights or obligations of the parties.

When holder of a note tenders it to the maker and demands payment , or shows drafts to the drawer and requests its acceptance or payment, on or after the maturity date at the place stated in the instrument

When instru. is not accepted when presented for acceptance, presentment is excused or waived, or the instrument is past due and unpaid.

Ground and everything attached to it, including buildings, trees and shrubs. airspace also

Tangible and intangible property that is not real property

Gift between the living that meets all of the legal requirements for a gift

Gift given by a living person who ezpects to die from a known cause, that meets legal requirements for a gift

Right of an owner of property to any increase in the property

Ownership of a particulat piece of property that is held by one person

When two or more persons own equal shares of personal property with right of survivorship

Form of joint ownership of property by husband and wife in which both have a right to the entire property and the right of survivorship

Form of joint ownership of property by two or more persons in which any owner's interest can be sold, transfered, or inherited

Property acquired during mariage that, in some states, belongs to both husband and wife

Right or interest in land granted to a party to make beneficial use of the land owned by another.

Estate in which a person owns the land ofr life or forever.

Estate in which a person has an interest in real property tht comes from a lease

When an owner of a freehold estate holds it absolutely.

Freehold estate in which a person has an ownership interest only for his lifetime

Instrument or document, that conveys an interest in real property between parties.

When ownership of real property is taken by the government and the previous owner is compensated at the fair market value of the property.

When title to land is acquired by a person's exclusive continuous, open, known, and hostile use of the property over a period of time