Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 54.1 > Subtitle II > Chapter 21 > Article 3 - Duties of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons.

• Agency: means every relationship in which a real estate licensee acts for or represents a person as an agent by such person's express authority in a commercial or residential real estate transaction, unless a different legal relationship is intended and is agreed to as part of the brokerage agreement. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Agent: means a real estate licensee who is acting as (i) a standard agent in a residential real estate transaction, (ii) a limited service agent in a residential real estate transaction, or (iii) an agent in a commercial real estate transaction. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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.
• bill in equity: shall mean a complaint in a civil action, as provided in the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia;

  11. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• 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
• Brokerage agreement: means the written agreement creating a brokerage relationship between a client and a licensee. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Brokerage relationship: means the contractual relationship between a client and a real estate licensee who has been engaged by such client for the purpose of procuring a seller, buyer, option, tenant, or landlord ready, able, and willing to sell, buy, option, exchange or rent real estate on behalf of a client. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Client: means a person who has entered into a brokerage relationship with a licensee. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Commercial real estate: means any real estate other than (i) real estate containing one to four residential units or (ii) real estate classified for assessment purposes under § Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Common source information company: means any person, firm, or corporation that is a source, compiler, or supplier of information regarding real estate for sale or lease and other data and includes, but is not limited to, multiple listing services. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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.
• Customer: means a person who has not entered into a brokerage relationship with a licensee but for whom a licensee performs ministerial acts in a real estate transaction. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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.
• designated representative: means a licensee who has been assigned by a principal or supervising broker to represent a client when a different client is also represented by such principal or broker in the same transaction. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• dual representative: means a licensee who has a brokerage relationship with both seller and buyer, or both landlord and tenant, in the same real estate transaction. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• 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
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Independent contractor: means a real estate licensee who (i) enters into a brokerage relationship based upon a brokerage agreement that specifically states that the real estate licensee is acting as an independent contractor and not as an agent; (ii) shall have the obligations agreed to by the parties in the brokerage agreement; and (iii) shall comply with the provisions of subdivisions A 3 through 7 and subsections B and E of § Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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}
• Licensee: means real estate brokers and salespersons as defined in Article 1 (§ Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Limited service agent: means a licensee who acts for or represents a client in a residential real estate transaction pursuant to a brokerage agreement that provides that the limited service agent will not provide one or more of the duties set forth in subdivision A 2 of §§ Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• Ministerial acts: means those routine acts which a licensee can perform for a person which do not involve discretion or the exercise of the licensee's own judgment. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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.
• Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

  6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• 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 estate: includes chattels real and such other estate as, upon the death of the owner intestate, would devolve upon his personal representative. See Virginia Code 1-233
• 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.
• Property management agreement: means the written agreement between a property manager and the owner of real estate for the management of the real estate. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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 estate broker: means any individual or business entity, including a partnership, association, corporation, or limited liability company, who, for compensation or valuable consideration, (i) sells or offers for sale, buys or offers to buy, or negotiates the purchase or sale or exchange of real estate, including units or interest in condominiums, cooperative interest as defined in § Virginia Code 54.1-2100
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• Residential real estate: means real property containing from one to four residential dwelling units and the sale of lots containing one to four residential dwelling units. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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.
• Standard agent: means a licensee who acts for or represents a client in an agency relationship in a residential real estate transaction. See Virginia Code 54.1-2130
• 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
• Supervising broker: means a real estate broker who has been designated by a principal broker to supervise the provision of real estate brokerage services by associate brokers and salespersons assigned to a branch office or a real estate team. See Virginia Code 54.1-2100
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.