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Property and Conveyances

P Passed

P HB1716

Condominium and Property Owners' Association Act; meetings. Requires the executive organ of a condominium unit owners' association or the board of directors of a property owners' association to publish notice of its meetings where it is reasonably calculated to be available to a majority of unit or lot owners. The bill also defines meeting. In addition, the bill (i) prohibits the executive organ or board of directors from using work sessions or other informal gatherings to circumvent meeting notice and executive session requirements and (ii) requires the executive organ or board of directors to establish a reasonable, effective and free method for owners to communicate among themselves and with the executive organ or board regarding any matter concerning the association, appropriate to the size and nature of the condominium or development.
Patron - Callahan

P HB1731

Presumption of convenience abolished. This bill removes the presumption that property held jointly is held as such for the convenience of the primary owner. It clarifies that when any person causes any real or personal property to be titled or otherwise shown in the name of two or more persons "jointly," as "joint tenants," in a "joint tenancy," or other similar language, such persons shall own the property in a joint tenancy without survivorship but if the expression "with survivorship" or any equivalent language is employed in such titling or showing, it shall be presumed that such persons are intended to own the property as joint tenants with the right of survivorship as at common law.
Patron - Howell

P HB1732

Appointment of administrator of an intestate estate. Clarifies the rules and order for appointment of an administrator of an intestate estate. Existing law does not establish any priority in qualification beyond the priority of the surviving spouse. This bill would eliminate the "race to the courthouse" where the first distributee to appear is able to qualify, no matter what his interest is in the estate.
Patron - Howell

P HB1733

Filing accountings and inventories of testamentary trusts. Provides that a trustee of a testamentary trust does not have to file an inventory if he obtains the written consent of all adult beneficiaries after providing them with certain information and files the consents with the Commissioner of Accounts before the date the inventory would otherwise be due. Additionally, the bill specifies that for those trusts where no accounting is required, no inventory is required.
Patron - Howell

P HB1836

Property Owners' Association Act; validity of declaration. Makes a technical correction by changing the term "condominium instrument" to "declaration." Condominium instrument is a term of art in the Condominium Act and not applicable to the Property Owners' Association Act.
Patron - Howell

P HB1848

Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act; landlord obligations. Requires a landlord to give written notice to tenants no less than 48 hours prior to the planned disruption by the landlord in electric, water or sewage disposal services.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB1883

Termination of tenancy under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act. Provides that where a landlord and seller of a manufactured home have in common (i) one or more owners, (ii) immediate family members, or (iii) officers or directors, the rental agreement shall be renewed except for reasons that would justify a termination of the rental agreement or eviction by the landlord under the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act. Additionally, a landlord who accepts rent with reservation of rights must give notice to the tenant of the reservation within five days of receipt of the rent. Under current law, the landlord must give notice of the reservation to the tenant, but there is no provision for when such reservation must be given.
Patron - Howell

P HB2120

Real Estate Time-Share Act. Clarifies the definitions of "exchange program" and "incidental benefit." The bill also expands the definition of "time-share estate occupancy expenses" to include (i) expenses for the formation, organization, operation and administration, including capital contributions thereto, of the association and both its board of directors and its members and (ii) filing fees and annual registration charges of the State Corporation Commission and the Real Estate Board, counsel fees and accountant charges, and reserves for any of the foregoing, which must be paid by the time-share owners. The bill authorizes the association to file a lien for unpaid and past due maintenance fees and for any other charges owing occasioned by the failure of the owner to pay the assessments or maintenance fees, including late charges, interest, postage and handling, attorneys' fees, recording costs and release fees in addition to the currently authorized lien for unpaid assessments. The bill changes the filing deadline of one year to four years from when the assessment became due for an association to perfect a lien. The bill provides that the cost of recording the memorandum of lien shall be taxed against the owner of the time-share on which the lien is place versus current law that provides that such cost is taxed against the person found liable.
Patron - Wardrup

P HB2126

Estates in trust. Removes the million dollar cap on trusts that are not subject to the debts of beneficiaries and provides that as to any claim for child support, no such condition (of the trust) shall operate to the prejudice of a judgment against a beneficiary for the support of the beneficiary's child.
Patron - McClure

P HB2216

Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act. Clarifies that the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act applies to to all jurisdictions in the Commonwealth and may not be waived or otherwise modified, in whole or in part, by the governing body of any locality, its boards and commissions or other instrumentalities, or by the courts of the Commonwealth.
Patron - Almand

P HB2428

Condominium and Property Owners' Association Acts; charges for copying association records. Clarifies that the charges for copying association records, which an association may impose, are the reasonable costs, not to exceed the actual costs, for labor and materials.
Patron - Suit

P HB2429

Common Interest Community Management Information Fund; powers of the Real Estate Board. Provides for the appointment of a community association liaison who shall administer the requirements of the Common Interest Community Management Information Fund and serve as an information resource on issues relating to the governance, administration and operation of common interest communities, including the laws and regulations relating thereto. Such information may include non-binding interpretations of laws or regulations governing common interest communities and referrals to public and private agencies offering alternative dispute resolution services, with a goal of reducing and resolving conflicts among associations and their members. The compensation for the community association liaison shall be paid from the Fund; provided that no more than 60 percent of the moneys collected annually in the Fund shall be used for such purpose. This bill is a recommendation of the Housing Study Commission.
Patron - Suit

P HB2515

Property Owners' Association Act; association disclosure packets. Gives a purchaser of a condominium unit or lot in a property owners' association the right, as stated in the purchase contract, to request an update of the resale certificate. The bill also sets the fees that may be charged for providing an update resale certificate. The bill also requires disclosure of the copy of the notice given to a unit or lot owner by the association of any current or pending role or architectural violations. This bill incorporates HB 2567.
Patron - Reid

P SB972

Landlord and tenant; access to television facilities. Postpones the effective date of provisions allowing compensation to a landlord for use of his property by cable, satellite, and other television facilities from July 1, 2001, to July 1, 2003.
Patron - Wampler

P SB1229

Landlord and tenant. Extends from 30 to 45 the number of days a landlord has to notify a tenant of any deduction in the tenant's security deposit; provides that if a landlord willfully fails to comply with the provisions relating to security deposits, the court shall order return of the deposit and any accrued interest to the tenant, together with reasonable attorney's fees; clarifies the notice to be given by the landlord for the entry into a tenant's unit for routine maintenance; provides that the tenant, upon termination of occupancy, is responsible for payment to the landlord for the reasonable costs incurred in removing burglary prevention and fire detection devices installed by the tenant and for any repairs for damage to the unit because of the removal of the devices; allows a tenant to use the rent escrow provisions of the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act regardless of the number of notices to pay or quit he has received from the landlord; and limits the amount of post-possession damages a landlord can recover under a rental agreement. The bill also incorporates into other Virginia law governing landlord and tenant issues provisions of the VRLTA relating to the maintenance of residential rental units and imposes obligations on both the landlord and tenant to maintain the dwelling unit. This bill is a recommendation of the Housing Study Commission.
Patron - Whipple

P SB1358

Release of deed of trust. Clarifies that lenders must forward releases of deeds of trust to the obligor or the obligor's designee within the designated time frame. The bill also clarifies that, if the creditor undertakes to record the document, the document must actually be recorded or sent by certified mail rather than just be sent by ordinary mail to the clerk's office.
Patron - Mims

F Failed

F HB1971

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA); access of tenants to cable, satellite and other television facilities. Repeals the section of the VRLTA dealing with access of tenants to cable, satellite and other television facilities. As a result of the bill, there will be no limitation on landlords from receiving compensation from cable and other like companies for providing access to the landlord's property.
Patron - McClure

F HB2057

Release of deed of trust or other lien. Creates an optional method for a settlement agent in a real estate transaction to release a deed of trust or other lien.
Patron - Albo

F HB2129

Joint ownership in real and personal property. Specifies that any personal or real property of a husband and wife that is held by them as tenants by the entireties and conveyed to their joint revocable or irrevocable trust, or in equal shares to their separate revocable or irrevocable trusts, shall have the same immunity from the claims of their separate creditors as it would if it had remained a tenancy by the entirety, so long as (i) they remain husband and wife, and (ii) it continues to be held in the trust or trusts. Under the existing law, this language only applies to the principal family residence, so long as all of the above conditions are satisfied and so long as the property continues to be their principal family residence.
Patron - McClure

