What a Landlord Cannot Do in West Virginia: Entry, Deposits, Eviction

In West Virginia, what a landlord cannot do spans the entire rental relationship: a landlord cannot discriminate against applicants or tenants, retaliate against someone who exercises a legal right, enter the home without notice, force a tenant out without a court order, ignore repair duties, mishandle the security deposit, raise rent without the required notice, skip federal lead paint disclosures, or penalize an active-duty servicemember who lawfully terminates a lease. The rules sit in several places in the West Virginia Code and in a few federal statutes, and the penalties for breaking them can run well past the dollars originally in dispute.

Discriminate Against Applicants or Tenants

A landlord cannot refuse to rent, offer different lease terms, or withhold services because of a person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, familial status, blindness, disability, or national origin. The West Virginia Fair Housing Act sets these categories and tracks the federal Fair Housing Act closely, with ancestry and blindness added as standalone protections at the state level.¹²

Discrimination is not always blatant. Telling a family with young children that a unit “just got rented” when it hasn’t, or quoting a higher deposit to a person with a disability, is just as unlawful as posting “No families” in a listing. West Virginia’s statute also forbids any advertisement that signals a preference based on a protected characteristic.¹

Reject an Assistance or Service Animal

A “no pets” policy does not override federal fair housing law. A landlord must make a reasonable accommodation for an animal that works, performs tasks, or provides emotional support for a person with a disability, and cannot charge a pet deposit or pet fee for that animal. When the disability-related need is not obvious, the landlord may ask for documentation connecting the animal to the disability.³

Denial is permitted only in narrow situations: the specific animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, would cause significant property damage that no other accommodation could prevent, or granting the request would be an undue financial burden on the landlord.³

Retaliate for Exercising a Legal Right

West Virginia law prohibits a landlord from punishing a tenant who exercises certain rights. Once the landlord knows the tenant has taken a protected action, the landlord cannot selectively raise rent, cut services, or file (or threaten) an eviction in response. Protected actions include:⁴

Reporting a building, housing, health, or safety code violation to a government agency.
Making a formal complaint or filing a lawsuit under West Virginia’s landlord-tenant statutes.
Organizing or joining a tenants’ union or similar group.
Testifying in a court proceeding against the landlord.

Timing is central. An eviction filed soon after one of these actions can be challenged as retaliatory, and a magistrate or circuit court can block it.⁴

Enter the Unit Without Notice

The tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment means a landlord cannot walk in whenever they please. Entry without the tenant’s consent or reasonable advance notice is unlawful, except in a genuine emergency involving health, safety, or the property itself.

West Virginia does not fix a specific number of hours of required notice, so there is no statutory 24-hour rule. In practice, at least 24 hours is widely treated as the floor for non-emergency entry, during reasonable daytime hours and for a legitimate purpose such as a repair, inspection, or showing to a prospective tenant or buyer.

Carry Out a Self-Help Eviction

The only lawful way to remove a tenant in West Virginia is through a court proceeding. A landlord who changes the locks, hauls out belongings, cuts off water or electricity, or uses threats to force a tenant out is attempting a self-help eviction, and that is illegal. The manufactured-home tenancy statute expressly bars landlords from interrupting essential services or taking any other willful self-help step to force a tenant out.⁵

Shortcut the Required Termination Notice

Before filing in magistrate court, the landlord generally has to give written notice ending the tenancy. The required period depends on the tenancy type:⁶

Month-to-month: one full rental period (typically one month) before the end of a period.
Year-to-year: at least three months before the end of the yearly term.
Fixed-term lease with a definite end date: no notice required unless the lease itself calls for it.

Skipping or shortening the notice period defeats the eviction. The tenant can appear in court and raise the defect, and the court will not grant possession when the landlord failed to follow proper procedure.

Neglect Repairs and Habitability

West Virginia’s implied warranty of habitability requires every residential landlord to deliver the property fit and habitable and keep it that way. The statute spells out specific duties:⁷

Meet applicable health, safety, fire, and housing codes, unless the tenant or someone the tenant allowed on the premises caused the violation.
Keep electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, along with any appliances the landlord supplies, in good and safe working order.
In units with direct public utility connections, supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat from October 1 through the end of April.
In multi-unit buildings, keep hallways, stairwells, and other shared spaces clean, safe, and in good repair.

