Dear John,

In 2020, legal protections were put in place for tenants to help them remain housed during the pandemic. Now, over 2 years later, with a potential COVID surge, many of these protections are expiring.

In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly modified the ‘pay or quit’ notices extending the mandatory waiting period from 5 days to 14 days after a landlord serves written notice to a tenant for nonpayment of rent and of the landlord’s intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid.

HB 803 The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act which was introduced in the 2022 GA session, would have retained the 14 day notice period. However this legislation died in committee. On July 1, the notice period will revert to 5 days, limiting the amount of time that tenants have to respond or remain in their homes. Additional changes to tenant protections are coming, including:

The Virginia Federal Rent Relief Program is Ending

The Virginia Rent Relief Program (RRP) is closing its application portal to new applications and renewals at 11:59 PM on May 15. RRP is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), utilizing federal funds to keep tenants impacted by COVID-19 stably housed, and to provide rent payments to landlords during the pandemic.

This emergency rental assistance is prioritized for households earning less than 50% of the area median income (AMI) or households with one or more members who have not been employed from the 90 days preceding the date of application. Any application submitted after April 21 will be prioritized based on these criteria. Others will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. To date, RRP has disbursed $713 million to over 104,990 unique households across the state.

On important protection of RRP is that tenants cannot be evicted within a 45-day period of the submission of a completed application. With the May 15 deadline, it is unclear whether there will be an influx of eviction notices beginning July 1when that 45-day condition is removed.

While the RRP portal will close on May 15, RRP funding does not run out on that date. Everyone with a completed application submitted by that date should be confident that their application will be processed. DHCD is exploring whether they can secure discretionary funding to cover additional applications that would be eligible to receive RRP funding, but no plan has been announced at this time.

Another eviction prevention protection that will expire July 1 is the removal of the requirement that landlords provide notice of, or offer repayment plans.

HB802 Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, introduced in the 2022 GA session, provided an opportunity for local jurisdictions to enforce safe and decent housing standards. This legislation gave localities the authority to ‘seek injunction, damages, or both’ against landlords who, after notification by the jurisdiction, remained in noncompliance of their rental agreement, posing fire, health, or safety hazards to the tenant. Intended to address the most egregious landlords, this legislation was approved by the House and the Senate with strong bipartisan support, but was vetoed by Governor Youngkin.

The following questions remain as RRP closes:

Will there be a new safety net program? What would that look like? Who would be eligible?
Are local governments able or willing to fill the gap after the federal money has run out?
For tenants and landlords who apply before May 15th, but might not be funded, is there a process to connect them with other funding?
When will funding end? Has this been calculated?

The Legal Aid Justice Center and the Legal Aid Service of Eastern Virginia have put together video tutorials in English and Spanish for those who still want to apply for RRP in the few remaining days before May 15.

Strategies for how to engage in an ‘eviction last’ approach to improve tenant landlord relationships have emerged over the last two years. These changes would result in a shift in the power dynamic between tenants and landlords. Let’s adopt these prevention strategies now, and not wait until a new eviction crisis is upon us.

Sincerely,

Michelle Krocker, Executive Director
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance