                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 55.1-1900)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Capital components&#8221; means those items, whether or not a part of
the common elements, for which the unit owners&#8217; association has the
obligation for repair, replacement, or restoration and for which the executive
board determines funding is necessary.
		&#8220;Common elements&#8221; means all portions of the condominium other than
the units.
		&#8220;Common expenses&#8221; means all expenditures lawfully made or incurred
by or on behalf of the unit owners&#8217; association, together with all funds
lawfully assessed for the creation or maintenance of reserves pursuant to the
provisions of the condominium instruments.
		&#8220;Common interest community manager&#8221; means the same as that term is
defined in § 54.1-2345.
		&#8220;Condominium&#8221; means real property, and any incidents to or
interests in such real property, lawfully subject to this chapter by the
recordation of condominium instruments pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter. No project shall be deemed a condominium within the meaning of this
chapter unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the
unit owners.
		&#8220;Condominium instruments&#8221; means, collectively, the declaration,
bylaws, and plats and plans recorded pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
Any exhibit, schedule, or certification recorded with a condominium instrument
shall be deemed an integral part of that condominium instrument. Once recorded,
any amendment or certification of any condominium instrument shall be deemed an
integral part of the affected condominium instrument if such amendment or
certification was made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
		&#8220;Condominium unit&#8221; means a unit together with the undivided
interest in the common elements appertaining to that unit.
		&#8220;Contractable condominium&#8221; means a condominium from which one or
more portions of the submitted land may be withdrawn in accordance with the
provisions of the declaration and of this chapter. If such withdrawal can occur
only by the expiration or termination of one or more leases, then the
condominium shall not be deemed a contractable condominium.
		&#8220;Conversion condominium&#8221; means a condominium containing structures
that before the recording of the declaration were wholly or partially occupied
by persons other than those who have contracted for the purchase of condominium
units and those who occupy with the consent of such purchasers.
		&#8220;Convertible land&#8221; means a portion of the common elements within
which additional units or limited common elements may be created in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
		&#8220;Convertible space&#8221; means a portion of a structure within the
condominium that a declarant may convert into one or more units or common
elements, including limited common elements, in accordance with the provisions
of the declaration and this chapter.
		&#8220;Declarant&#8221; means any person, or group of persons acting in
concert, that (i) offers to dispose of its interest in a condominium unit not
previously disposed of, including an institutional lender that may not have
succeeded to or accepted any special declarant rights pursuant to § 55.1-1947;
(ii) reserves or succeeds to any special declarant right; or (iii) applies for
registration of the condominium. However, for the purposes of clauses (i) and
(iii), &#8220;declarant&#8221; does not include an institutional lender that
acquires title by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure unless such lender
offers to dispose of its interest in a condominium unit not previously disposed
of to anyone not in the business of selling real estate for his own account,
except as otherwise provided in § 55.1-1947. &#8220;Declarant&#8221; does not
include an individual who acquires title to a condominium unit at a foreclosure
sale.
		&#8220;Dispose&#8221; or &#8220;disposition&#8221; refers to any voluntary
transfer of a legal or equitable interest in a condominium unit to a purchaser,
but does not include the transfer or release of security for a debt.
		&#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 has the meaning set forth in that section.
		&#8220;Executive board&#8221; means an executive and administrative entity, by
whatever name denominated, designated in the condominium instruments as the
governing body of the unit owners&#8217; association.
		&#8220;Expandable condominium&#8221; means a condominium to which additional
land may be added in accordance with the provisions of the declaration and this
chapter.
		&#8220;Future common expenses&#8221; means common expenses for which
assessments are not yet due and payable.
		&#8220;Identifying number&#8221; means one or more letters or numbers that
identify only one unit in the condominium.
		&#8220;Institutional lender&#8221; means one or more commercial or savings
banks, savings and loan associations, trust companies, credit unions, industrial
loan associations, insurance companies, pension funds, or business trusts,
including real estate investment trusts, any other lender regularly engaged in
financing the purchase, construction, or improvement of real estate, or any
assignee of loans made by such a lender, or any combination of any of the
foregoing entities.
		&#8220;Land&#8221; is a three-dimensional concept and includes parcels with
upper or lower boundaries, or both upper and lower boundaries, as well as
parcels extending ab solo usque ad coelum. Parcels of airspace constitute land
within the meaning of this chapter. Any requirement in this chapter of a legally
sufficient description shall be deemed to include a requirement that the upper
or lower boundaries, if any, of the parcel in question be identified with
reference to established datum.
		&#8220;Leasehold condominium&#8221; means a condominium in all or any portion
of which each unit owner owns an estate for years in his unit, or in the land
within which that unit is situated, or both, with all such leasehold interests
due to expire naturally at the same time. A condominium including leased land,
or an interest in such land, within which no units are situated or to be
situated is not a leasehold condominium within the meaning of this chapter.
		&#8220;Limited common element&#8221; means a portion of the common elements
reserved for the exclusive use of those entitled to the use of one or more, but
less than all, of the units.
		&#8220;Nonbinding reservation agreement&#8221; means an agreement between the
declarant and a prospective purchaser that is in no way binding on the
prospective purchaser and that may be canceled without penalty at the sole
discretion of the prospective purchaser.
		&#8220;Offer&#8221; means any inducement, solicitation, or attempt to
encourage any person to acquire any legal or equitable interest in a condominium
unit, except as security for a debt. Nothing that expressly states that the
condominium has not been registered with the Common Interest Community Board and
that no unit in the condominium can or will be offered for sale until such time
as the condominium has been so registered shall be considered an
&#8220;offer.&#8221;
		&#8220;Officer&#8221; means any member of the executive board or official of
the unit owners&#8217; association.
		&#8220;Par value&#8221; means a number of dollars or points assigned to each
unit by the declaration. Substantially identical units shall be assigned the
same par value, but units located at substantially different heights above the
ground, or having substantially different views, or having substantially
different amenities or other characteristics that might result in differences in
market value may be considered substantially identical within the meaning of
§§ 55.1-1917 and 55.1-1918.
		&#8220;Person&#8221; means a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust, or other entity capable of holding title to real property,
or any combination thereof.
		&#8220;Purchaser&#8221; means any person, other than a declarant, that
acquires by means of a voluntary transfer a legal or equitable interest in a
condominium unit, other than (i) a leasehold interest, including renewal
options, of less than 20 years or (ii) as security for a debt.
		&#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.
		&#8220;Size&#8221; means the number of cubic feet, or the number of square
feet of ground or floor space, within each unit as computed by reference to the
plat and plans and rounded to the nearest whole number. Certain spaces within
the units, including attic, basement, or garage space, may be omitted from such
calculation or partially discounted by the use of a ratio, so long as the same
basis of calculation is employed for all units in the condominium and so long as
that basis is described in the declaration.
		&#8220;Special declarant rights&#8221; means any right reserved for the
benefit of a declarant, or of a person or group of persons that becomes a
declarant, to (i) expand an expandable condominium; (ii) contract a contractable
condominium; (iii) convert convertible land or convertible space or both; (iv)
appoint or remove any officers of the unit owners&#8217; association or the
executive board pursuant to subsection A of § 55.1-1943; (v) exercise any power
or responsibility otherwise assigned by any condominium instrument or by this
chapter to the unit owners&#8217; association, any officer, or the executive
board; or (vi) maintain sales offices, management offices, model units, and
signs pursuant to § 55.1-1929.
		&#8220;Unit&#8221; means a portion of the condominium designed and intended
for individual ownership and use. For the purposes of this chapter, a
convertible space shall be treated as a unit in accordance with subsection D of
§ 55.1-1925.
		&#8220;Unit owner&#8221; means one or more persons that own a condominium unit
or, in the case of a leasehold condominium, whose leasehold interest in the
condominium extends for the entire balance of the unexpired term. &#8220;Unit
owner&#8221; includes any purchaser of a condominium unit at a foreclosure sale,
regardless of whether the deed is recorded in the land records where the unit is
located. &#8220;Unit owner&#8221; does not include any person holding an
interest in a condominium unit solely as security for a debt.

HISTORY: 1974, c. 416, § 55-79.41; 1975, c. 415; 1981, c. 480; 1982, c. 545;
1991, c. 497; 1993, c. 667; 1996, c. 977; 2001, c. 715; 2002, c. 459; 2003, c.
442; 2008, cc. 851, 871; 2015, cc. 93, 410; 2019, c. 712; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc.
9, 494; 2024, c. 324.