One important limit: the statute does not require a landlord to make repairs while the tenant is behind on rent.⁷

When Repairs Are Ignored

Put every repair request in writing to create a record. If the landlord still does nothing within a reasonable time, the strongest option is a lawsuit, where the tenant can ask for a refund of some or all rent paid during the period the unit was uninhabitable, plus damages. The tenant may also argue the failure to maintain the property is a breach of the lease allowing them to move out without further rent obligations. West Virginia does not permit repair-and-deduct unless the lease specifically allows it, so paying for the fix and taking it out of rent is risky and unlikely to be reimbursed.

Mishandle the Security Deposit

The state does not cap the deposit amount a landlord can charge, but what happens after collection is tightly regulated.

Deductions Beyond Rent and Damage

A deposit can be applied only to unpaid rent or to damage the tenant caused beyond reasonable wear and tear.⁸ Faded paint, minor scuffs, and normal carpet aging are wear and tear. A hole in a wall or a broken window is damage. Routine cleaning and cosmetic refreshes between tenants are not chargeable to the deposit.

Miss the Return Deadline or the Itemization

After the tenancy ends, the landlord must return the deposit, minus any legitimate deductions, within 60 days of lease termination or within 45 days of a new tenant moving in, whichever comes first.⁹ Any amount withheld must be accompanied by a written, itemized list of each deduction and its cost. If damage repairs require a third-party contractor and the cost will exceed the deposit, the landlord gets an additional 15 days to deliver the itemization, but must notify the tenant in writing within the original deadline.⁸

Penalties for Wrongful Withholding

A landlord who willfully or in bad faith fails to follow the deposit rules can be ordered to pay the full unreturned deposit plus additional damages equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld.¹⁰ If the tenant also owes back rent, the court credits the award against that balance rather than issuing a separate payment.

Raise Rent Without Proper Notice

A landlord cannot raise rent in the middle of a fixed-term lease unless the lease itself allows it. For a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord must give at least one full rental period of written notice before the increase takes effect. For a year-to-year tenancy, the notice must come at least three months before the end of the yearly term.⁶

West Virginia has no rent control law, so there is no cap on the size of a lawful increase once notice is given. A rent increase imposed shortly after a tenant exercises a protected right, such as reporting a code violation, can still be challenged as retaliation under §37-15-7.⁴

Skip Federal Lead Paint Disclosures

For any rental property built before 1978, federal law requires specific lead-based paint disclosures before the tenant signs. West Virginia landlords are not exempt. Before the lease is signed, the landlord must:¹¹

Give the tenant a copy of the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.”
Disclose any known information about the presence and condition of lead-based paint in the unit or building.
Provide any existing records or inspection reports related to lead paint in the unit or common areas.
Include a lead warning statement in or attached to the lease, confirming compliance.

Signed copies of these disclosures must be kept for at least three years after the lease begins. Skipping the step exposes the landlord to federal penalties and potential civil liability if a tenant or child is harmed by lead exposure.¹¹

Charge a Servicemember for Lawful Early Termination

The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty military members who need to break a lease because of a permanent change of station, a deployment of 90 days or more, or receipt of separation or retirement orders. A West Virginia landlord cannot charge an early termination fee, demand remaining rent, or require repayment of rent concessions or discounts when a servicemember terminates under the SCRA.¹²

To invoke the right, the servicemember delivers written notice along with a copy of military orders or a letter from a commanding officer. Delivery can be by mail, by hand, or electronically. For a tenant who pays rent monthly, the lease terminates 30 days after the next rent payment is due following proper notice.¹²

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 16B-18-5 – Discrimination in Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
3
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Assistance Animals
4
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-15-7 – Retaliatory Conduct Prohibited
5
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-15-6 – Termination of Tenancy
6
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-6-5 – Notice to Terminate Tenancy
7
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-6-30 – Landlord to Deliver Premises; Duty to Maintain Premises in Fit and Habitable Condition
8
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-6A-2 – Security Deposits
9
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-6A – Security Deposits
10
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 37-6A-5 – Landlord’s Noncompliance
11
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards
12
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights