Purchase-money security interest (PMSI) refers to security interests in purchase-money collateral. Purchase-money collateral is the collateral that was purchased completely or in part by the debtor with the funds given to create a security interest in the collateral.
Quantum meruit is Latin for "as much as one has deserved." Quantum meruit is an equitable remedy that provides restitution for unjust enrichment, often employed in contract law.
The word quasi is Latin for “as if” meaning, almost alike but not perfectly alike. In law, it is used as a prefix or an adjective to inform some measure of similarity with a critical difference. A quasi-item is not an accurate example of the item, but it is close to the item minus some critical elements of the item.
A quasi contract is a legal obligation imposed by law to prevent unjust enrichment. This is also called a contract implied in law or a constructive contract.
See: ratify.
[Last reviewed in August of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]
To ratify means to approve or enact a legally binding act that would not otherwise be binding in the absence of such approval.
When a prospective buyer is fully prepared to render the consideration required to consummate a transaction, that person is said to be “read, willing, and able" or, simply, “ready willing and able.” Specifically, the term often arises in the context of real estate brokers, who do not receive compensation for a sale until they procure a buyer who is ready willing and able to perform the contract.
In bankruptcy, a reaffirmation is an agreement that a debtor and a creditor enter into after a debtor has filed for bankruptcy, in which the debtor agrees to repay all or part of an existing debt after the bankruptcy proceedings are over and the property subject to the reaffirmation is not subject to partition in the proceedings.
A real covenant is a promise or obligation by a landholder that limits their use of the property, either requiring a specific act to be or not to be performed. If the covenant demands action, it is an affirmative covenant; if the covenant prohibits action, it is a negative covenant. Some examples include a covenant that requires the homeowner to keep trees trimmed (affirmative) or forbids a homeowner from building a fence (negative).
In the context of contract law, “reasonable time” is a vague, and largely disfavored, qualifier used to connote a period by which an act should be performed. What is a reasonable time is a fact-intensive inquiry, often a question for the jury to decide. A 2012 Texas Court of Appeals opinion, DaimlerChrysler Motors Co., LLC v.
