                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 55.1-1200)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Action&#8221; means any recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, or other
civil action and any other proceeding in which rights are determined, including
actions for possession, rent, unlawful detainer, unlawful entry, and distress
for rent.
		&#8220;Application deposit&#8221; means any refundable deposit of money,
however denominated, including all money intended to be used as a security
deposit under a rental agreement, or property, that is paid by a tenant to a
landlord for the purpose of being considered as a tenant for a dwelling unit.
		&#8220;Application fee&#8221; means any nonrefundable fee that is paid by a
tenant to a landlord or managing agent for the purpose of being considered as a
tenant for a dwelling unit.
		&#8220;Assignment&#8221; means the transfer by any tenant of all interests
created by a rental agreement.
		&#8220;Authorized occupant&#8221; means a person entitled to occupy a dwelling
unit with the consent of the landlord, but who has not signed the rental
agreement and therefore does not have the financial obligations as a tenant
under the rental agreement.
		&#8220;Building or housing code&#8221; means any law, ordinance, or
governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation or the construction,
maintenance, operation, occupancy, use, or appearance of any structure or that
part of a structure that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one
person who maintains a household or by two or more persons who maintain a common
household.
		&#8220;Commencement date of rental agreement&#8221; means the date upon which
the tenant is entitled to occupy the dwelling unit as a tenant.
		&#8220;Community land trust&#8221; means a community housing development
organization whose board of directors is composed of tenants, corporate members
who are not tenants, and any other category of persons specified in the bylaws
of the organization and that:

1. Is not sponsored by a for-profit organization;

2. Acquires parcels of land, held in perpetuity, primarily for conveyance under
long-term ground leases;

3. Transfers ownership of any structural improvements located on such leased
parcels to the tenant; and

4. Retains a preemptive option to purchase any such structural improvement at a
price determined by formula that is designed to ensure that the improvement
remains affordable to low-income and moderate-income families in perpetuity.
			&#8220;Damage insurance&#8221; means a bond or commercial insurance coverage
as specified in the rental agreement to secure the performance by the tenant of
the terms and conditions of the rental agreement and to replace all or part of a
security deposit.
			&#8220;Dwelling unit&#8221; means a structure or part of a structure that is
used as a home or residence by one or more persons who maintain a household,
including a manufactured home, as defined in &#xA7; 55.1-1300.
			&#8220;Effective date of rental agreement&#8221; means the date on which the
rental agreement is signed by the landlord and the tenant obligating each party
to the terms and conditions of the rental agreement.
			&#8220;Essential service&#8221; includes heat, running water, hot water,
electricity, and gas.
			&#8220;Facility&#8221; means something that is built, constructed, installed,
or established to perform some particular function.
			&#8220;Good faith&#8221; means honesty in fact in the conduct of the
transaction concerned.
			&#8220;Guest or invitee&#8221; means a person, other than the tenant or an
authorized occupant, who has the permission of the tenant to visit but not to
occupy the premises.
			&#8220;Interior of the dwelling unit&#8221; means the inside of the dwelling
unit, consisting of interior walls, floor, and ceiling, that enclose the
dwelling unit as conditioned space from the outside air.
			&#8220;Landlord&#8221; means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling
unit or the building of which such dwelling unit is a part.
&#8220;Landlord&#8221; also includes a managing agent of the premises who fails
to disclose the name of such owner, lessor, or sublessor. Such managing agent
shall be subject to the provisions of &#xA7; 16.1-88.03. &#8220;Landlord&#8221;
does not include a community land trust.
			&#8220;Managing agent&#8221; means the person authorized by the landlord to
act as the property manager on behalf of the landlord pursuant to the written
property management agreement.
			&#8220;Mold remediation in accordance with professional standards&#8221;
means mold remediation of that portion of the dwelling unit or premises affected
by mold, or any personal property of the tenant affected by mold, performed
consistent with guidance documents published by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (Bioaerosols:
Assessment and Control); Standard and Reference Guides of the Institute of
Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) for Professional
Water Damage Restoration and Professional Mold Remediation; or any protocol for
mold remediation prepared by an industrial hygienist consistent with such
guidance documents.
			&#8220;Multifamily dwelling unit&#8221; means more than one single-family
dwelling unit located in a building. However, nothing in this definition shall
be construed to apply to any nonresidential space in such building.
			&#8220;Natural person,&#8221; wherever the chapter refers to an owner as a
&#8220;natural person,&#8221; includes co-owners who are natural persons, either
as tenants in common, joint tenants, tenants in partnership, tenants by the
entirety, trustees or beneficiaries of a trust, general partnerships, limited
liability partnerships, registered limited liability partnerships or limited
liability companies, or any other lawful combination of natural persons
permitted by law.
			&#8220;Notice&#8221; means notice given in writing by either regular mail or
hand delivery, with the sender retaining sufficient proof of having given such
notice in the form of a certificate of service confirming such mailing prepared
by the sender. However, a person shall be deemed to have notice of a fact if he
has actual knowledge of it, he has received a verbal notice of it, or, from all
of the facts and circumstances known to him at the time in question, he has
reason to know it exists. A person &#8220;notifies&#8221; or &#8220;gives&#8221;
a notice or notification to another by taking steps reasonably calculated to
inform another person, whether or not the other person actually comes to know of
it. If notice is given that is not in writing, the person giving the notice has
the burden of proof to show that the notice was given to the recipient of the
notice.
			&#8220;Organization&#8221; means a corporation, government, governmental
subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, or
association; two or more persons having a joint or common interest; any
combination thereof; and any other legal or commercial entity.
			&#8220;Owner&#8221; means one or more persons or entities, jointly or
severally, including a mortgagee in possession, in whom is vested:

1. All or part of the legal title to the property; or

2. All or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to present use and
enjoyment of the premises.
			&#8220;Person&#8221; means any individual, group of individuals, corporation,
partnership, business trust, association, or other legal entity, or any
combination thereof.
			&#8220;Premises&#8221; means a dwelling unit and the structure of which it is
a part, facilities and appurtenances contained therein, and grounds, areas, and
facilities held out for the use of tenants generally or whose use is promised to
the tenant.
			&#8220;Processing fee for payment of rent with bad check&#8221; means the
processing fee specified in the rental agreement, not to exceed $50, assessed by
a landlord against a tenant for payment of rent with a check drawn by the tenant
on which payment has been refused by the payor bank because the drawer had no
account or insufficient funds.
			&#8220;Readily accessible&#8221; means areas within the interior of the
dwelling unit available for observation at the time of the move-in inspection
that do not require removal of materials, personal property, equipment, or
similar items.
			&#8220;Rent&#8221; means all money, other than a security deposit, owed or
paid to the landlord under the rental agreement, including prepaid rent paid
more than one month in advance of the rent due date.
			&#8220;Rental agreement&#8221; or &#8220;lease agreement&#8221; means all
rental agreements, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted
under &#xA7; 55.1-1228 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and
occupancy of a dwelling unit and premises.
			&#8220;Rental application&#8221; means the written application or similar
document used by a landlord to determine if a prospective tenant is qualified to
become a tenant of a dwelling unit.
			&#8220;Renter&#8217;s insurance&#8221; means insurance coverage specified in
the rental agreement that is a combination multi-peril policy containing fire,
miscellaneous property, and personal liability coverage insuring personal
property located in dwelling units not occupied by the owner.
			&#8220;Residential tenancy&#8221; means a tenancy that is based on a rental
agreement between a landlord and a tenant for a dwelling unit.
			&#8220;Roomer&#8221; means a person occupying a dwelling unit that lacks a
major bathroom or kitchen facility, in a structure where one or more major
facilities are used in common by occupants of the dwelling unit and other
dwelling units. &#8220;Major facility&#8221; in the case of a bathroom means a
toilet and either a bath or shower and in the case of a kitchen means a
refrigerator, stove, or sink.
			&#8220;Security deposit&#8221; means any refundable deposit of money that is
furnished by a tenant to a landlord to secure the performance of the terms and
conditions of a rental agreement, as a security for damages to the leased
premises, or as a pet deposit. However, such money shall be deemed an
application deposit until the commencement date of the rental agreement.
&#8220;Security deposit&#8221; does not include a damage insurance policy or
renter&#8217;s insurance policy, as those terms are defined in &#xA7; 55.1-1206,
purchased by a landlord to provide coverage for a tenant.
			&#8220;Single-family residence&#8221; means a structure, other than a
multifamily residential structure, maintained and used as a single dwelling
unit, condominium unit, or any other dwelling unit that has direct access to a
street or thoroughfare and does not share heating facilities, hot water
equipment, or any other essential facility or essential service with any other
dwelling unit.
			&#8220;Sublease&#8221; means the transfer by any tenant of any but not all
interests created by a rental agreement.
			&#8220;Tenant&#8221; means a person entitled only under the terms of a rental
agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others and includes a
roomer. &#8220;Tenant&#8221; does not include (i) an authorized occupant, (ii) a
guest or invitee, or (iii) any person who guarantees or cosigns the payment of
the financial obligations of a rental agreement but has no right to occupy a
dwelling unit.
			&#8220;Tenant records&#8221; means all information, including financial,
maintenance, and other records about a tenant or prospective tenant, whether
such information is in written or electronic form or any other medium.
			&#8220;Utility&#8221; means electricity, natural gas, or water and sewer
provided by a public service corporation or such other person providing utility
services as permitted under &#xA7; 56-1.2. If the rental agreement so provides,
a landlord may use submetering equipment or energy allocation equipment as
defined in &#xA7; 56-245.2 or a ratio utility billing system as defined in
&#xA7; 55.1-1212.
			&#8220;Visible evidence of mold&#8221; means the existence of mold in the
dwelling unit that is visible to the naked eye by the landlord or tenant in
areas within the interior of the dwelling unit readily accessible at the time of
the move-in inspection.
			&#8220;Written notice&#8221; means notice given in accordance with &#xA7;
55.1-1202, including any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or
figures, whether (i) printed in or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored
in an electronic form or any other medium, retrievable in a perceivable form,
and regardless of whether an electronic signature authorized by the Uniform
Electronic Transactions Act (&#xA7; 59.1-479 et seq.) is affixed.

HISTORY: 1974, c. 680, § 55-248.4; 1977, c. 427; 1987, c. 428; 1990, c. 55;
1991, c. 205; 1999, cc. 77, 258, 359, 390; 2000, cc. 760, 816; 2002, c. 531;
2003, cc. 355, 425, 855; 2004, c. 123; 2007, c. 634; 2008, cc. 489, 640; 2010,
cc. 180, 550, § 55-221.1; 2012, c. 788; 2013, c. 563; 2014, c. 651; 2015, c.
596; 2016, c. 744; 2017, c. 730; 2019, cc. 5, 45, 477; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c.
427; 2025, c. 28.