[§200A-2]  Definitions.  (a)  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

     "Barge" means a vessel that is not self propelled or fitted for propulsion by sail, paddle, oar, or similar device.

     "Builder's certificate" means a certificate of the facts of build of a vessel described in title 46 Code of Federal Regulations section 67.99, as amended.

     "Buyer" means a person that buys or contracts to buy a vessel.

     "Cancel", with respect to a certificate of title, means to make the certificate ineffective.

     "Certificate of origin" means a record created by a manufacturer or importer as the manufacturer's or importer's proof of identity of a vessel.  "Certificate of origin" includes a manufacturer's certificate or statement of origin and an importer's certificate or statement of origin.  "Certificate of origin" does not include a builder's certificate.

     "Certificate of title" means a record, created by the department under this chapter or by a governmental agency of another jurisdiction under the law of that jurisdiction, that is designated as a certificate of title by the department or agency and is evidence of ownership of a vessel.

     "Dealer" means a person, including a manufacturer, in the business of selling vessels.

     "Department" means the department of land and natural resources.

     "Documented vessel" means a vessel covered by a certificate of documentation issued pursuant to title 46 United States Code section 12105, as amended.  "Documented vessel" does not include a foreign documented vessel.

     "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

     "Electronic certificate of title" means a certificate of title consisting of information that is stored solely in an electronic medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

     "Foreign documented vessel" means a vessel the ownership of which is recorded in a registry maintained by a country other than the United States that identifies each person that has an ownership interest in a vessel and includes a unique alphanumeric designation for the vessel.

     "Good faith" means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.

     "Hull damaged" means compromised with respect to the integrity of a vessel's hull by a collision, allision, lightning strike, fire, explosion, running aground, or similar occurrence, or the sinking of a vessel in a manner that creates a significant risk to the integrity of the vessel's hull.

     "Hull identification number" means the alphanumeric designation assigned to a vessel pursuant to title 33 Code of Federal Regulations part 181, as amended.

     "Lien creditor", with respect to a vessel, means:

     (1)  A creditor that has acquired a lien on the vessel by attachment, levy, or the like;

     (2)  An assignee for benefit of creditors from the time of assignment;

     (3)  A trustee in bankruptcy from the date of the filing of the petition; or

     (4)  A receiver in equity from the time of appointment.

     "Owner" means a person that has legal title to a vessel.

     "Owner of record" means the owner indicated in the department's files or, if the files indicate more than one owner, the owner indicated first.

     "Person" means an individual; corporation; business trust; estate; trust; statutory trust; partnership; limited liability company; association; joint venture; public corporation; government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or any other legal or commercial entity.

     "Purchase" means to take by sale, lease, mortgage, pledge, consensual lien, security interest, gift, or any other voluntary transaction that creates an interest in a vessel.

     "Purchaser" means a person that takes by purchase.

     "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

     "Secured party", with respect to a vessel, means a person:

     (1)  In whose favor a security interest is created or provided for under a security agreement, regardless of whether any obligation to be secured is outstanding;

     (2)  That is a consignor under article 9 of chapter 490; or

     (3)  That holds a security interest arising under section 490:2-401, 490:2-505, 490:2-711(3), or 490:2A-508(e).

     "Secured party of record" means the secured party whose name is indicated as the name of the secured party in the department's files or, if the files indicate more than one secured party, the name indicated first.

     "Security interest" means an interest in a vessel that secures payment or performance of an obligation if the interest is created by contract or arises under section 490:2-401, 490:2-505, 490:2-711(3), or 490:2A-508(e).  "Security interest" includes any interest of a consignor in a vessel in a transaction that is subject to article 9 of chapter 490.  "Security interest" does not include the special property interest of a buyer of a vessel on identification of that vessel to a contract for sale under section 490:2-501, but a buyer also may acquire a security interest by complying with article 9 of chapter 490.  Except as otherwise provided in section 490:2-505, the right of a seller or lessor of a vessel under article 2 or 2A of chapter 490 to retain or acquire possession of the vessel is not a security interest, but a seller or lessor also may acquire a security interest by complying with article 9 of chapter 490.  The retention or reservation of title by a seller of a vessel notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the buyer under section 490:2-401 is limited in effect to a reservation of a security interest.  Whether a transaction in the form of a lease creates a security interest shall be determined by section 490:1-203.

     "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:

     (1)  Make or adopt a tangible symbol; or

     (2)  Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.

     "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

     "State of principal use" means the state on whose waters a vessel is or will be used, operated, navigated, or employed more than on the waters of any other state during a calendar year.

     "Title brand" means a designation of previous damage, use, or condition that shall be indicated on a certificate of title.

     "Transfer of ownership" means a voluntary or involuntary conveyance of an interest in a vessel.

     "Vessel" means any watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except:

     (1)  An amphibious vehicle for which a certificate of title is issued pursuant to part III of chapter 286 or a similar statute of another state;

     (2)  A watercraft less than eight feet in length and propelled solely by sail, paddle, oar, or an engine of less than ten horsepower;

     (3)  A watercraft that operates only on a permanently fixed, manufactured course and the movement of which is restricted to or guided by means of a mechanical device to which the watercraft is attached or by which the watercraft is controlled;

     (4)  A stationary floating structure that:

          (A)  Does not have and is not designed to have a mode of propulsion of its own;

          (B)  Is dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility hookup to a source originating on shore; and

          (C)  Has a permanent, continuous hookup to a shoreside sewage system;

     (5)  A watercraft owned by the United States; a state; a foreign government; or a political subdivision of the United States, a state, or a foreign government; and

     (6)  A watercraft used solely as a lifeboat on another watercraft.

     "Vessel number" means the alphanumeric designation for a vessel issued pursuant to title 46 United States Code section 12301, as amended.

     "Written certificate of title" means a certificate of title consisting of information inscribed on a tangible medium.

     (b)  The following definitions and terms also apply to this chapter:

     "Agreement", as distinguished from "contract", means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in section 490:1-303.

     "Buyer in ordinary course of business" means a person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind.  A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the seller's own usual or customary practices.  A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead is a person in the business of selling goods of that kind.  A buyer in ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting contract for sale.  Only a buyer that takes possession of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller under article 2 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business.  "Buyer in the ordinary course of business" does not include a person that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.

     "Consumer goods" means goods that are used or bought for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

     "Debtor" means:

     (1)  A person having an interest, other than a security interest or other lien, in the collateral, whether or not the person is an obligor;

     (2)  A seller of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes; or

     (3)  A consignee.

     "Knowledge" means actual knowledge.

     "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.

     "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.

     "Notice" shall have the same meaning as in section 490:1-202.

     "Sale" shall have the same meaning as in section 490:2-106(1).

     "Security agreement" means an agreement that creates or provides for a security interest.

     "Seller" means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods.

     "Send" in connection with a writing, record, or notice means:

     (1)  To deposit in the mail or deliver for transmission by any other usual means of communication with postage or cost of transmission provided for and properly addressed and, in the case of an instrument, to an address specified thereon or otherwise agreed, or if there be none to any address reasonable under the circumstances; or

     (2)  In any other way to cause to be received any record or notice within the time it would have arrived if properly sent.

     "Value" shall have the same meaning as in section 490:1-204.

     (c)  The definitions in subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any state or federal law governing licensing, numbering, or registration if the same term is used in that law. [L 2018, c 46, pt of §1]