                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 36-85.16)

As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning or construction is clearly
required by the context:
		&#8220;Board&#8221; means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Board.
		&#8220;Buyer&#8221; means the person who purchases at retail from a dealer or
manufacturer a manufactured home for personal use as a residence or other
related use.
		&#8220;Claimant&#8221; means any person who has filed a verified claim under
this chapter.
		&#8220;Code&#8221; means the appropriate standards of the Virginia Uniform
Statewide Building Code and the Industrialized Building and Manufactured Home
Safety Regulations adopted by the Board of Housing and Community Development and
administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to
the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974
for manufactured homes.
		&#8220;Defect&#8221; means any deficiency in or damage to materials 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 Code.
		&#8220;Department&#8221; means the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
		&#8220;Director&#8221; means the Director of the Department of Housing and
Community Development, or his designee.
		&#8220;Fund&#8221; or &#8220;recovery fund&#8221; means the Virginia
Manufactured Housing Transaction Recovery Fund.
		&#8220;Manufactured home&#8221; 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.
		&#8220;Manufactured home broker&#8221; or &#8220;broker&#8221; means any
person, partnership, association or corporation, resident or nonresident, who,
for compensation or valuable consideration, sells or offers for sale, buys or
offers to buy, negotiates the purchase or sale or exchange, or leases or offers
to lease used manufactured homes that are owned by a party other than the
broker.
		&#8220;Manufactured home dealer&#8221; or &#8220;dealer&#8221; means any
person, resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of buying, selling or
dealing in manufactured homes or offering or displaying manufactured homes for
sale in Virginia. Any person who buys, sells, or deals in three or more
manufactured homes in any 12-month period shall be presumed to be a manufactured
home dealer. The terms &#8220;selling&#8221; and &#8220;sale&#8221; include
lease-purchase transactions. The term &#8220;manufactured home dealer&#8221;
does not include banks and finance companies that acquire manufactured homes as
an incident to their regular business.
		&#8220;Manufactured home manufacturer&#8221; or &#8220;manufacturer&#8221;
means any persons, resident or nonresident, who manufacture or assemble
manufactured homes for sale in Virginia.
		&#8220;Manufactured home salesperson&#8221; or &#8220;salesperson&#8221; means
any person who for compensation or valuable consideration is employed either
directly or indirectly by, or affiliated as an independent contractor with, a
manufactured home dealer, broker or manufacturer to sell or offer to sell, or to
buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase, sale or exchange, or to lease
or offer to lease new or used manufactured homes.
		&#8220;New manufactured home&#8221; 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 Department of Motor Vehicles and is still in the
possession 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 &#8220;used&#8221; for
warranty purposes. Notice of the &#8220;used&#8221; 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 sale.
		&#8220;Person&#8221; means any individual, natural person, firm, partnership,
association, corporation, legal representative, or other recognized legal
entity.
		&#8220;Regulant&#8221; means any person, firm, corporation, association,
partnership, joint venture, or any other legal entity required by this chapter
to be licensed by the Board.
		&#8220;Responsible party&#8221; means a manufacturer, dealer, or supplier of
manufactured homes.
		&#8220;Set-up&#8221; 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 minor 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.
		&#8220;Substantial identity of interest&#8221; means (i) a controlling
financial interest by the individual or corporate principals of the manufactured
home broker, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked or not
renewed or (ii) substantially identical principals or officers as the
manufactured home broker, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked
or not renewed by the Board.
		&#8220;Supplier&#8221; means the original producer of completed components,
including refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, dishwashers, cabinets, air
conditioners, heating units, and similar components, and materials such as floor
coverings, panelling, siding, trusses, and similar materials, which are
furnished to a manufacturer or a dealer for installation in the manufactured
home prior to sale to a buyer.
		&#8220;Used manufactured home&#8221; means any manufactured home other than a
new home as defined in this section.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 555; 1992, c. 223; 1994, c. 671; 2005, c. 430; 2008, c. 350.