SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2020 SESSION

  • | print version

SB 707 Landlord and tenant; statement of tenant rights and responsibilities.

Introduced by: Jennifer L. McClellan | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities. Requires the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explaining in plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 et seq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website along with a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospective tenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. The bill prohibits a landlord from filing or maintaining an action against a tenant in a court of law for any alleged lease violation until he has provided the tenant with the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. This bill is identical to HB 393.

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities. Requires the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explaining in plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 et seq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website along with a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospective tenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. The bill prohibits a landlord from filing or maintaining an action against a tenant in a court of law for any alleged lease violation unless he has provided the tenant with the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities; explanation and remedy for material noncompliance. Requires the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explaining in plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 et seq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website along with a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospective tenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. Failure to provide the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities to a prospective tenant or to provide a signed copy of the form with the copy of the signed rental agreement creates a rebuttable presumption that a landlord who has an assertion made against him of material noncompliance with the lease agreement has failed to maintain the dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition.