Virginia Rental Laws: Deposits, Repairs, and Eviction

Virginia rental laws, codified in the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA), set the baseline rules for almost every residential tenancy in the Commonwealth. They cap application fees, limit security deposits, dictate how and when a landlord can enter, require specific notices before eviction, and give tenants concrete tools when a landlord lets the property fall into disrepair. A lease cannot override these protections, and neither can a verbal agreement.

Application Fees and Deposits

A Virginia landlord cannot charge more than $50 as an application fee, on top of actual third-party costs for background or credit checks.¹

Any refundable application deposit the landlord collects has to come back to you, minus itemized actual expenses, if you don’t end up renting the unit. The landlord has 20 days to return it. That window shrinks to 10 days if you paid by cash, certified check, cashier’s check, or money order and your application was rejected.¹

Security Deposits

Your security deposit cannot exceed two months’ rent, no matter what the lease calls it.² Virginia does not require landlords to pay interest on deposits or hold them in interest-bearing accounts, so don’t count on earning anything on that money.

After the tenancy ends, the landlord has 45 days to return the deposit along with a written, itemized statement of any deductions. The 45-day clock starts on whichever is later: the lease termination date or the day you actually moved out.² Deductions can cover unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and other charges the lease specifically allows. Scuffs from ordinary living and paint faded by sunlight do not qualify.

If the landlord misses the deadline or skips the itemized list, you can sue. A judge may order return of the full deposit plus actual damages and reasonable attorney fees.²

Rent, Late Fees, and Increases

A landlord can only charge a late fee when the written lease allows it. Even then, the fee cannot exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the periodic rent or 10 percent of the remaining balance you owe.³ On $1,500 rent, that caps the late fee at $150. On an $800 unpaid balance, the cap is $80.

If you pay rent in cash or by money order, the landlord must give you a written receipt when you ask for one. You have to ask; it isn’t automatic. And no landlord can tack on a processing or convenience fee for rent, security deposits, or other charges unless a fee-free payment option is also available.³

Landlords who own more than four rental units must give at least 60 days’ written notice before the end of your lease term if they plan to raise the rent at renewal, and the same 60 days applies if they plan not to renew.³ Smaller landlords with four or fewer units are not bound by that specific notice period, though your lease may set its own renewal terms. The 60-day rule also does not apply to month-to-month tenancies, which have their own termination rules.

Repairs, Habitability, and Your Remedies

The landlord has to keep the unit fit to live in. That means complying with building and housing codes affecting health and safety, maintaining electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in working order, and repairing any appliances provided with the unit.⁴

Smoke alarms are required in every unit, and the landlord must certify at least once every 12 months that they’ve been inspected and work.⁴ Carbon monoxide alarms are not automatic, but the landlord must install and maintain one if a tenant asks.

The 21/30 Notice

When your landlord is violating a material lease term or failing to maintain the property, you serve written notice describing the problem and stating that the lease will end on a date at least 30 days out if the issue is not fixed within 21 days. If the landlord doesn’t repair it in those 21 days and the problem is serious enough to affect health or safety, the lease terminates on the date you set.⁵

Repair and Deduct

For a narrower set of problems, you can hire someone to fix the issue and deduct the cost from rent. The condition has to be a material code violation or a genuine health and safety hazard: no heat, no running water, no electricity, a rodent infestation, and the like. You must first give written notice and wait 14 days for the landlord to take reasonable steps toward a repair.⁶

If the landlord does nothing in those 14 days, you can hire a licensed contractor or a qualified pest control company. The deduction cannot exceed the greater of one month’s rent or $1,500. You submit an itemized statement with receipts to the landlord. You lose this remedy if you or someone in your household caused the condition, if you denied the landlord access to make the repair, or if the landlord already fixed the problem before your contractor started.⁶

When Your Landlord Can Enter

You cannot unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, agreed repairs, or showings to prospective tenants or buyers. The law balances that with notice rules.⁷

For routine maintenance you didn’t request, the landlord must give at least 72 hours’ notice stating the last possible date the work might happen, and the work must be completed within 14 days of when the notice was delivered. If you asked for the repair yourself, no advance notice is required.⁷

In a true emergency, a burst pipe or a fire, the landlord can enter without any notice. Outside of emergencies, entries have to happen at reasonable times, and the landlord cannot use access as a way to harass you.⁷

Retaliation Is Prohibited

A landlord cannot punish you for using your legal rights. Protected actions include complaining to a government agency about health or safety code violations, reporting a lease violation to the landlord or the media, joining a tenant organization, and filing a lawsuit against the landlord.

For six months after any of those actions, the landlord cannot selectively raise your rent, reduce services, enforce rules against you differently than against other tenants, threaten or harass you, file for eviction, or refuse to renew your lease. If the landlord does any of those things inside the six-month window, a court may presume the action was retaliatory and shift the burden to the landlord to prove otherwise.

Ending a Month-to-Month Tenancy

If a fixed-term lease expires and neither side acts, the arrangement typically rolls into a month-to-month tenancy on the same terms. Either party can end a month-to-month by giving written notice at least 30 days before the next rent due date. If rent is due on the first and you want to be out by July 1, your written notice has to reach the landlord by June 1.

The Eviction Process

A Virginia landlord cannot simply order you to leave. The VRLTA lays out a sequence that has to be followed.

The Required Notice

For nonpayment of rent, the landlord serves a written 5-day pay-or-quit notice. You have five days to pay the full amount owed or move out. If you do neither, the landlord can go to court.⁸

For a non-remediable lease violation, the landlord serves a 30-day written notice identifying the violation and stating when the lease will end. There’s no cure period because the violation cannot be corrected, but the tenant still gets 30 days before the landlord can file in court.⁸

Court, Judgment, and the Sheriff

When the notice period expires without resolution, the landlord files an unlawful detainer action in the local General District Court. If the court rules for the landlord, it issues a judgment for possession. The landlord then requests a writ of eviction from the court clerk, which goes to the local sheriff’s office.

The sheriff gives you at least 72 hours’ written notice before the scheduled physical removal. If the date is pushed back, a new 72-hour notice has to be served. Only a law enforcement officer has the authority to carry out the eviction. A landlord who tries self-help, changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or removing your belongings, faces legal liability.

Disclosures You Should Receive Before Move-In

Virginia landlords must disclose any visible mold inside the unit as part of the written move-in inspection report. If mold is disclosed, you can walk away from the lease or stay. If you stay, the landlord has to remediate within five business days of your decision and then reinspect to confirm no visible mold remains.⁹

For any unit built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint hazards in writing before you sign, provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home,” and include a lead warning statement in the lease.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1203 – Application; Deposit, Fee, and Additional Information
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1226 – Security Deposits
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1204 – Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement; Payment of Rent; Copy of Rental Agreement for Tenant
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1220 – Landlord to Maintain Fit Premises
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1234 – Noncompliance by Landlord
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1244.1 – Tenant’s Remedy by Repair
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1229 – Access; Consent; Correction of Nonemergency Conditions; Relocation of Tenant; Security Systems
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 55.1 Chapter 12 Article 5 – Landlord Remedies
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 55.1-1215 – Disclosure of Mold in Dwelling Units