Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 54.1 > Subtitle III > Chapter 24 - General Provisions

• Administrator: means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development or his designee. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• 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.
• 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.
• Applicant: means any and all persons seeking or holding a permit required under this chapter. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Applicant: means the person applying for a certification of site suitability or submitting a notice of intent to apply therefor. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Application: means an application to the Board for a certification of site suitability. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Board: means the Board of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Board: means the Board of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-131
• Board: means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Board. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Board: means the Board of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Board: means the Virginia Waste Management Board. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Brand: means the name, symbol, logo, trademark, or other information that identifies a product rather than the components of the product. See Virginia Code 10.1-1425.27
• broker: means any person, partnership, association or corporation, resident or nonresident, who, for compensation or valuable consideration, sells or offers for sale, buys or offers to buy, negotiates the purchase or sale or exchange, or leases or offers to lease used manufactured homes that are owned by a party other than the broker. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Building: means a combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, having a roof to form a structure for the use or occupancy by persons or property. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Building Code: means the Uniform Statewide Building Code and building regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant thereto. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Building regulations: means any law, rule, resolution, regulation, ordinance, or code, general or special, or compilation thereof, enacted or adopted by the Commonwealth or any county or municipality, including departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, or other agencies of such state or local governments, relating to construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, repair, maintenance, or use of structures and buildings and installation of equipment therein. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Buyer: means the person who purchases at retail from a dealer or manufacturer a manufactured home for personal use as a residence or other related use. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• certification: means the certification issued by the Board pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• 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
• Claimant: means any person who has filed a verified claim under this chapter. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Code: means the appropriate standards of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code and the Industrialized Building and Manufactured Home Safety Regulations adopted by the Board of Housing and Community Development and administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 for manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Code provisions: means the provisions of the Uniform Statewide Building Code as adopted and promulgated by the Board and the amendments thereof as adopted and promulgated by the Board from time to time. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Computer equipment: means a desktop or notebook computer and may include a computer monitor or other display device. See Virginia Code 10.1-1425.27
• Conference committee: A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of conferees from both chamber of a legislature which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.
• Consolidated Plan: means a document setting forth various housing and community development goals, objectives, and strategies to be followed by the Commonwealth in addressing housing and community development conditions in the Commonwealth and serving as the strategic plan for the programs established by the Department and, to the extent and in the manner determined in accordance with § Virginia Code 36-131
• Construction: means the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or conversion of buildings and structures. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Consumer: means an individual who uses computer equipment that is purchased primarily for personal or home business use. See Virginia Code 10.1-1425.27
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Criteria: means the criteria adopted by the Board, pursuant to § Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• dealer: means any person, resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of buying, selling or dealing in manufactured homes or offering or displaying manufactured homes for sale in Virginia. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Defect: means any deficiency in or damage to materials or workmanship occurring in a manufactured home which has been reasonably maintained and cared for in normal use. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Department: means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-131
• Department: means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Department: means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-131
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, or his designee. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• 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:
• Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Equipment: means plumbing, heating, electrical, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, and other mechanical additions or installations. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• facility: means any facility, including land and structures, appurtenances, improvements and equipment for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous wastes, which accepts hazardous waste for storage, treatment or disposal. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Farm building or structure: means a building or structure not used for residential purposes, located on property where farming operations take place, and used primarily for any of the following uses or combination thereof:

  1. See Virginia Code 36-97

• Federal Act: means the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 as amended (Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Federal acts: means any act of Congress providing for waste management and regulations promulgated thereunder. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Federal Regulations: means the Federal Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Federal Standards: means the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{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}
• Fund: means the Technical Assistance Fund created pursuant to § Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Hazardous substance: means a substance listed under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, P. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Hazardous waste: means a solid waste or combination of solid waste that because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may:

  1. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400

• Host community: means any county, city or town within whose jurisdictional boundaries construction of a hazardous waste facility is proposed. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Household hazardous waste: means any waste material derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels, motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas) which, except for the fact that it is derived from a household, would be classified as a hazardous waste, including nickel, cadmium, mercuric oxide, manganese, zinc-carbon or lead batteries; solvent-based paint, paint thinner, paint strippers, or other paint solvents; any product containing trichloroethylene, toxic art supplies, used motor oil and unusable gasoline or kerosene, fluorescent or high intensity light bulbs, ammunition, fireworks, banned pesticides, or restricted-use pesticides as defined in § Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• HUD: means the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• 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
• 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.
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• 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.
• key personnel: includes all key personnel of that entity, provided that where such entity is a chartered lending institution or a reporting company under the Federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934, "key personnel" does not include key personnel of such entity. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• laser surgery: means treatment through revision, destruction, incision or other structural alteration of human tissue using laser technology. See Virginia Code 54.1-2400.01
• 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}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local building department: means the agency or agencies of any local governing body charged with the administration, supervision, or enforcement of the Building Code and regulations, approval of plans, inspection of buildings, or issuance of permits, licenses, certificates, or similar documents. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Local governing body: means the governing body of any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Manufactured home: means a structure subject to federal regulation, which is transportable in one or more sections; is eight body feet or more in width and forty body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is 320 or more square feet when erected on site; is built on a permanent chassis; is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Manufactured home: means a structure constructed to federal standards, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 8 feet or more in width and is 40 feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• manufacturer: means any persons, resident or nonresident, who manufacture or assemble manufactured homes for sale in Virginia. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Manufacturer: means a person who in any calendar year:

  1. See Virginia Code 10.1-1425.27

• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Municipality: means any city or town in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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.
• On-site: means facilities that are located on the same or geographically contiguous property which may be divided by public or private right-of-way, and the entrance and exit between the contiguous properties is at a cross-roads intersection so that the access is by crossing, as opposed to going along, the right-of-way. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Operator: means a person who is responsible for the overall operation of a facility. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Owner: means the owner or owners of the freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, or lessee in control of a building or structure. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Owner: means a person who owns a facility or a part of a facility. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• 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, natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, or other recognized legal entity. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Person: includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, governmental body, municipal corporation, or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Purchaser: means the first person purchasing a manufactured home in good faith for purposes other than resale. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• 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.
• recovery fund: means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Transaction Recovery Fund. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Regulant: means any person, firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or any other legal entity required by this chapter to be licensed by the Board. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Responsible party: means a manufacturer, dealer, or supplier of manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Review Board: means the State Building Code Technical Review Board. See Virginia Code 36-97
• SAA: means the Department of Housing and Community Development which is responsible for the administration and enforcement of this law throughout Virginia and of the plan authorized by § Virginia Code 36-85.3
• sale: include lease-purchase transactions. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• salesperson: means any person who for compensation or valuable consideration is employed either directly or indirectly by, or affiliated as an independent contractor with, a manufactured home dealer, broker or manufacturer to sell or offer to sell, or to buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase, sale or exchange, or to lease or offer to lease new or used manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Set-up: means the operations performed at the occupancy site which render a manufactured home fit for habitation. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• 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.
• Skirting: means a weather-resistant material used to enclose the space from the bottom of the manufactured home to grade. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, or community activities, but does not include (i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage; (ii) solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or in industrial discharges that are sources subject to a permit from the State Water Control Board; (iii) source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; or (iv) post-use polymers or recovered feedstocks that are (a) processed at an advanced recycling facility or (b) held at or held for the purpose of conversion at such advanced recycling facility prior to conversion. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• State agency: means any department, board, bureau, commission, agency, or other unit of state government in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stop work order: means a legally binding written order to immediately cease work on a building or structure that (i) is issued by a local building official to a property owner, the property owner's agent, or the person performing the work; (ii) identifies the specific violations of the Building Code in regard to the work being performed; and (iii) states the conditions under which such work may be resumed. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Storage: means the containment or holding of hazardous wastes pending treatment, recycling, reuse, recovery or disposal. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Structure: means an assembly of materials forming a construction for occupancy or use, including stadiums, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, radio towers, water tanks, underground and aboveground storage tanks, trestles, piers, wharves, swimming pools, amusement devices, storage bins, and other structures of this general nature but excluding water wells. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Substantial identity of interest: means (i) a controlling financial interest by the individual or corporate principals of the manufactured home broker, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked or not renewed or (ii) substantially identical principals or officers as the manufactured home broker, dealer, or manufacturer whose license has been revoked or not renewed by the Board. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplier: means the original producer of completed components, including refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, dishwashers, cabinets, air conditioners, heating units, and similar components, and materials such as floor coverings, panelling, siding, trusses, and similar materials, which are furnished to a manufacturer or a dealer for installation in the manufactured home prior to sale to a buyer. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• this law: means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Law as embraced in this chapter. See Virginia Code 36-85.3
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• transportation: means any movement of property and any packing, loading, or unloading or storage incidental thereto. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Treatment: means any method, technique, or process, including incineration or neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any waste to neutralize it or to render it less hazardous or nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable to recovery or storage, or reduced in volume. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Treatment: means any method, technique or process, including incineration or neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste to neutralize it or to render it less hazardous or nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable to recovery or storage or reduced in volume. See Virginia Code 10.1-1433
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Waste: means any solid, hazardous, or radioactive waste as defined in this section. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Waste management: means the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of waste or resource recovery. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.