Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 55.1 > Subtitle IV > Chapter 18 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Association: means the property owners' association. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Board of directors: means the executive body of a property owners' association or a committee that is exercising the power of the executive body by resolution or bylaw. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• 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
• Common area: means property within a development which is owned, leased, or required by the declaration to be maintained or operated by a property owners' association for the use of its members and designated as a common area in the declaration. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Common interest community: means the same as that term is defined in § 54. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Common interest community manager: means the same as that term is defined in § 54. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Declarant: means the person or entity signing the declaration and its successors or assigns who may submit property to a declaration. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Declaration: includes any amendment or supplement to the instruments described in this definition. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the state agency headed by the Commissioner of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Development: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Election: means a general, primary, or special election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Electronic means: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• 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}
• General registrar: means the person appointed by the electoral board of a county or city pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• 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.
• 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}
• 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
• Lot: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Lot owner: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• Resale certificate: means a certificate issued by an association pursuant to §§ 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• 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
• 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