In Virginia, in order for the delivery of a lease termination or eviction notice to be legal, certain rules and procedures must be followed. If they are not and the case proceeds to court, the case may be postponed or dismissed by a judge.
Who Can Serve Eviction Notices in Virginia?
In Virginia, landlords can serve eviction notices and lease termination notices themselves. Landlords may choose to hire a sheriff, process server or independent party over eighteen (18) years old to serve an official notice, but they are not required to do so by law.
When Can Eviction Notices Be Served in Virginia?
In Virginia, lease termination and eviction notices can be served immediately on any day of the week and at any time of day.
For a 5 Day Notice to Quit for nonpayment of rent, the eviction notice for tenants that do not pay rent in full and on time, a landlord can serve notice the day after rent is due. There is no legal grace period for paying rent in Virginia, rent is late starting the day after it’s due.
In Virginia, there is an Eviction Diversion Pilot Program in effect until the end of 2024 for nonpayment of rent cases. Tenants may be eligible to participate in the program if they meet certain legal criteria during the first court hearing.
Acceptable Forms of Service in Virginia
Virginia law isn’t strict or specific on method of delivery for an initial eviction notice. The law requires notice in writing. Electronic notice is allowed if provided for in the rental agreement, although the tenant can opt into paper notice upon request. Notice must be delivered to the tenant’s last known place of residence.
For maximum legal compliance, these are the methods of service accepted for an action in court:
- Hand delivery to the other party
- Only if personal service is not possible: Hand delivery to a family member at least age 16 who is residing at the property
- Only if no form of hand delivery is possible: Posting the notice at the front door or entrance of the property, PLUS mailed notice by first class mail including a certificate of mailing
Mailed notice extends a notice period by (3) calendar days, to account for variable delivery times.
Once an eviction action is filed in court, serving the summons on the tenant will require one of the methods specified, and electronic notice will not be allowed.
Obtaining Proof of Service in Virginia
Landlords can show proof that the notice was delivered through the following methods:
- Hand Delivery – by completing a Declaration of Service at the time of delivery.
- Posting at the Premises – by taking a photograph and completing a Declaration of Service.
- First Class Mail – certificate of mailing and completing a Declaration of Service.
Virginia Eviction and Lease Termination Notice Forms
| Notice Form | Grounds |
| 5 Day Notice To Quit | Eviction for Unpaid Rent |
| 30 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate | Eviction for Lease Violation |
| 30 Day Notice of Termination | Eviction for Repeat Violation / Criminal Activity |
| 7 Day Notice To Vacate | Ending a Weekly Lease |
| 30 Day Notice To Vacate | Ending a Monthly / Yearly Lease |
Virginia Eviction Diversion Pilot Program
The Eviction Diversion Pilot Program is designed to reduce the number of evictions for unpaid rent. If the tenant is eligible for the program, both parties will be entered into a court ordered payment plan for the past due rent.
During the first court hearing, tenants must meet the following criteria:
- The tenant requests that the case be referred to the eviction diversion program;
- The tenant pays at least 25% of the rent balance due to the landlord or the court;
- The tenant provides sworn testimony of employment, ability to sufficiently pay the rent balance due as well as an explanation for the past due rent balance;
- The tenant has not paid rent late more than two (2) times in the past six (6) months or more than three (3) times in the past twelve (12) months;
- The tenant has not exercised the right of redemption within the last six (6) months. The right of redemption is the tenant paying a past due rent balance prior to the sheriff executing a Writ of Eviction; and
- The tenant has not participated in an eviction diversion program within the last 12 months.
The unlawful detainer action will be dismissed by the judge if the tenant complies with court orders. However, if the tenant fails to comply, the landlord may submit a written notice to the court and move forward with the eviction process.
For low-income persons, there is also an Eviction Diversion Pilot Program available in the cities of Danville, Hampton, Petersburg, and Richmond, which is designed to reduce the number of evictions for unpaid rent. The program encourages housing retention through a payment plan for past due rent.
The Eviction Diversion Pilot Program is in effect through the end of 2024.
Sources
- 1 Va. Code § 55.1-1202
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A. If the rental agreement so provides, the landlord and tenant may send notices in electronic form; however, any tenant who so requests may elect to send and receive notices in paper form. If electronic delivery is used, the sender shall retain sufficient proof of the electronic delivery, which may be an electronic receipt of delivery, a confirmation that the notice was sent by facsimile, or a certificate of service prepared by the sender confirming the electronic delivery.
B. In the case of the landlord, notice is served on the landlord at his place of business where the rental agreement was made or at any place held out by the landlord as the place for receipt of the communication.
In the case of the tenant, notice is served at the tenant’s last known place of residence, which may be the dwelling unit.
Source Link - 2 VA Code § 8.01-296
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Manner of serving process upon natural persons.
