Section 2-A-103. Definitions and Index of Definitions  


Latest version.
  • (1) In this Article unless the context otherwise requires:
             (a) "Buyer  in ordinary course of business" means a person who in
                 good faith and without knowledge that the sale to him or  her
                 is  in violation of the ownership rights or security interest
                 or leasehold interest of a third party in the goods, buys  in
                 ordinary  course  from  a  person  in the business of selling
                 goods of  that  kind  but  does  not  include  a  pawnbroker.
                 "Buying"  may be for cash or by exchange of other property or
                 on secured or unsecured credit and includes  receiving  goods
                 or  documents  of title under a preexisting contract for sale
                 but does not include a transfer in bulk or as security for or
                 in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.
             (b) "Cancellation" occurs when either party puts an  end  to  the
                 lease contract for default by the other party.
             (c) "Commercial unit" means such a unit of goods as by commercial
                 usage is a single whole for purposes of lease and division of
                 which materially impairs its character or value on the market
                 or  in  use.  A commercial unit may be a single article, as a
                 machine, or a set of articles, as a suite of furniture, or  a
                 line  of  machinery, or a quantity, as a gross or carload, or
                 any other unit treated in use or in the relevant market as  a
                 single whole.
             (d) "Conforming  goods  or  performance  under  a lease contract"
                 means goods or performance that are in  accordance  with  the
                 obligations under the lease contract.
             (e) "Consumer  lease"  means  a  lease  that  a  lessor regularly
                 engaged in the business of leasing  or  selling  makes  to  a
                 lessee  who  is  an  individual and who takes under the lease
                 primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
             (f) "Fault" means wrongful act, omission, breach, or default.
             (g) "Finance lease" means a lease with respect to which: (i)  the
                 lessor  does  not  select,  manufacture, or supply the goods;
                 (ii) the lessor acquires the goods or the right to possession
                 and use of the goods in connection with the lease; and  (iii)
                 one  of  the following occurs: (A) the lessee receives a copy
                 of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the
                 right to possession and use of the goods before  signing  the
                 lease  contract; (B) the lessee's approval of the contract by
                 which  the  lessor  acquired  the  goods  or  the  right   to
                 possession   and   use   of  the  goods  is  a  condition  to
                 effectiveness of the lease contract; (C) the  lessee,  before
                 signing the lease contract, receives an accurate and complete
                 statement  designating  the  promises and warranties, and any
                 disclaimers of warranties, limitations  or  modifications  of
                 remedies, or liquidated damages, including those of any third
                 party, such as the manufacturer of the goods, provided to the
                 lessor  by  the person supplying the goods in connection with
                 or as part of the contract by which the lessor  acquired  the
                 goods or the right to possession and use of the goods; or (D)
                 if  the lease is not a consumer lease, the lessor, before the
                 lessee signs  the  lease  contract,  informs  the  lessee  in
                 writing (a) of the identity of the person supplying the goods
                 to the lessor, unless the lessee has selected that person and
                 directed  the  lessor  to  acquire  the goods or the right to
                 possession and use of the goods from that  person,  (b)  that
                 the lessee is entitled under this Article to the promises and
                 warranties,  including  those of any third party, provided to
    
                 the lessor by the person supplying the  goods  in  connection
                 with  or as part of the contract by which the lessor acquired
                 the goods or the right to possession and use  of  the  goods,
                 and  (c)  that  the  lessee  may  communicate with the person
                 supplying the goods to the lessor and receive an accurate and
                 complete  statement  of  those   promises   and   warranties,
                 including  any  disclaimers  and  limitations  of  them or of
                 remedies.
             (h) "Goods" means all things that are  movable  at  the  time  of
                 identification   to  the  lease  contract,  or  are  fixtures
                 (Section 2-A-309), but  the  term  does  not  include  money,
                 documents,  instruments,  accounts,  chattel  paper,  general
                 intangibles, or minerals or the like, including oil and  gas,
                 before  extraction.   The term also includes the unborn young
                 of animals.
             (i) "Installment lease contract"  means  a  lease  contract  that
                 authorizes or requires the delivery of goods in separate lots
                 to  be  separately  accepted,  even though the lease contract
                 contains a clause "each delivery is a separate lease" or  its
                 equivalent.
             (j) "Lease"  means  a transfer of the right to possession and use
                 of goods for a term in return for consideration, but a  sale,
                 including  a  sale  on  approval  or  a  sale  or  return, or
                 retention or creation of a security interest is not a  lease.
                 Unless  the  context  clearly  indicates  otherwise, the term
                 includes a sublease.
             (k) "Lease agreement" means the  bargain,  with  respect  to  the
                 lease, of the lessor and the lessee in fact as found in their
                 language or by implication from other circumstances including
                 course  of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance
                 as provided in  this  Article.  Unless  the  context  clearly
                 indicates otherwise, the term includes a sublease agreement.
             (l) "Lease  contract"  means  the  total  legal  obligation  that
                 results from the lease agreement as affected by this  Article
                 and  any  other  applicable  rules of law. Unless the context
                 clearly indicates otherwise, the  term  includes  a  sublease
                 contract.
             (m) "Leasehold  interest" means the interest of the lessor or the
                 lessee under a lease contract.
             (n) "Lessee" means a person who acquires the right to  possession
                 and  use  of  goods under a lease. Unless the context clearly
                 indicates otherwise, the term includes a sublessee.
             (o) "Lessee in ordinary course of business" means a person who in
                 good faith and without knowledge that the lease to him or her
                 is in violation of the ownership rights or security  interest
                 or leasehold interest of a third party in the goods leases in
                 ordinary  course  from a person in the business of selling or
                 leasing goods of that kind but does not include a pawnbroker.
                 "Leasing" may be for cash or by exchange of other property or
                 on secured or unsecured credit and includes  receiving  goods
                 or  documents of title under a preexisting lease contract but
                 does not include a transfer in bulk or as security for or  in
                 total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.
             (p) "Lessor" means a person who transfers the right to possession
                 and  use  of  goods under a lease. Unless the context clearly
                 indicates otherwise, the term includes a sublessor.
    
