Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act: Rent, Deposits, and Eviction

The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, usually called the VRLTA, is the state law that governs almost every residential rental in Virginia. It sets what a landlord must do to keep a unit livable, what a tenant must do in return, how security deposits work, how rent and late fees are handled, when either side can end the lease, and how an eviction has to proceed. Both sides have real remedies when the other breaks the rules.

What Landlords Must Do to Keep the Unit Livable

Virginia landlords have to comply with all building and housing codes that affect health and safety, and they have to keep plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in good working order. Common areas, waste removal, and running water are on the landlord’s list too.¹

Mold has its own rules. Landlords must maintain the property to prevent moisture buildup, respond promptly when a tenant reports mold, and remediate visible mold according to professional standards. After the work is done, they must reinspect and give the tenant a summary of what was done.¹

When a landlord wants to do routine maintenance the tenant did not request, the tenant is entitled to at least 72 hours of written notice, and the work has to be finished within 14 days of that notice.² Emergencies (a broken furnace in January, for example) allow faster action, though the statute does not fix a specific hour deadline.

Disclosures Required Before You Sign

Three hazards have to be disclosed in writing before the lease is signed: defective drywall, flood risk, and lead-based paint.

If a landlord knows a unit contains defective drywall that has not been remediated, the tenant must be told in writing before signing. A tenant who never got the disclosure has 60 days from discovering the problem to terminate the lease.³

A landlord who knows the property sits in a special flood hazard area has to share that. If the disclosure is not made within 60 days of the landlord learning about the risk, the tenant can end the lease.⁴

For any housing built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint hazards and provide a federally approved lead-poisoning prevention pamphlet before the lease is executed.⁵ A landlord who skips this can be sued for triple the actual damages.⁶

The Lease Itself

The VRLTA requires the landlord to offer a written rental agreement along with the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities published by the Department of Housing and Community Development.⁷

If the landlord never offers a written agreement, the tenancy still exists. The statute fills in the blanks: a 12-month term with no automatic renewal, rent due on the first, and rent late after the fifth.⁷ The parties can agree to almost anything in a written lease, but a clause that tries to waive the landlord’s repair duty (or anything else the VRLTA requires) is not enforceable.

Rent, Late Fees, and Bounced Payments

Rent is due on the date the lease specifies. Without a written lease, the default is the first of the month, late after the fifth.⁷ The landlord doesn’t have to send reminders.

Late fees are capped. A late charge cannot exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the monthly rent or 10 percent of the remaining balance owed, and it has to be written into the lease. A landlord who never included a late-fee provision cannot start charging one after the fact.⁸

If a check bounces or an electronic payment fails for insufficient funds, the landlord can charge a processing fee of up to $50, but only if that fee is in the lease.⁹

Security Deposits and Inspections

Virginia caps security deposits at two months’ rent.¹⁰ The deposit can be applied only toward accrued rent (including late charges the lease allows), damages beyond reasonable wear and tear, and other charges the agreement authorizes.¹¹ Faded carpet or a few small nail holes are ordinary wear.

The landlord has 45 days after the tenancy ends or the tenant moves out (whichever is later) to return the deposit with an itemized list of any deductions.¹⁰ When multiple tenants are on the lease and haven’t agreed otherwise in writing, the refund goes out as one check payable to all of them, sent to a forwarding address any one tenant provides.¹¹

Move-In and Move-Out Reports

Within five days of the tenant taking possession, the landlord must give the tenant a written move-in inspection report. Existing damage should be listed. The report is treated as accurate unless the tenant objects in writing within five days of receiving it.¹²

At the end of the tenancy, the landlord has to notify the tenant of the right to be present at the move-out inspection. A tenant who wants to attend has to say so in writing; the landlord then schedules the inspection within 72 hours after possession is returned.¹¹ Being there, with the move-in report and a camera, is the best defense against inflated deductions.

Privacy, Fair Housing, and Retaliation

When a Landlord Can Enter

Tenants shouldn’t unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, or showings, but the landlord has to give notice and enter at reasonable times. Routine maintenance the tenant didn’t request requires at least 72 hours of notice. The only time a landlord can walk in without consent is a genuine emergency. Using the right of entry to harass a tenant is prohibited by the statute.²

Fair Housing

Virginia’s Fair Housing Law reaches further than the federal statute. A landlord cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, disability, source of funds, sexual orientation, gender identity, or military status.¹³ The source-of-funds protection, added in 2020, means an applicant cannot be turned down just because they pay with a housing voucher or other subsidy.¹⁴ Complaints go to the Virginia Fair Housing Office, and a lawsuit is also available.

Retaliation

A landlord cannot raise rent, cut services, or threaten eviction because a tenant complained to a code enforcement agency, sued the landlord, joined a tenant organization, or testified against the landlord. A tenant who proves retaliation can recover actual damages and can raise it as a defense in an eviction case. Two things to know: the tenant carries the burden of proving retaliatory intent, and the law does not stop a landlord from raising rent to match market rates on comparable units.¹⁵

Assistance Animals

Under the federal Fair Housing Act, a landlord must allow assistance animals as a reasonable accommodation for tenants with disabilities, even under a no-pets policy. Both trained service animals and emotional support animals qualify. If the disability is not apparent, the landlord can ask for documentation of the disability-related need. The accommodation can be denied only when the specific animal would pose a direct safety threat or cause significant property damage that no other accommodation could resolve.¹⁶

What Tenants Owe

Tenants have to keep the unit clean and safe, dispose of trash properly, and avoid causing damage. They are also responsible for not creating conditions that invite mold, such as blocking ventilation or letting a leak go unreported. When the landlord gives proper notice, tenants must allow reasonable access. Damage caused by a tenant’s negligence is the tenant’s cost, measured against the move-in report.

