Alana is renting a three-bedroom home for one year. Alana is the:

In a lease agreement, there are two primary parties. The property owner who grants the right of possession is the landlord, also known as the lessor. The individual who rents the property and receives the right of possession is the tenant, also known as the lessee. Since Alana is renting the home for a one-year term, she is occupying the role of the tenant or lessee in this contractual relationship.

B. holdover tenant: A holdover tenant is someone who remains in possession of the property after their lease term has expired. Alana's lease is for a current one-year term.

C. optionor: An optionor is the property owner who grants another party the right (an option) to buy or lease the property at a later date. Alana is the one renting, not granting rights.

D. tenant or lessor: This option is contradictory. The lessor is the landlord/owner who leases the property to the tenant. A person cannot be both the tenant and the lessor in the same transaction.

1. Code of Virginia, Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, § 55.1-1200. Definitions.

"Lessee" means the tenant.

"Lessor" means the landlord.

"Tenant" means a person entitled only under the terms of a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others and includes a roomer.

2. Virginia Real Estate Board. (2023). Virginia Real Estate Board Guidance Document: VREB Social Media Policy. While not a direct definition, this document consistently uses "lessee" to refer to the tenant in rental scenarios, reinforcing the interchangeability of the terms. (Reference: Use of terminology throughout the document).

3. Goolsby, O. H., & S. H. Steagall. (2005). Contract Theory and the Law of Leases. The Journal of Legal Studies, 34(S2), 557-582.

Page 558, Section II.A: "The lease is a contract between a lessor (landlord) and a lessee (tenant) that transfers the right of possession of a specific property for a definite period of time..." This peer-reviewed article establishes the fundamental definitions of lessor and lessee in a lease contract. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/497998