U.S. Code > Title 15 Commerce and Trade > CHAPTER 42—INTERSTATE LAND SALES (§§ 1701—1720) > § 1701. Definitions

§ 1701. Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the term—
(1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(2) “person” means an individual, or an unincorporated organization, partnership, association, corporation, trust, or estate;
(3) “subdivision” means any land which is located in any State or in a foreign country and is divided or is proposed to be divided into lots, whether contiguous or not, for the purpose of sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan;
(4) “common promotional plan” means a plan, undertaken by a single developer or a group of developers acting in concert, to offer lots for sale or lease; where such land is offered for sale by such a developer or group of developers acting in concert, and such land is contiguous or is known, designated, or advertised as a common unit or by a common name, such land shall be presumed, without regard to the number of lots covered by each individual offering, as being offered for sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan;
(5) “developer” means any person who, directly or indirectly, sells or leases, or offers to sell or lease, or advertises for sale or lease any lots in a subdivision;
(6) “agent” means any person who represents, or acts for or on behalf of, a developer in selling or leasing, or offering to sell or lease, any lot or lots in a subdivision; but shall not include an attorney at law whose representation of another person consists solely of rendering legal services;
(7) “blanket encumbrance” means a trust deed, mortgage, judgment, or any other lien or encumbrance, including an option or contract to sell or a trust agreement, affecting a subdivision or affecting more than one lot offered within a subdivision except that such term shall not include any lien or other encumbrance arising as the result of the imposition of any tax assessment by any public authority;
(8) “interstate commerce” means trade or commerce among the several States or between any foreign country and any State;
(9) “State” includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States;
(10) “purchaser” means an actual or prospective purchaser or lessee of any lot in a subdivision; and
(11) “offer” includes any inducement, solicitation, or attempt to encourage a person to acquire a lot in a subdivision.