Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 8.4A > Part 1 > Sections

• 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
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Association: means the property owners' association. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Authorization: means express approval or express consent by the candidate, the candidate's campaign committee, or an agent of the candidate or his campaign committee after coordination. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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
• Ballot scanner machine: means the electronic counting machine in which a voter inserts a marked ballot to be scanned and the results tabulated. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• Board of supervisors: means the governing body of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Bond with surety: includes the payment in cash of the full amount of the required bond and, in such case, no surety shall be required. See Virginia Code 1-205
• 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
• Campaign committee: means the committee designated by a candidate to receive all contributions and make all expenditures for him or on his behalf in connection with his nomination or election. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Candidate: means "candidate" as defined in § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Capital components: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• Central absentee voter precinct: means a precinct established pursuant to § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• 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 elements: means all portions of the condominium other than the units. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Common expenses: means all expenditures lawfully made or incurred by or on behalf of the unit owners' association, together with all funds lawfully assessed for the creation or maintenance of reserves pursuant to the provisions of the condominium instruments. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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
• Common interest community manager: means the same as that term is defined in § 54. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Condominium: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Condominium instruments: means , collectively, the declaration, bylaws, and plats and plans recorded pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Condominium unit: means a unit together with the undivided interest in the common elements appertaining to that unit. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contractable condominium: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Contribution: includes money, services, or things of value in any way provided by a candidate to his own campaign and the payment by the candidate of a filing fee for any party nomination method. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Conversion condominium: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Convertible land: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Convertible space: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• coordination: refers to an expenditure that is made (i) at the express request or suggestion of a candidate, a candidate's campaign committee, or an agent of the candidate or his campaign committee or (ii) with material involvement of the candidate, a candidate's campaign committee, or an agent of the candidate or his campaign committee in devising the strategy, content, means of dissemination, or timing of the expenditure. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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.
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• 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.
• 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
• Declarant: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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.
• 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
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• 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
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• 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:
• disposition: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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}
• 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
• 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 55.1-1900
• 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.
• Executive board: means an executive and administrative entity, by whatever name denominated, designated in the condominium instruments as the governing body of the unit owners' association. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Expandable condominium: means a condominium to which additional land may be added in accordance with the provisions of the declaration and this chapter. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Expenditure: means money and services of any amount, and any other thing of value, paid, loaned, provided, or in any other way disbursed by any candidate, campaign committee, political committee, or person for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or by any inaugural committee for the purpose of defraying the costs of the inauguration of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal political action committee: means any political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission that makes contributions to candidates or political committees registered in Virginia. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• 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
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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
• Identifying number: means one or more letters or numbers that identify only one unit in the condominium. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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
• In-kind contribution: means the donation of goods, services, property, or other thing of value, other than money, including an expenditure controlled by, coordinated with, or made upon the authorization of a candidate, his campaign committee, or an agent of the candidate or his campaign committee, that is provided for free or less than the usual and normal charge. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Inaugural committee: means any organization, person, or group of persons that anticipates receiving contributions or making expenditures, from other than publicly appropriated funds, for the inauguration of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General and related activities. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Independent expenditure: includes an expenditure made by a candidate campaign committee (i) that is not related to the candidate's own campaign and (ii) that is not made to, controlled by, coordinated with, or made with the authorization of a different candidate, his campaign committee, or an agent of that candidate or his campaign committee. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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.
• Institutional lender: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• 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.
• Land: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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 agreement: means all rental agreements, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted under § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1200
• Leasehold condominium: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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.
• Limited common element: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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
• 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.
• nonresidential tenancy: means the rental of any real estate for purposes other than residential use, including business, industrial, or agricultural purposes. See Virginia Code 55.1-1400
• Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
• 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: means any member of the executive board or official of the unit owners' association. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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
• Out-of-state political committee: means an entity covered by § 527 of the United States Internal Revenue Code that is not registered as a political committee or candidate campaign committee in Virginia and that does not have as its primary purpose expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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

• Paper ballot: means a tangible ballot that is marked by a voter and then manually counted. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
• Par value: means a number of dollars or points assigned to each unit by the declaration. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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: means any individual or corporation, partnership, business, labor organization, membership organization, association, cooperative, or other like entity. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Person: means a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other entity capable of holding title to real property, or any combination thereof. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
• 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 action committee: means any organization, person, or group of persons, established or maintained to receive and expend contributions for the primary purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Political committee: means and includes any political action committee, political party committee, referendum committee, or inaugural committee. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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
• Political party committee: means any state political party committee, congressional district political party committee, county or city political party committee, other election district political party committee, or organized political party group of elected officials. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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
• 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
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• 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
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• 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
• Primary purpose: means that 50% or more of the committee's expenditures made in the form of contributions shall be made to candidate campaign committees or political committees registered in Virginia. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Purchaser: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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
• Referendum committee: means any organization, person, group of persons, or committee, that makes expenditures in a calendar year in excess of (i) $10,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a statewide referendum, (ii) $5,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a referendum being held in two or more counties and cities, or (iii) $1,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a referendum held in a single county or city. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• Registered voter: means any person who is maintained on the Virginia voter registration system. 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
• Resale certificate: means a certificate issued by an association pursuant to §§ 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1800
• 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
• Size: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Special declarant rights: 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' association or the executive board pursuant to subsection A of § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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
• Statewide office: means the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
• 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
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unit: means a portion of the condominium designed and intended for individual ownership and use. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Unit owner: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• 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.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• 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