Ending the Lease

A fixed-term lease binds both sides until it expires. What happens after depends on the agreement: some leases roll to month-to-month, some just end. Either side can end a month-to-month tenancy with at least 30 days’ written notice before the next rent due date. A week-to-week tenancy needs seven days’ notice.¹⁷

Owners of buildings with at least four units face an extra rule: if they decide not to renew 20 or more month-to-month tenancies, or 50 percent of them, whichever is greater, within a 30-day window, each affected tenant is entitled to at least 60 days’ notice.¹⁷

A tenant who stays past expiration without consent is a holdover. The landlord can sue for possession, actual damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs, and the lease may include a liquidated-damage penalty for holdovers.¹⁷

Breaking a Lease Early

Walking away doesn’t erase the rent obligation. The landlord can recover actual damages, including rent through the end of the term or until a new tenant moves in, whichever comes first.¹⁸ But the landlord has to make reasonable efforts to re-rent the unit. Letting it sit empty and then suing for the full remaining rent is not acting in good faith.

Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or Sexual Assault

Victims of family abuse, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking can end a lease early without the usual penalties. The tenant serves the landlord with written notice along with a copy of a protective order or another qualifying court document such as a conviction order or warrant. The lease ends 28 days after the landlord receives the notice, and rent is owed only through that date.¹⁹

Active-Duty Military

Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, an active-duty service member can end a residential lease on permanent change-of-station orders, deployment orders of at least 90 days, or separation or retirement orders. Written notice and a copy of the orders go to the landlord. The lease then terminates 30 days after the next rent payment is due.²⁰ A lease clause requiring repayment of rent concessions or discounts as an early termination penalty violates the SCRA.

Eviction

Virginia does not allow self-help evictions. A landlord who changes the locks, removes belongings, or shuts off utilities to force a tenant out is breaking the law and can be held financially liable.

Legal eviction starts with the right written notice. The type depends on the reason:

Nonpayment of rent: a five-day pay-or-quit notice. If the tenant neither pays nor moves within five days, the landlord can file suit.²¹
Fixable lease violations: a 30-day notice that gives the tenant 21 days to correct the problem. Fix it within 21 days and the lease continues; otherwise it ends at day 30.²¹
Non-fixable violations: at least 30 days’ notice, no cure period.
Criminal or willful acts that threaten health or safety: the landlord can terminate immediately and go straight to court.²¹

After the case is filed, the tenant is served with a summons and can present defenses (proof of payment, retaliation, failure to maintain the property, and so on). If the court rules for the landlord, it issues a Writ of Eviction that authorizes the sheriff to carry out the removal, and the writ isn’t issued until the 10-day appeal period has passed.²²

Paying to Stop the Eviction

When unpaid rent is the only basis for the eviction, the tenant can stop it by paying everything owed (current rent, late fees, court costs, and sheriff’s fees) no less than 48 hours before the scheduled eviction. Payment must be by cashier’s check, certified check, or money order.²² This option is not open when the eviction rests on anything other than nonpayment.

Remedies When the Landlord Falls Short

If a unit has a condition at the start of the tenancy that is a fire hazard or a serious threat to health and safety, such as no heat, no running water, or a rodent infestation, the tenant can terminate within seven days of when possession was supposed to transfer. The landlord then has to refund all deposits and rent within 15 business days.²³

For problems that appear during the tenancy, the VRLTA provides other options, including court-ordered repairs, rent reduction, and termination after proper written notice. Put complaints in writing and keep copies. Verbal complaints are harder to prove and may not trigger the statutory clocks that protect tenants.

Federally Backed Properties: An Extra 30 Days

If your building has a federally backed multifamily mortgage, an additional federal rule still applies. The CARES Act requires landlords of these covered properties to give tenants at least 30 days’ notice before requiring them to leave for nonpayment of rent.²⁴ That 30-day period sits on top of Virginia’s five-day pay-or-quit notice, so tenants in covered buildings effectively get more time. Many tenants don’t know whether their building qualifies; asking the landlord or checking HUD’s database of subsidized housing is worth doing if you are facing eviction for unpaid rent.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1220 – Landlord to Maintain Fit Premises
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1229 – Access; Consent; Correction of Nonemergency Conditions
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1218 – Required Disclosures for Properties With Defective Drywall; Remedy for Nondisclosure
4
Virginia General Assembly / LIS. SB342 – 2020 Regular Session, Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act
5
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
6
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Lead-Based Paint Program Frequent Questions
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204 – Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement; Payment of Rent; Copy of Rental Agreement for Tenant
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204 – Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1200 – Definitions
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1226 – Security Deposits
11
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1226 – Security Deposits
12
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1214 – Inspection of Dwelling Unit; Report
13
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 36-96.3 – Unlawful Discriminatory Housing Practices
14
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Virginia Fair Housing Office
15
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1258 – Retaliatory Conduct Prohibited
16
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Assistance Animals
17
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1253 – Periodic Tenancy; Holdover Remedies
18
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 55.1 Chapter 12 Article 5 – Landlord Remedies
19
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1236 – Early Termination of Rental Agreements by Victims
20
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights
21
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1245 – Noncompliance by Tenant; Termination of Rental Agreement
22
Virginia Courts. Request for Writ of Eviction in Unlawful Detainer Proceedings Form DC-469
23
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1234.1 – Uninhabitable Dwelling Unit
24
Federal Register. Rescinding 30-Day Notification Requirements Related to Eviction Based on Nonpayment of Rent in Multi-Family Housing Direct Properties