As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 55.1-2900

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255

“Default” means the failure to perform on time any obligation or duty set forth in the rental agreement or this chapter.

“Last known address” means that address or electronic mail address provided by the occupant in the rental agreement or the address or electronic mail address provided by the occupant in a subsequent written notice of a change of address.

“Leased space” means the individual storage space at the self-service facility that is leased or rented to an occupant pursuant to a rental agreement.

“Occupant” means a person, his sublessee, successor, or assign, entitled to the use of a leased space at a self-service storage facility under a rental agreement.

“Owner” means the owner, operator, lessor, or sublessor of a self-service storage facility, his agent, or any other person authorized to manage the facility or to receive rent from any occupant under a rental agreement.

The owner of a self-service storage facility is not a warehouseman as defined in § 8.7-102, unless the owner issues a warehouse receipt, bill of lading, or other document of title for the personal property stored, in which event, the owner and the occupant are subject to the provisions of Title 8.7 dealing with warehousemen.

“Personal property” means movable property not affixed to land and includes goods, wares, merchandise, and household items and furnishings.

“Rental agreement” means any agreement or lease that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, or rules concerning the use and occupancy of a self-service storage facility.

“Self-service storage facility” means any real property designed and used for renting or leasing individual storage spaces, other than storage spaces that are leased or rented as an incident to the lease or rental of residential property or dwelling units, to which the occupants thereof have access for storing or removing their personal property. No occupant shall use a self-service storage facility for residential purposes.

“Verified mail” means any method of mailing that is offered by the United States Postal Service or private delivery service that provides evidence of mailing.

1981, c. 627, § 55-417; 2009, c. 664; 2015, c. 208; 2019, c. 712.