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CREDITOR Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

A person to whom a debt Is owing by another person, called the “debtor.” Mohr v. Elevator Co., 40 Minn. 343, 41 N. W. 1074; Woolverton v. Taylor Co., 43 111. App. 424; Insurance Co. v. Meeker, 37 N. J. Law, 300; Walsh v. Miller, 51 Ohio St 462, 38 N. E. 381. The foregoing is the strict legal sense of the term; but in a wider sense it means one who has a legal right to demand and recover from another a sum of money on any account whatever, and hence may include the owner of any right of action against another, whether arising on contract or for a tort, a penalty, or a forfeiture. Keith v. Hiner, 63 Ark. 244, 38 S. W. 13; Bongard v. Block, 81 111. 1S6, 25 Am. Rep. 276; Chalmers v. Sheehy, 132 Cal. 459, 64 Pac. 709, 84 Am. St Rep. 62; Pierstorff v. Jorges, 86 Wis. 128, 56 N. W 735, 39 Am. St Rep. 881. Classification. A creditor is called a “simple contract creditor,” a “specialty creditor,” a “bond creditor,” or otherwise, according to the nature of the obligation giving rise to the debt. Other compound and descriptive terms.

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