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2002 SESSION

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025710736
HOUSE BILL NO. 245 Offered January 9, 2002 Prefiled January 5, 2002 A BILL to amend and reenact § 55-248.33 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act; abandonment. ---------- Patrons-- Drake, Athey, Dudley and Purkey ---------- Referred to Committee on General Laws ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 55-248.33 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 55-248.33. Remedies for absence, nonuse and abandonment.

If the rental agreement requires the tenant to give notice to the landlord of an anticipated extended absence in excess of seven days and the tenant fails to do so, the landlord may treat the premises as abandoned and recover actual damages from the tenant. During any absence of the tenant in excess of seven days, the landlord may enter the dwelling unit at times reasonably necessary to protect his possessions and property. If the landlord rents an abandoned dwelling unit for a term beginning prior to the expiration of the term of the rental agreement, it is deemed to be terminated as of the date the new tenancy begins. The rental agreement is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. if the landlord elects to accept the abandonment as a surrender. If the tenancy is from month to month or week to week, the term of the rental agreement for this purpose is deemed to be a month or week, as the case may be. If the landlord cannot determine whether the premises have been abandoned by the tenant, the landlord shall serve written notice on the tenant in accordance with § 55-248.6 requiring the tenant to give written notice to the landlord within seven days that the tenant intends to remain in the premises. If such written notice has been given by the tenant to the landlord, the landlord shall not treat the premises as having been abandoned. If the tenant does not give such written notice to the landlord, after the expiration of seven days from the date of the landlord's notice to the tenant, the premises shall be deemed to have been abandoned by the tenant and the rental agreement shall be deemed to terminate on that date. The landlord shall be entitled to proceed in accordance with § 55-248.35.