F HB2206

Landlord and tenant law; rent escrow by tenants. Allows tenants not covered by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act access to rent escrow provisions for alleged conditions that constitute a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or other provisions of law, or that constitute a serious threat to the life, health or safety of the tenants.
Patron - Almand

F HB2311

Property Owners Association Act; capital improvement fee. Authorizes the board of directors of an association to impose a capital improvement fee on lots that are resold or transferred if the board determines the imposition of the fee is in the best interest of the association and the proceeds are used exclusively for new capital improvements or replacement of existing common elements. Under the bill, the association membership may, at a meeting held within 60 days of the notice of the imposition of the fee, vote to rescind or reduce the fee. The total amount of the capital improvement fee shall not exceed the annual assessment charged to the lot during the most recently completed fiscal year of the association or $1,000, whichever is higher. The bill requires that capital improvement fees collected by the association be maintained in a separate capital improvement account and prohibits a capital improvement fee from being imposed on certain gratuitous transfers between family members and where the owner of the lot transfers the lot to a trust entity.
Patron - Dickinson

F HB2567

Property Owners' Association Act; contract disclosures. Requires a person selling a lot in a property owners' association to disclose in the contract whether there exist any violations of the declaration or rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto for which the purchaser is or may be liable. This contract disclosure is in addition to other contract disclosures currently required under the Property Owners' Association Act. The bill provides that its provision shall not apply to any contract entered into before July 1, 2001. Incorporated into HB 2515.
Patron - Scott

F HB2668

Notice of trustee's sale. Provides that all required notices to lienholders, a property owners' association, a proprietary lessees' association and their assigns, or a condominium unit owners' association may be given by facsimile transmission or e-mail, but that when notice is given by either of these methods the trustee must file with the Commissioner of Accounts confirmation of receipt by any of the parties to whom such notice was given.
Patron - Moss

F SB1157

Disposition of assets of nonprofit health care entities. Establishes (i) the items that must be included in the notice to the Attorney General by a nonprofit health care entity contemplating a disposition of assets, (ii) a requirement for at least one public hearing in the primary service area of the relevant nonprofit entity, and (iii) a determination by the Attorney General whether a disposition of assets requires a review. The bill also provides the Attorney General with subpoena power, establishes the elements of the agreement that must be found before the Attorney General can approve such agreements, and sets out the elements of the proposed agreement that must result in disapproval. The parties have a right to appeal a denial to the Supreme Court.
Patron - Hanger

F SB1423

Property Owners' Association Act; transfer of declarant control; disclosure packet. Limits the period of developer control of a property owner's association to the point at which three-fourths of the lots, as designated in the plan for development filed with the locality, have been conveyed as improved lots to owners in the association. In addition, the bill also requires (i) the developer, upon transfer of control to the association, to provide the association with a copy of the latest approved plans showing the portion of the development that are lots and common area, (ii) the association to maintain a map of the development showing the portions of the development that are lots and portions that are common area, and (iii) the disclosure statement to include either a statement or a clear reference to provisions in the declaration setting forth certain information regarding the transfer plan. The bill further clarifies that a current lot owner shall be entitled to assert as an affirmative defense that the required disclosure of any limitations pertaining to the display of flags or any flagpole or similar structure necessary to display such flags was not contained in the disclosure packet to the such current lot owner.
Patron - Lambert

F SB1425

Landlord and tenant; access to cable, satellite and other television facilities. Allows landlords to be compensated by cable television service providers for access to and for the use and occupancy of the landlord's property. In addition, the bill also provides that any cable television service access agreement between a landlord and a cable television service provider entered into on or after July 1, 2001, that incorporates a life-of-franchise provision providing for perpetual access to a landlord's property shall provide for reasonable compensation to the landlord for such access to and for such use and occupancy of the landlord's property or shall be null and void.
Patron - Colgan

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