Residential or commercial property and Conveyances" Subtitle III. Rental Conveyances" Chapter 12. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act" Article 1. General Provisions" § 55.1-1204. Terms of rental contract; payment of lease; copy of rental agreement for renter

Print

PDF

e-mail


Creating a Report: Check the areas you want to appear in the report, then utilize the "Create Report" button at the bottom of the page to create your report. Once the report is created you'll then have the option to download it as a pdf, print or email the report.

§ 55.1-1204. Terms and conditions of rental arrangement; payment of rent; copy of rental agreement for tenant.

A. A property manager and occupant may include in a rental contract terms and conditions not restricted by this chapter or other rule of law, consisting of lease, charges for late payment of rent, the regard to the arrangement, automatic renewal of the rental arrangement, requirements for notification of intent to vacate or terminate the rental contract, and other arrangements governing the rights and commitments of the parties.

B. A landlord will provide a potential tenant a written rental contract consisting of the terms governing the rental of the dwelling system and setting forth the terms of the landlord-tenant relationship and will supply with it the declaration of occupant rights and obligations established by the Department of Housing and Community Development and published on its website pursuant to § 36-139. The parties to a composed rental contract shall sign the kind established by the Department of Housing and Community Development and published on its site pursuant to § 36-139 acknowledging that the occupant has received from the property manager the declaration of occupant rights and obligations. The composed rental agreement shall work upon the date signed by the celebrations.

If an occupant stops working to sign the type readily available pursuant to this subsection, the property manager will record the date or dates on which he provided the type to the occupant and the reality that the occupant failed to sign such type. Subsequent to the efficient date of the tenancy, a property owner may, however shall not be needed to, supply a tenant with and allow such occupant an opportunity to sign the form described pursuant to this subsection. The kind shall be present as of the date of shipment.

C. If a property manager does not provide a written rental agreement, the tenancy will exist by operation of law, consisting of the following terms and conditions:

1. The arrangement of this chapter will apply to the house unit that is being leased;

2. The period of the rental agreement will be for 12 months and shall not go through automatic renewal, other than in case of a month-to-month lease as otherwise offered under subsection D of § 55.1-1253;

3. Rent will be paid in 12 equal periodic installments in an amount agreed upon by the property manager and the renter and if no quantity is agreed upon, the installments shall be at reasonable market rent;

4. Rent payments shall be due on the very first day of each month during the occupancy and will be considered late if not paid by the fifth of the month;

5. If the rent is paid by the renter after the 5th day of any offered month, the property manager shall be entitled to charge a late charge as offered in this chapter;

6. The proprietor might collect a security deposit in a quantity that does not exceed an overall quantity equal to two months of rent; and

7. The celebrations may participate in a composed rental arrangement at any time throughout the 12-month tenancy created by this subsection.

D. Except as offered in the written rental arrangement, or as supplied in subsection C if no written agreement is offered, lease shall be payable without need or notification at the time and place agreed upon by the celebrations. Except as offered in the written rental contract, rent is payable at the place designated by the landlord, and periodic rent is payable at the start of any regard to one month or less and otherwise in equivalent installments at the beginning of each month. If the landlord receives from a tenant a composed ask for a composed statement of charges and payments, he shall provide the renter with a written declaration showing all debits and credits over the occupancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter. The property manager shall provide such written declaration within 10 company days of getting the request.

E. A proprietor will not charge an occupant for late payment of rent unless such charge is attended to in the composed rental agreement. No such late charge will exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the routine lease or 10 percent of the remaining balance due and owed by the occupant.

F. Except as offered in the composed rental agreement or, as offered in subsection C if no written arrangement is used, the tenancy will be week-to-week in the case of a renter who pays weekly lease and month-to-month in all other cases. Terminations of occupancies shall be governed by § 55.1-1253 unless the rental arrangement offers for a different notice period.

G. If the rental arrangement contains any arrangement enabling the proprietor to authorize or disapprove a sublessee or assignee of the occupant, the property owner shall, within 10 business days of receipt of the written application of the potential sublessee or assignee on a type to be offered by the landlord, approve or disapprove the sublessee or assignee. Failure of the property manager to act within 10 business days is proof of his approval.

H. The proprietor will supply a copy of the signed composed rental contract and the statement of renter rights and obligations to the occupant within 10 service days of the efficient date of the written rental agreement. The failure of the property owner to deliver such a rental arrangement and statement shall not affect the credibility of the contract. However, the property owner shall not file or keep an action, consisting of any summons for unlawful detainer, against the occupant in a court of law for any alleged lease infraction until he has provided the occupant with the declaration of occupant rights and duties.

The property owner shall supply the tenant with an extra paper copy of such occupant's rental contract when per year upon demand or shall preserve such rental agreement in an electronic format that can be easily accessed by or shared with the renter upon demand. Any additional electronic copy of a renter's rental agreement offered pursuant to this subsection shall be offered by the landlord at no charge to the occupant.

I. No unilateral modification in the regards to a rental arrangement by a property owner or tenant will be valid unless (i) notice of the modification is given in accordance with the regards to the rental agreement or as otherwise required by law and (ii) both parties approval in composing to the change.

J. 1. The property owner will offer the tenant with a composed receipt, upon demand from the tenant, whenever the tenant pays lease in the type of money or cash order. No proprietor shall charge a renter any fee for the collection or processing of any payment of lease, security deposit, or any other fees, unless the property owner provides an alternative technique of payment that does not include extra costs.

2. A property manager with 4 or fewer rental house units, or approximately a 10 percent interest in 4 or fewer rental dwelling systems, shall not be required to accept payment of regular rent and any security deposit by debit or credit card.

K. A proprietor who owns more than 4 rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling systems, whether individually or through a business entity, in the Commonwealth will be required to offer written notification to any renter who has the choice to restore a rental arrangement or whose rental contract contains an automatic renewal provision of any increase in lease during the subsequent rental arrangement term. Such property owner shall likewise offer written notice of nonrenewal to any tenant. Such notices will be provided to the tenant no less than 60 days prior to completion of the rental contract term. This subsection will not use to any periodic tenancy produced pursuant to subsection C of § 55.1-1253.

1974, c. 680, § 55-248.7; 1977, c. 427; 1983, c. 39; 1988, c. 68; 2000, c. 760; 2003, c. 424; 2012, cc. 464, 503; 2013, c. 563; 2017, c. 730; 2019, cc. 5, 45, 712; 2020, cc. 985, 986, 998, 1231; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c.