                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 55.1-1800)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Association&#8221; means the property owners&#8217; association.
		&#8220;Board of directors&#8221; means the executive body of a property
owners&#8217; association or a committee that is exercising the power of the
executive body by resolution or bylaw.
		&#8220;Capital components&#8221; means those items, whether or not a part of
the common area, for which the association has the obligation for repair,
replacement, or restoration and for which the board of directors determines
funding is necessary.
		&#8220;Common area&#8221; means property within a development which is owned,
leased, or required by the declaration to be maintained or operated by a
property owners&#8217; association for the use of its members and designated as
a common area in the declaration.
		&#8220;Common interest community&#8221; means the same as that term is defined
in § 54.1-2345.
		&#8220;Common interest community manager&#8221; means the same as that term is
defined in § 54.1-2345.
		&#8220;Declarant&#8221; means the person or entity signing the declaration and
its successors or assigns who may submit property to a declaration.
		&#8220;Declaration&#8221; means any instrument, however denominated, recorded
among the land records of the county or city in which the development or any
part of such development is located, that either (i) imposes on the association
maintenance or operational responsibilities for the common area or (ii) creates
the authority in the association to impose on lots, on the owners or occupants
of such lots, or on any other entity any mandatory payment of money in
connection with the provision of maintenance or services for the benefit of some
or all of the lots, the owners or occupants of the lots, or the common area.
&#8220;Declaration&#8221; includes any amendment or supplement to the
instruments described in this definition. &#8220;Declaration&#8221; does not
include a declaration of a condominium, real estate cooperative, time-share
project, or campground.
		&#8220;Development&#8221; means real property located within the Commonwealth
subject to a declaration which contains both lots, at least some of which are
residential or are occupied for recreational purposes, and common areas with
respect to which any person, by virtue of ownership of a lot, is a member of an
association and is obligated to pay assessments provided for in a declaration.
		&#8220;Electronic means&#8221; means any form of communication, not directly
involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be
retained, retrieved, and reviewed by a recipient of such communication. A
meeting conducted by electronic means includes a meeting conducted via
teleconference, videoconference, Internet exchange, or other electronic methods.
Any term used in this definition that is defined in § 59.1-480 of the Uniform
Electronic Transactions Act shall have the meaning set forth in such section.
		&#8220;Lot&#8221; means (i) any plot or parcel of land designated for separate
ownership or occupancy shown on a recorded subdivision plat for a development or
the boundaries of which are described in the declaration or in a recorded
instrument referred to or expressly contemplated by the declaration, other than
a common area, and (ii) a unit in a condominium association or a unit in a real
estate cooperative if the condominium or cooperative is a part of a development.
		&#8220;Lot owner&#8221; means one or more persons who own a lot, including any
purchaser of a lot at a foreclosure sale, regardless of whether the deed is
recorded in the land records where the lot is located. &#8220;Lot owner&#8221;
does not include any person holding an interest in a lot solely as security for
a debt.
		&#8220;Professionally managed&#8221; means a common interest community that
has engaged (i) a common interest community manager to provide management
services to the community or (ii) a person as an employee for compensation to
provide management services to the community, other than a resident of the
community who provides bookkeeping, billing, or recordkeeping services for that
community.
		&#8220;Property owners&#8217; association&#8221; or &#8220;association&#8221;
means an incorporated or unincorporated entity upon which responsibilities are
imposed and to which authority is granted in the declaration.
		&#8220;Resale certificate&#8221; means a certificate issued by an association
pursuant to §§ 55.1-2309 and 55.1-2310.
		&#8220;Reserve study&#8221; means a capital budget planning tool used to
determine the physical status and estimated repair or replacement cost of
capital components and an analysis of association funding capacity to maintain,
repair, and replace capital components.
		&#8220;Settlement agent&#8221; means the same as that term is defined in §
55.1-1000.

HISTORY: 1989, c. 679, § 55-509; 1991, c. 667; 1996, c. 618; 1998, c. 623;
2001, c. 715; 2002, c. 459; 2003, c. 422; 2008, cc. 851, 871; 2011, c. 334;
2015, cc. 93, 410; 2019, c. 712; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 9, 494; 2023, cc. 387,
388; 2024, c. 324.