New Virginia Eviction Laws: Notices, Cure Period, and Redemption

Virginia eviction laws require a landlord to serve a written notice, wait out the statutory period, and win a court judgment before removing a tenant, with the five-day nonpayment notice and the 30-day notice for other lease violations doing most of the work. The core rules sit in the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA), which applies statewide and cannot be overridden locally.¹ A common rumor circulating in 2024 and 2025 is that the nonpayment notice period grew from five days to fourteen. That bill was vetoed in April 2025. The five-day window is still the rule.

The Five-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

When rent goes unpaid, the landlord must serve a written notice giving the tenant five days to pay before the lease can be terminated. The notice has to state the amount owed and warn that the landlord intends to end the rental agreement if the balance isn’t paid within those five days.² If a rent check bounces or an electronic transfer is rejected, the same five-day notice applies, and the landlord can require future payment by cash, cashier’s check, certified check, or completed electronic funds transfer.³

Delivery matters. The notice should be served personally, left with a member of the household, or mailed in a way that creates proof of receipt. If the five days pass with no payment and the tenant hasn’t vacated, the landlord can file an unlawful detainer in General District Court. Skipping the notice risks dismissal.

The 30-Day Notice With a 21-Day Cure

Rent isn’t the only ground for eviction. When a tenant materially violates the lease or creates a health-and-safety concern, the landlord must serve a written notice describing the specific problem and giving the tenant 21 days to fix it. If the violation isn’t corrected within that 21-day cure window, the rental agreement terminates 30 days after the notice was received.² Unauthorized occupants, prohibited pets, and tenant-caused maintenance issues typically fall under this section.

If the same type of violation happens again within six months of the first notice, the landlord can serve a new 30-day termination notice without another cure period.

The Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

Before a landlord can file any eviction action, the tenant must have already received a Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities developed by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Both parties sign a form acknowledging that the tenant received it at the start of the lease.⁴ If that acknowledgment isn’t in the file, the court will not allow the eviction case to move forward. It doesn’t matter how clearly the tenant owes rent. No signed form, no case.

Late Fees and Written Lease Requirements

A landlord can only charge a late fee if the written rental agreement expressly authorizes it, and the fee cannot exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the periodic rent or 10 percent of the remaining balance owed.⁴ Without a written lease, no late fee can be charged at all.

Every written rental agreement must also carry an itemized fee disclosure on the first page listing the security deposit, periodic rent, and any one-time charges due at or before the start of the lease. The agreement must state that no additional security deposits or rent will be charged unless listed there or added later through a signed addendum.⁵

When a landlord fails to provide a written lease but the tenant moves in and pays rent, the VRLTA still applies. Acceptance of rent or possession without reservation gives the arrangement the same legal effect as a signed lease, but the term is capped at one year even if the parties verbally agreed to longer.⁶ The landlord who skipped the paperwork loses late fees, loses attorney fee awards, and cannot maintain an eviction at all without the signed Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities.

The Tenant’s Right of Redemption

Even after a landlord files for eviction based on unpaid rent, a tenant can stop the case by paying everything owed at or before the first court date. The payment must cover past-due rent, late charges, the landlord’s attorney fees, and court costs.⁷ Once the tenant pays the full amount, the eviction ends.

For most tenancies, there’s no limit on how many times this right can be used. A small landlord with four or fewer rental units can restrict the tenant to using it once per lease period, but only if the landlord gave the tenant written notice of that limitation in advance.⁷

A second redemption window opens close to the physical eviction. A tenant who pays every dollar owed at least 48 hours before the scheduled eviction date will have the eviction canceled, unless the landlord’s case was based on more than unpaid rent.⁷

Partial Payments and Waiver

Accepting full rent after serving a notice generally waives a landlord’s right to continue the eviction. To keep the case alive while accepting partial rent, the landlord must include specific written language in the notice stating that partial payments will not waive the right to proceed.⁷ Without that reservation language, a court can treat the acceptance as a waiver.

Filing the Unlawful Detainer

Once the notice period expires without payment or cure, the landlord files a Summons for Unlawful Detainer (Form DC-421) with the General District Court clerk.⁸ The form breaks out rent, late fees, and other charges, and the landlord must attach the five-day or 30-day notice along with the signed Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities. Missing either invites dismissal.

The statutory filing fee is $36.⁹ Sheriff’s service of the summons costs $12 per person.¹⁰ After service, the court sets a return date.

The Writ of Eviction After Judgment

If the court rules for the landlord, the judgment for possession opens the door to a writ of eviction. The writ must be issued within 180 days of the judgment. Once the sheriff receives it, the sheriff must give the tenant at least 72 hours’ written notice of the date and time of the physical eviction, including notice of the tenant’s statutory rights.¹¹

The sheriff should execute the writ within 15 calendar days of receiving it, and the statute allows up to 30 days from issuance. A writ not executed within that 30-day window is automatically vacated without a separate court order. If the landlord misses the 180-day issuance window or lets the writ expire, the process starts over. One exception: no writ will issue if the landlord signs a new written rental agreement with the tenant after the judgment.¹² Service of the writ carries a separate $25 fee.¹⁰

Appealing to Circuit Court

A tenant who loses in General District Court has 10 days to appeal to Circuit Court. The appeal isn’t free. Within those same 10 days, the tenant must post a bond and pay the writ tax. When the tenant is appealing, the bond must cover all rent that has accrued and may accrue up to one year, plus damages for up to three months of continued occupancy.¹³ The bond figure is what stops most appeals before they start.

Self-Help Eviction Is Illegal

No landlord in Virginia may take possession by changing locks, shutting off utilities, removing a tenant’s belongings, or doing anything else that makes the home unsafe or inaccessible. Only a court can authorize removal.¹⁴

The penalties are steep. A tenant can petition the General District Court, which must schedule a hearing within five calendar days. If the court finds the landlord willfully locked the tenant out, cut off essential services, or made the home unsafe, the tenant is entitled to actual damages plus statutory damages of $5,000 or four months’ rent, whichever is greater, along with reasonable attorney fees.¹⁵ The court can also issue an emergency order restoring access or services before the full hearing.

Retaliation Protections

Landlords cannot retaliate against tenants who exercise their legal rights. Prohibited responses include raising rent selectively, cutting services, threatening eviction, changing rules that single out the tenant, or refusing to renew a lease the tenant has an option to renew. The protection covers tenants who report building code violations to a government agency, complain to the landlord or the media about lease violations, exercise rights under the Virginia Fair Housing Law or the federal Fair Housing Act, participate in a tenants’ organization, or bring legal action against the landlord.

The protection lasts six months from the tenant’s protected activity. Within that window, adverse action by the landlord creates a presumption of retaliation. The landlord can overcome the presumption by proving the action wasn’t motivated by the protected activity, or by showing that a statutory exception applies, such as the tenant’s own conduct causing the code violation or the tenant being behind on rent when the eviction was filed.

Active-Duty Servicemember Protections

Federal law overrides Virginia procedures for qualifying military tenants. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a landlord cannot evict an active-duty servicemember or the servicemember’s dependents from a primary residence without a court order.¹⁶ The protection applies when monthly rent falls below a threshold that adjusts annually; the base figure is $2,400, indexed for inflation since 2003.

If a servicemember’s ability to pay rent is materially affected by military service, the court must stay the eviction proceeding for at least 90 days upon request, and the court can restructure the lease obligation to balance the interests of both parties. Knowingly proceeding with an eviction in violation of this statute is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.¹⁶

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1201 – Applicability of Chapter; Local Authority
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1245 – Noncompliance With Rental Agreement; Monetary Penalty
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code – Article 5 Landlord Remedies
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204 – Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement; Payment of Rent; Copy of Rental Agreement for Tenant
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204.1 – Fee Disclosure Statement
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1207 – Effect of Unsigned or Undelivered Rental Agreement
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1250 – Landlord’s Acceptance of Rent With Reservation; Tenant’s Right of Redemption
8
Virginia Judicial System. Form DC-421 – Summons for Unlawful Detainer (Civil Claim for Eviction)
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 16.1-69.48:2 – Fees for Services of District Court Judges and Clerks and Magistrates in Civil Cases
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 17.1-272 – Process and Service Fees Generally
11
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 8.01-470 – Writs on Judgments for Specific Property
12
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 8.01-471 – Time Period for Issuing Writs of Eviction in Unlawful Entry and Detainer Cases
13
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 8.01-129 – Appeal From Judgment of General District Court
14
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1252 – Recovery of Possession Limited
15
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1243.1 – Tenant’s Remedies for Exclusion From Dwelling Unit, Interruption of Services, or Actions Taken to Make Premises Unsafe
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress