The VRLTA: Your Rights and Duties in Rental Housing

The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act

This piece of legislation, usually shortened to the “VRLTA,” is the law that sets the rights and responsibilities of renters and landlords in Virginia, laying out what is expected of each party in a transaction involving a rental home. The VRLTA stipulates what terms may and may not be part of a rental agreement or contract, and substitutes terms when the agreement does not cover an area, as well as superseding ones that conflict with the law.

Among the requirements for fair dealing between landlords and tenants spelled out in the VRLTA, are provisions concerning security deposits, application fees and deposits, move-out procedures, rent payment and late fees, services and utilities that have to be provided, habitability/livability of the rental unit, safety, and what the remedies are for the landlord or tenant breaking its stipulations.

In his years of practice, the Managing Attorney has utilized the VRLTA to secure victories for his clients in nearly every area that the law covers, negotiating and litigating to make sure that landlords and tenants are treated fairly and treat one another fairly and according to the requirements of the statute.

Whether it is enforcing the return of a security deposit, allowing tenants to leave and stop paying rent when the landlord does not provide a safe and habitable environment, or ensuring that damage caused by tenants is repaired and the landlords made whole financially, Mr. Evans has won at trial for his clients—both landlords and tenants—under the VRLTA. Further, in settlement negotiations, the Managing Attorney has secured favorable results for clients in issues ranging from large apartment complexes charging and retaining unlawfully-high application fees and deposits, and corporate landlords illegally towing tenants’ cars, to tenants refusing to allow landlords to inspect and perform necessary maintenance and repairs, and tenants running noisy and unsafe businesses from their residential-only rental homes.