The International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) defines foreign direct investment (“FDI”) as a “cross-border investment” in which an investor that is “resident in one economy [has] control or a...
local governmental law
Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign Direct Investment: An Overview
Foreign Divorce
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law DictionaryA divorce obtained in a different state or country from the place where one spouse resides at the time of the divorce. As a general rule, foreign divorces are recognized as valid if the spouse requesting...
Full Faith and Credit
The requirement, derived from Article IV, Section I of the Constitution, that state courts respect the judgments of courts from other states. Thus, a judgment won in one state may be enforced in another, without a relitigation of the underlying issues...
Grandfather Clause
1) A provision in a new law that limits its application to individuals or businesses that are new to the system, while those already in the system are exempt from the new regulation. For example, when Washington, DC, raised its drinking age from 18 to...
Grandfathered In
See: grandfather clause
Home Rule
The power of a local city or county to act autonomously in, for example, setting up a system of government and enacting local ordinances. Within the U.S. system, such power must ordinarily be granted by the state government.
Homeowners' Association
An organization made up of neighbors concerned with managing the common areas of a subdivision or condominium complex. These associations take on issues such as garden, pool, and fence maintenance; noise abatement; snow removal; parking areas; repairs...
Local government law
local government law: an overview
Local governments, those which govern cities, villages, counties, and towns, are established and regulated by state law. Their authority in relation to other units of local government and in relation to state government...
Noise ordinance
A municipal law that regulates the nature and level of sound that can be emitted in a given place at a given time. Thus, people hosting a social party or an industrial plant might be penalized for sound that violates a noise ordinance.
ordinance
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law DictionaryA law adopted by a town or city council, county board of supervisors, or other municipal governing board. Typically, local governments issue ordinances establishing zoning and parking rules, and...