Florida Statutes
Part I - Vessels; Title Certificates; Liens (Ss. 328.001-328.38)
328.0015 - Definitions.

(1) As used in this part, the term:
(a) “Barge” means a vessel that is not self-propelled or fitted for propulsion by sail, paddle, oar, or similar device.
(b) “Builder’s certificate” means a certificate of the facts of build of a vessel described in 46 C.F.R. s. 67.99.
(c) “Buyer” means a person who buys or contracts to buy a vessel.
(d) “Cancel,” with respect to a certificate of title, means to make the certificate ineffective.
(e) “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. The term includes a manufacturer’s certificate or statement of origin and an importer’s certificate or statement of origin. The term does not include a builder’s certificate.
(f) “Certificate of title” means a record, created by the department 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.
(g) “Dealer” means a person, including a manufacturer, in the business of selling vessels.
(h) “Department” means the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
(i) “Documented vessel” means a vessel covered by a certificate of documentation issued pursuant to 46 U.S.C. s. 12105. The term does not include a foreign-documented vessel.
(j) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(k) “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.
(l) “Foreign-documented vessel” means a vessel the ownership of which is recorded in a registry maintained by a country other than the United States which identifies each person who has an ownership interest in a vessel and includes a unique alphanumeric designation for the vessel.
(m) “Good faith” means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.
(n) “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.
(o) “Hull identification number” means the alphanumeric designation assigned to a vessel pursuant to 33 C.F.R. part 181.
(p) “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.

(q) “Owner” means a person who has legal title to a vessel.
(r) “Owner of record” means the owner indicated in the files of the department or, if the files indicate more than one owner, the one first indicated.
(s) “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.
(t) “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.
(u) “Purchaser” means a person who takes by purchase.
(v) “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.
(w) “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. Who is a consignor as defined under chapter 679; or
3. Who holds a security interest arising under s. 672.401, s. 672.505, s. 672.711(3), or s. 680.508(5).

(x) “Secured party of record” means the secured party whose name is indicated as the name of the secured party in the files of the department or, if the files indicate more than one secured party, the one first indicated.
(y) “Security interest” means an interest in a vessel which secures payment or performance of an obligation if the interest is created by contract or arises under s. 672.401, s. 672.505, s. 672.711(3), or s. 680.508(5). The term includes any interest of a consignor in a vessel in a transaction that is subject to chapter 679. The term does not include the special property interest of a buyer of a vessel on identification of that vessel to a contract for sale under s. 672.501, but a buyer also may acquire a security interest by complying with chapter 679. Except as otherwise provided in s. 672.505, the right of a seller or lessor of a vessel under chapter 672 or chapter 680 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 chapter 679. The retention or reservation of title by a seller of a vessel notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the buyer under s. 672.401 is limited in effect to a reservation of a security interest. Whether a transaction in the form of a lease creates a security interest is determined as provided in part II of chapter 671.
(z) “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.

(aa) “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.
(bb) “State of principal use” means the state on the waters of which a vessel is or will be used, operated, navigated, or employed more than on the waters of any other state during a calendar year.
(cc) “Title brand” means a designation of previous damage, use, or condition that must be indicated on a certificate of title.
(dd) “Transfer of ownership” means a voluntary or involuntary conveyance of an interest in a vessel.
(ee) “Vessel” means a watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except:
1. A seaplane;
2. An amphibious vehicle for which a certificate of title is issued pursuant to chapter 319 or a similar statute of another state;
3. Non-motor-powered watercraft less than 16 feet in length;
4. Watercraft that operate 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;
5. 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;

6. Watercraft owned by the United States, a state, or a foreign government or a political subdivision of any of them; and
7. Watercraft used solely as a lifeboat on another watercraft.

(ff) “Vessel number” means the alphanumeric designation for a vessel issued pursuant to 46 U.S.C. s. 12301.
(gg) “Written certificate of title” means a certificate of title consisting of information inscribed on a tangible medium.

(2) The following definitions and terms also apply to this part:
(a) “Agreement” as defined in s. 671.201(3).
(b) “Buyer in ordinary course of business” as defined in s. 671.201(9).
(c) “Conspicuous” as defined in s. 671.201(10).
(d) “Consumer goods” as defined in s. 679.1021(1)(w).
(e) “Debtor” as defined in s. 679.1021(1)(bb).
(f) “Knowledge” as defined in s. 671.209.
(g) “Lease” as defined in s. 680.1031(1)(j).
(h) “Lessor” as defined in s. 680.1031(1)(p).
(i) “Notice” as defined s. 671.209.
(j) “Representative” as defined in s. 671.201(36).
(k) “Sale” as defined in s. 672.106(1).
(l) “Security agreement” as defined in s. 679.1021(1)(uuu).
(m) “Seller” as defined in s. 672.103(1)(d).
(n) “Send” as defined in s. 671.201(39).
(o) “Value” as defined in s. 671.211.

History.—s. 2, ch. 2019-76.
1Note.—Effective July 1, 2023.