Virginia Code 55.1-1958: Tort and contract liability; judgment lien.
A. An action for tort alleging a wrong done (i) by any agent or employee of the declarant or of the unit owners’ association or (ii) in connection with the condition of any portion of the condominium that the declarant or the association has the responsibility to maintain shall be brought against the declarant or the association, as appropriate. No unit owner shall be precluded from bringing such an action by virtue of his ownership of an undivided interest in the common elements or by reason of his membership in the association or his status as an officer.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 55.1-1958
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Officer: means any member of the executive board or official of the unit owners' association. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
- Unit: means a portion of the condominium designed and intended for individual ownership and use. See Virginia Code 55.1-1900
B. Unit owners other than the declarant shall not be liable for torts caused by agents or employees of the declarant within any convertible land or using any easement reserved in the declaration or created by § 55.1-1928 or 55.1-1929.
C. An action arising from a contract made by or on behalf of the unit owners’ association or its executive board or the unit owners as a group shall be brought against the association, or against the declarant if the cause of action arose during the exercise by the declarant of control reserved pursuant to subsection A of § 55.1-1943. No unit owner shall be precluded from bringing such an action by reason of his membership in the association or his status as an officer.
D. A judgment for money against the unit owners’ association shall be a lien against any property owned by the association, and against each of the condominium units in proportion to the liability of each unit owner for common expenses as established pursuant to subsection D of § 55.1-1964, but not against any other property of any unit owner. A unit owner who pays a percentage of the total amount due under such judgment equal to such unit owner’s liability for common expenses fixed pursuant to subsection D of § 55.1-1964 shall be entitled to a release of any such judgment lien, and the association shall not be entitled to assess the unit for payment of the remaining amount due. Such judgment shall be otherwise subject to the provisions of § 8.01-458.
1975, c. 415, § 55-79.80:1; 1991, c. 497; 1992, c. 72; 1996, c. 977; 2019, c. 712.