Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 13.1 > Chapter 9 > Article 6 - Office and Agent.

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. See Virginia Code 13.1-603
• 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
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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
• 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 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 § Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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
• Entity: includes any domestic or foreign corporation; any domestic or foreign nonstock corporation; any domestic or foreign unincorporated entity; any estate or trust; and any state, the United States and any foreign government. See Virginia Code 13.1-603
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• 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 Virginia Code 1-257
• Individual: means a natural person. See Virginia Code 13.1-603
• 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}
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Merger: means a transaction pursuant to § Virginia Code 13.1-603
• Nonbinding reservation agreement: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
• Offer: 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. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
• Officer: means any member of the executive board or official of the unit owners' association. 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: includes an individual and an entity. See Virginia Code 13.1-603
• 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
• Principal office: means the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located, or, if there are no such offices, the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, so designated by the board of directors. See Virginia Code 13.1-603
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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
• Unit: means a portion of the condominium designed and intended for individual ownership and use. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900