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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>86721</law_id><section_number>36-85.16</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>36-85.31</reference><reference>46.2-1500</reference><reference>46.2-1508</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="36">Housing</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="4.2">Manufactured Housing Licensing and Transaction Recovery Fund Law</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1">Licensing of Manufactured Housing Industry</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning or construction is clearly required by the context:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Board</span>&#x201D; means the Virginia Manufactured Housing <span class="dictionary">Board</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Buyer</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">person</span> who purchases at retail from a dealer or manufacturer a manufactured home for personal use as a residence or other related use.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Claimant</span>&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span> who has filed a verified claim under this chapter.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Code</span>&#x201D; means the appropriate standards of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building <span class="dictionary">Code</span> and the Industrialized Building and Manufactured Home Safety Regulations adopted by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> of Housing and Community Development and administered by the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 for manufactured homes.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Defect</span>&#x201D; means any deficiency in or damage to <span class="dictionary">materials</span> or workmanship occurring in a manufactured home which has been reasonably maintained and cared for in normal use. The term also means any failure of any structural element, utility system or the inclusion of a component part of the manufactured home which fails to comply with the <span class="dictionary">Code</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Department</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Housing and Community Development.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Director</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Director</span> of the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Housing and Community Development, or his designee.
		&#x201C;Fund&#x201D; or &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">recovery fund</span>&#x201D; means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Transaction <span class="dictionary">Recovery Fund</span>.
		&#x201C;Manufactured home&#x201D; means a structure constructed to federal standards, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 8 feet or more in width and is 40 feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Manufactured home broker</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;broker&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span>, partnership, association or corporation, resident or nonresident, who, for compensation or valuable consideration, sells or offers for <span class="dictionary">sale</span>, buys or offers to buy, negotiates the purchase or <span class="dictionary">sale</span> or exchange, or leases or offers to lease <span class="dictionary">used manufactured homes</span> that are owned by a party other than the broker.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Manufactured home dealer</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;dealer&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span>, resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of buying, <span class="dictionary">selling</span> or dealing in manufactured homes or offering or displaying manufactured homes for <span class="dictionary">sale</span> in Virginia. Any <span class="dictionary">person</span> who buys, sells, or deals in three or more manufactured homes in any 12-month period shall be presumed to be a <span class="dictionary">manufactured home dealer</span>. The terms &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">selling</span>&#x201D; and &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">sale</span>&#x201D; include lease-purchase transactions. The term &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">manufactured home dealer</span>&#x201D; does not include banks and finance companies that acquire manufactured homes as an incident to their regular business.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Manufactured home manufacturer</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;manufacturer&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">persons</span>, resident or nonresident, who manufacture or assemble manufactured homes for <span class="dictionary">sale</span> in Virginia.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Manufactured home salesperson</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;salesperson&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span> who for compensation or valuable consideration is employed either directly or indirectly by, or affiliated as an independent contractor with, a <span class="dictionary">manufactured home dealer</span>, broker or manufacturer to sell or offer to sell, or to buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase, <span class="dictionary">sale</span> or exchange, or to lease or offer to lease new or <span class="dictionary">used manufactured homes</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">New manufactured home</span>&#x201D; means any manufactured home that (i) has not been previously sold except in good faith for the purpose of resale, (ii) has not been previously occupied as a place of habitation, (iii) has not been previously used for commercial purposes such as offices or storage, and (iv) has not been titled by the Virginia <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Motor Vehicles and is still in the <span class="dictionary">possession</span> of the original dealer. If the home is later sold to another dealer and then sold to a consumer within two years of the date of manufacture, the home is still considered new and must continue to meet all state warranty requirements. However, if a home is sold from the original dealer to another dealer and it is more than two years after the date of manufacture, and it is then sold to a consumer, the home must be sold as &#x201C;used&#x201D; for warranty purposes. Notice of the &#x201C;used&#x201D; status of the manufactured home and how this status affects state warranty requirements must be provided, in writing, to the consumer prior to the closing of the <span class="dictionary">sale</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Person</span>&#x201D; means any individual, natural <span class="dictionary">person</span>, firm, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, or other recognized legal entity.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Regulant</span>&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">person</span>, firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or any other legal entity required by this chapter to be licensed by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Responsible party</span>&#x201D; means a manufacturer, dealer, or <span class="dictionary">supplier</span> of manufactured homes.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Set-up</span>&#x201D; means the operations performed at the occupancy site which render a manufactured home fit for habitation. Such operations include, but are not limited to, transportation, positioning, blocking, leveling, supporting, anchoring, connecting utility systems, making <span class="dictionary">minor</span> adjustments, or assembling multiple or expandable units. Such operations do not include lawful transportation services performed by public utilities operating under certificates or permits issued by the State Corporation Commission.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Substantial identity of interest</span>&#x201D; means (i) a controlling financial interest by the individual or corporate principals of the <span class="dictionary">manufactured home broker</span>, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked or not renewed or (ii) substantially identical principals or officers as the <span class="dictionary">manufactured home broker</span>, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked or not renewed by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Supplier</span>&#x201D; means the original producer of completed components, including refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, dishwashers, cabinets, air conditioners, heating units, and similar components, and <span class="dictionary">materials</span> such as floor coverings, panelling, siding, trusses, and similar <span class="dictionary">materials</span>, which are furnished to a manufacturer or a dealer for installation in the manufactured home prior to <span class="dictionary">sale</span> to a <span class="dictionary">buyer</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Used manufactured home</span>&#x201D; means any manufactured home other than a new home as defined in this section.</p></section></text><history>1991, c. 555; 1992, c. 223; 1994, c. 671; 2005, c. 430; 2008, c. 350.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
