Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 55.1 > Subtitle III > Chapter 12 - Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act

• Action: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Application deposit: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Application fee: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorized occupant: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Building or housing code: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Central absentee voter precinct: means a precinct established pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Community land trust: means a community housing development organization whose (i) corporate membership is open to any adult resident or organization of a particular geographic area specified in the bylaws of the organization and (ii) board of directors includes a majority of members who are elected by the corporate membership and are 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200

• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damage insurance: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the state agency headed by the Commissioner of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Dwelling unit: 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 § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Election: means a general, primary, or special election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Election district: means the territory designated by proper authority or by law which is represented by an official elected by the people, including the Commonwealth, a congressional district, a General Assembly district, or a district for the election of an official of a county, city, town, or other governmental unit. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Essential service: includes heat, running water, hot water, electricity, and gas. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• 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.
• Facility: means something that is built, constructed, installed, or established to perform some particular function. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• General election: means an election held in the Commonwealth on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November or on the first Tuesday in May for the purpose of filling offices regularly scheduled by law to be filled at those times. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• General registrar: means the person appointed by the electoral board of a county or city pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Good faith: means honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction concerned. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Guest or invitee: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interior of the dwelling unit: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Landlord: means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling unit or the building of which such dwelling unit is a part. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• lease agreement: means all rental agreements, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted under § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• local electoral board: means a board appointed pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Machine-readable ballot: means a tangible ballot that is marked by a voter or by a system or device operated by a voter, is available for verification by the voter at the time the ballot is cast, and is then fed into and scanned by a separate counting machine capable of reading ballots and tabulating results. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Managing agent: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Mold remediation in accordance with professional standards: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Multifamily dwelling unit: means more than one single-family dwelling unit located in a building. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Notice: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• 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.
• Officer of election: means a person appointed by an electoral board pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Organization: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means one or more persons or entities, jointly or severally, including a mortgagee in possession, in whom is vested:

  1. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200

• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any individual, group of individuals, corporation, partnership, business trust, association, or other legal entity, or any combination thereof. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• 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.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• political party: means an organization of citizens of the Commonwealth which, at either of the two preceding statewide general elections, received at least 10 percent of the total vote cast for any statewide office filled in that election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Polling place: means the structure that contains the one place provided for each precinct at which the qualified voters who are residents of the precinct may vote. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Precinct: means the territory designated by the governing body of a county, city, or town to be served by one polling place. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Premises: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• primary election: means an election held for the purpose of selecting a candidate to be the nominee of a political party for election to office. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Printed ballot: means a tangible ballot that is printed on paper and includes both machine-readable ballots and paper ballots. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Probate: Proving a will
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Qualified voter: means a person who is entitled to vote pursuant to the Constitution of Virginia and who is (i) 18 years of age on or before the day of the election or qualified pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Readily accessible: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Referendum: means any election held pursuant to law to submit a question to the voters for approval or rejection. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Registered voter: means any person who is maintained on the Virginia voter registration system. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Registration records: means all official records concerning the registration of qualified voters and shall include all records, lists, applications, and files, whether maintained in books, on cards, on automated data bases, or by any other legally permitted record-keeping method. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Rent: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Rental application: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Roomer: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Security deposit: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Single-family residence: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Special election: means any election that is held pursuant to law to fill a vacancy in office or to hold a referendum. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of 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 1-245
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• Tenant: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Tenant records: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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
• Utility: means electricity, natural gas, or water and sewer provided by a public service corporation or such other person providing utility services as permitted under § 56-1. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Visible evidence of mold: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• voter registration system: means the automated central record-keeping system for all voters registered within the Commonwealth that is maintained as provided in Article 2 (§ 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Voting system: means the electronic voting and counting machines used at elections, including direct recording electronic machines (DRE), ballot scanner machines, and on-demand ballot printing systems and ballot marking devices used to manufacture or mark ballots to be cast by voters on electronic voting and counting machines. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Written notice: means notice given in accordance with § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200