             (q) "Lessor's residual interest" means the lessor's  interest  in
                 the  goods  after expiration, termination, or cancellation of
                 the lease contract.
             (r) "Lien"  means a charge against or interest in goods to secure
                 payment of a debt or performance of an  obligation,  but  the
                 term does not include a security interest.
             (s) "Lot"  means a parcel or a single article that is the subject
                 matter of a separate lease or delivery, whether or not it  is
                 sufficient to perform the lease contract.
             (t) "Merchant  lessee"  means  a  lessee  that is a merchant with
                 respect to goods of the kind subject to the lease.
             (u) "Present value" means the amount as of a date certain of  one
                 or  more  sums  payable in the future, discounted to the date
                 certain. The discount is  determined  by  the  interest  rate
                 specified  by  the  parties  if  the  rate was not manifestly
                 unreasonable at the time the transaction  was  entered  into;
                 otherwise,  the  discount  is  determined  by  a commercially
                 reasonable  rate  that  takes  into  account  the  facts  and
                 circumstances  of  each  case at the time the transaction was
                 entered into.
             (v) "Purchase" includes taking by sale, lease, mortgage, security
                 interest, pledge, gift, or any  other  voluntary  transaction
                 creating an interest in goods.
             (w) "Sublease" means a lease of goods the right to possession and
                 use  of which was acquired by the lessor as a lessee under an
                 existing lease.
             (x) "Supplier" means a person from whom a lessor buys  or  leases
                 goods to be leased under a finance lease.
             (y) "Supply  contract" means a contract under which a lessor buys
                 or leases goods to be leased.
             (z) "Termination" occurs when either party pursuant  to  a  power
                 created by agreement or law puts an end to the lease contract
                 otherwise than for default.
        (2)  Other  definitions  applying  to this Article and the sections in
      which they appear are:
        "Accessions". Section 2-A-310(1).
        "Construction mortgage". Section 2-A-309(1)(d).
        "Encumbrance". Section 2-A-309(1)(e).
        "Fixtures". Section 2-A-309(1)(a).
        "Fixture filing". Section 2-A-309(1)(b).
        "Purchase money lease". Section 2-A-309(1)(c).
        (3) The following definitions in other articles apply to this Article:
                     "Account".                 Section 9--102(a)(2).
                     "Between merchants".       Section 2--104(3).
                     "Buyer".                   Section 2--103(1)(a).
                     "Chattel paper".           Section 9--102(a)(11).
                     "Consumer goods".          Section 9--102(a)(23).
                     "Document".                Section 9--102(a)(30).
                     "Entrusting".              Section 2--403(3).
                     "General intangible".      Section 9--102(a)(42).
                     "Good faith".              Section 2--103(1)(b).
                     "Instrument".              Section 9--102(a)(47).
                     "Merchant".                Section 2--104(1).
                     "Mortgage".                Section 9--102(a)(55).
                     "Pursuant to commitment".  Section 9--102(a)(68).
                     "Receipt".                 Section 2--103(1)(c).
                     "Sale".                    Section 2--106(1).
                     "Sale on approval".        Section 2--326.
                     "Sale or return".          Section 2--326.
                     "Seller".                  Section 2--103(1)(d).
        (4) In addition, Article 1 contains general definitions and principles
      of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this Article.