1997 Minnesota Statutes

     231.01 Definitions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Department.  The word "department," as 
 used in this chapter, means the Minnesota state department of 
 agriculture. 

    Subd. 2.    Commissioner.  The term "commissioner," as 
 used in this chapter, means the commissioner of agriculture. 

    Subd. 3.    Person.  The term "person," as used in this 
 chapter, includes any individual, firm, or copartnership.  

    Subd. 4.    Corporation.  The term "corporation," as 
 used in this chapter, includes any corporation, company, 
 association, joint stock company or association.  

    Subd. 5.    Warehouse operator.  The term "warehouse 
 operator," as used in this chapter, means and includes every 
 corporation, company, association, joint stock company or 
 association, firm, partnership, or individual, their trustees, 
 assignees, or receivers appointed by any court, controlling, 
 operating, or managing within this state directly or indirectly, 
 any building or structure, or any part thereof, or any buildings 
 or structures, or any other property, and using the same for the 
 storage or warehousing of goods, wares, or merchandise for 
 compensation, or who shall hold itself out as being in the 
 storage or warehouse business, or as offering storage or 
 warehouse facilities, or advertise for, solicit or accept goods, 
 wares, or merchandise for storage for compensation, but shall 
 not include persons, corporations, or other parties operating 
 storage facilities containing minerals, ores, or rock products 
 such as, but not limited to, aggregates, clays, railroad 
 ballast, iron ore, copper ore, nickel ore, limestone, coal, and 
 salt or operating grain or cold storage warehouses, or storing 
 on a seasonal basis boats, boating accessories, recreational 
 vehicles or recreational equipment or facilities in which the 
 party storing goods rents and occupies space as a tenant and the 
 entire risk of loss is with the tenant pursuant to written 
 contract between the landlord and tenant. 

    Subd. 6.    Service.  The term "service," as used in 
 this chapter, is used in its broadest sense and includes not 
 only the use and occupancy of space for storage purposes, but 
 also any labor expended, and the use of any equipment, 
 apparatus, and appliances or any drayage or other facilities, 
 employed, furnished, or used in connection with the storage of 
 goods, wares, and merchandise, subject to the provisions of this 
 chapter.  

    Subd. 7.    Rate.  The term "rate," as used in this 
 chapter, includes every individual or joint rate, charge, or 
 other compensation of every warehouse operator, either for 
 storage or for any other service furnished in connection 
 therewith, or any two or more such individual or joint rates, 
 charges, or other compensations of any warehouse operator, or 
 any schedule or tariff thereof, and any rule, regulation, 
 charge, practice, or contract relating thereto. 

    Subd. 8.    Compensation.  The term "compensation," as 
 used in this chapter, means any remuneration, recompense, 
 indemnification, requital, or satisfaction assessed, collected, 
 or received for the storage or warehousing of goods, wares, or 
 merchandise of another by a warehouse operator.  

    Subd. 9.    Household goods.  "Household goods" means: 

    (a) personal effects and property used or to be used in a 
 dwelling if it is part of the equipment or supply of the 
 dwelling; 

    (b) furniture, fixtures, equipment, and the property of 
 business places and institutions, public or private, when a part 
 of the stock, equipment, supplies, or property of such 
 establishments.  It does not mean the storage of property of a 
 business concern in the usual course of its business activities; 

    (c) articles which, because of their unusual nature or 
 value, require specialized handling and equipment customarily 
 employed in moving household goods. 

    HIST: (5173) 1915 c 210 s 2; 1941 c 139 s 2; 1947 c 497 s 1,2; 
 1971 c 25 s 67; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1975 c 313 s 20; 1979 c 
 178 s 1; 1979 c 332 art 1 s 70,71; 1980 c 442 s 4; 1986 c 444; 
 1993 c 212 s 1; 1996 c 377 s 8; 1997 c 131 s 4