How to Fill Out VAR Form 200: Disclosures, Inspection, and Renewal

To fill out VAR Form 200, the Virginia Association of REALTORS® residential lease, work through its 38 numbered paragraphs in order, starting with the summary block in Paragraph 1 and ending with signatures, while attaching the disclosures Virginia and federal law require. The form is built around the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, so most fields have statutory consequences behind them, and the entries you make at signing govern how the tenancy runs for the next year or more.

Getting the Form

VAR Form 200 is restricted to Virginia REALTORS® members in good standing and is not available for public download.¹ Licensed agents pull it from the Virginia REALTORS® standard forms library or from a brokerage transaction platform such as Dotloop or zipLogix. A private landlord without an agent needs to engage a property manager or REALTOR® to supply it. The current fillable version on the Virginia REALTORS® website is dated 2025-07.²

Paragraph 1: The Summary of Lease Terms

Paragraph 1 is a summary block capturing the essential deal points. Mistakes here propagate through the rest of the document, so slow down on these fields.

Parties. Enter the full legal names of the landlord (or the landlord’s authorized agent) and every adult who will sign. Everyone signing must appear here. Authorized occupants who will live in the unit but will not sign, such as minor children, go in the separate occupants field.
Premises. Enter the full street address, unit number if any, city, and ZIP code, along with the county or independent city where the property sits.
Lease term. Specify exact start and end dates. Twelve months is typical, though the form accepts any fixed term. The start date triggers the move-in inspection timeline, so choose one that gives you lead time.
Rent. Enter the monthly amount, the due date (usually the first), accepted payment methods, the grace period, and the exact late-fee dollar amount. Virginia law caps late fees.
Security deposit. Virginia prohibits a deposit greater than two months’ periodic rent, so at $1,800 monthly rent the ceiling is $3,600. Enter the exact figure here.³

Utilities, Maintenance, and Use

Paragraph 7 covers utilities. Check or fill in who pays for electricity, gas, water, sewer, trash, internet, and any other recurring service. Vague utility entries drive a large share of post-move-in disputes. If meters are shared or the landlord bundles some services into rent, state that plainly.

Paragraph 6 covers use, occupancy, and maintenance. The tenant obligations it incorporates already exist in the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act: keep the unit clean, dispose of trash properly, avoid damaging the property, keep plumbing fixtures sanitary, leave smoke detectors alone, and notify the landlord promptly of pests.⁴ Signing the lease commits the tenant to standards that are already the law.

Paragraph 14: Animals

If animals are allowed, enter type, breed, number, and any weight limits, along with any pet deposit or monthly pet fee. If none are allowed, mark the form accordingly. Service animals and emotional support animals are not pets under federal fair housing law and cannot be hit with pet deposits or breed restrictions, so do not list them in this paragraph.

Required Virginia Disclosures

Several disclosures must either sit inside the lease or travel with it. Omitting any of them creates legal exposure for the landlord and can give the tenant grounds to terminate.

Lead-Based Paint

For property built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint information before signing, hand over any inspection records, and provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.”⁵ Penalties reach $22,263 per violation.⁶ Paragraph 34 of VAR Form 200 includes the lead-based paint addendum.

Mold

The landlord must disclose, as part of the move-in inspection report, whether visible mold exists in the unit. If the report says no visible mold, the tenant has five days to object in writing. If it reveals mold, the tenant can walk away from the lease; if the tenant instead takes possession, the landlord must remediate within five business days, reinspect, and issue a new report confirming the mold is gone.⁷

Defective Drywall

If the landlord has actual knowledge of unrepaired defective drywall, a written disclosure must go to the tenant before signing. A tenant who does not get the disclosure and later discovers the drywall can terminate within 60 days of discovery by written notice, with termination effective 15 days after mailing or through the date rent has been paid, whichever is later.⁸

Optional Addenda in Paragraph 34

Paragraph 34 also holds optional addenda for asbestos-containing materials and for property in a military noise zone or accident potential zone. State law does not require them in every case, but they insulate the landlord from nondisclosure claims where they apply. Addenda for a guarantor co-signer or a tenant with diplomatic immunity sit in Paragraph 34 as well.

Paragraph 18: The Military Clause

Paragraph 18 implements federal protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. An active-duty servicemember can terminate early without penalty after receiving permanent change of station orders or deployment orders of 90 days or more, and the same right applies to someone who signs the lease and then enters military service.⁹

To exercise the right, the servicemember delivers written notice and a copy of the orders. On a monthly-rent lease, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent due date following delivery.⁹ The landlord cannot charge an early-termination fee, and rent is prorated to the effective date. This federal rule overrides any conflicting lease language.

Signing and Delivering the Lease

Every tenant listed in Paragraph 1 must sign, and the landlord or authorized agent signs as well. Paragraph 37 addresses electronic signatures, and Virginia law treats e-signatures as legally valid, so platforms like DocuSign or Authentisign are standard.

Within 10 business days of the effective date, the landlord must give the tenant a copy of the signed lease and a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. This is not optional. A landlord who fails to deliver these documents cannot file an unlawful detainer action or pursue the tenant in court for any alleged lease violation until the documents are provided.¹⁰ After the first year, the tenant can request another copy once per year at no charge.

At signing, the tenant typically delivers the first month’s rent and the full security deposit, and the landlord provides keys or access codes on the start date.

The Move-In Inspection Report

Within five days after the tenant moves in, the landlord must prepare and deliver a written report itemizing existing damage. The tenant then has five days from receipt to object in writing. Without a timely objection, the report is deemed correct.¹¹

The landlord can adopt a written policy letting the tenant prepare the report, or the parties can complete it jointly. A joint report signed by both sides eliminates the five-day objection window because both have already agreed to the contents.¹¹ Document everything with photographs and keep copies. This report is the baseline for any security deposit deductions later, and a thin report makes those deductions hard to defend. The mold disclosure sits inside this same report, so both get handled in one document.

Paragraphs 19 and 28: Renewal and Holdover

Paragraph 19 lets the parties set what happens when the term ends: automatic renewal, conversion to month-to-month, or straight expiration. The default chosen here drives how much notice is required to leave, so read it before signing. Paragraph 28 covers tenants who stay past expiration without a renewal; treatment depends on whether the landlord accepts continued rent and what the lease says about holdover terms.

A landlord who owns more than four rental units must give at least 60 days’ notice before the end of the term for any rent increase or nonrenewal.¹⁰ Smaller landlords should check whether the lease sets a different notice period, since the statute lets the agreement define its own timeline.

Paragraph 25: Fair Housing and Adverse Action

Paragraph 25 carries the nondiscrimination clause. Federal law bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability, and Virginia adds further protected classes. A landlord who rejects an applicant based on a tenant screening report must send an adverse action notice identifying the screening company, explaining the applicant’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days, and describing the right to dispute inaccurate information.¹² Requiring a larger deposit or a co-signer based on screening results is also adverse action and triggers the same notice.

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Virginia REALTORS. VAR Form 200 Residential Lease
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Virginia REALTORS®. Residential Lease
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 55.1 – Chapter 12 Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
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US EPA. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X)
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eCFR. 24 CFR 30.65 – Failure to Disclose Lead-Based Paint Hazards
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1215 Disclosure of Mold in Dwelling Units
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1218 Required Disclosures for Properties with Defective Drywall
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204 Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement Payment of Rent Copy of Rental Agreement for Tenant
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1214 Inspection of Dwelling Unit Report
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do if My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report