Subject to the provisions of § 8.01-286.1, in any action at law or in equity or any other civil proceeding in any court, process, for which no particular mode of service is prescribed, may be served upon natural persons as follows: 1. By delivering a copy thereof in writing to the party in person; or 2. By substituted service in the following manner: a. If the party to be served is not found at his usual place of abode, by delivering a copy of such process and giving information of its purport to any person found there, who is a member of his family, other than a temporary sojourner or guest, and who is of the age of 16 years or older; or b. If such service cannot be effected under subdivision 2 a, then by posting a copy of such process at the front door or at such other door as appears to be the main entrance of such place of abode, provided that not less than 10 days before judgment by default may be entered, the party causing service or his attorney or agent mails to the party served a copy of such process and thereafter files in the office of the clerk of the court a certificate of such mailing. In any civil action brought in a general district court, the mailing of the application for a warrant in debt or affidavit for summons in unlawful detainer or other civil pleading or a copy of such pleading, whether yet issued by the court or not, which contains the date, time and place of the return, prior to or after filing such pleading in the general district court, shall satisfy the mailing requirements of this section. Source Link - 3 Virginia Supreme Court Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 1:7(c)
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Three days will be added to the prescribed time if the paper is served by mail. With respect to Parts Five and Five A of the Rules, this Rule applies only to the time for filing a brief in opposition.
Source Link - 4 VA Code § 55.1-1262
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A tenant in an unlawful detainer case shall be eligible to participate in the Program if he:
1. Appears in court on the first docket call of the case and requests to have the case referred into the Program;
2. Pays to the landlord or into the court at least 25 percent of the amount due on the unlawful detainer as amended on the first docket call of the case;
3. Provides sworn testimony that he is employed and has sufficient funds to make the payments under the court payment plan, or otherwise has sufficient funds to make such payments;
4. Provides sworn testimony explaining the reasons for being unable to make rental payments as contracted for in the rental agreement;
5. Has not been late within the last 12 months in payment of rent as contracted for in the rental agreement at the rate of either (i) more than two times in six months or (ii) more than three times in 12 months;
6. Has not exercised the right of redemption pursuant to § 55.1-1250 within the last six months; and
7. Has not participated in an eviction diversion program within the last 12 months.
B. The court shall direct an eligible tenant pursuant to subsection A and his landlord to participate in the Program and to enter into a court-ordered payment plan. The court shall provide for a continuance of the case on the docket of the general district court in which the unlawful detainer action is filed to allow for full payment under the plan. The court-ordered payment plan shall be based on a payment agreement entered into by the landlord and tenant, on a form provided by the Executive Secretary, and shall contain the following provisions:
1. All payments shall be (i) made to the landlord; (ii) paid by cashier’s check, certified check, or money order; and (iii) received by the landlord on or before the fifth day of each month included in the plan;
2. The remaining payments of the amounts on the amended unlawful detainer after the first payments made on the first docket call of the case shall be paid on the following schedule: (i) 25 percent due by the fifth day of the month following the initial court hearing date, (ii) 25 percent due by the fifth day of the second month following the initial court hearing date, and (iii) the final payment of 25 percent due by the fifth day of the third month following the initial court hearing date; and
3. All rental payments shall continue to be made by the tenant to the landlord as contracted for in the rental agreement within five days of the due date established by the rental agreement each month during the course of the court-ordered payment plan.
C. If the tenant makes all payments in accordance with the court-ordered payment plan, the judge shall dismiss the unlawful detainer as being satisfied.
D. If the tenant fails to make a payment under the court-ordered payment plan or to keep current any monthly rental payments to the landlord as contracted for in the rental agreement within five days of the due date established by the rental agreement, the landlord shall submit to the general district court clerk a written notice, on a form provided by the Executive Secretary, that the tenant has failed to make payments in accordance with the plan. A copy of such written notice shall be given to the tenant in accordance with § 55.1-1202.
The court shall enter an order of possession without further hearings or proceedings, unless the tenant files an affidavit with the court within 10 days of the date of such notice stating that the current rent has in fact been paid and that the landlord has not properly acknowledged payment of such rent. A copy of such affidavit shall be given to the landlord in accordance with § 55.1-1202.
The landlord may seek a money judgement for final rent and damages pursuant to subsection B of § 8.01-128.
E. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit (i) the landlord from filing an unlawful detainer for a non-rent violation against the tenant while such tenant is participating in the Program or (ii) the landlord and tenant from entering into a voluntary payment agreement outside the provisions of this section.
Source Link - 5 VA Code § 55.1-1260
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There is hereby established the Eviction Diversion Pilot Program (the Program) within the existing structure of the general district courts for the cities of Danville, Hampton, Petersburg, and Richmond. The purpose of the Program shall be to reduce the number of evictions of low-income persons. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no eviction diversion court or program shall be established except in conformance with this section.
B. The goals of the Program shall include (i) reducing the number of evictions of low-income persons from their residential dwelling units for the failure to pay small amounts of money under the rental agreement, in particular when such persons have experienced an event that adversely affected financial circumstances such as the loss of employment or a medical crisis in their immediate family; (ii) reducing displacement of families from their homes and the resulting adverse consequences to children who are no longer able to remain in the same public school after eviction; (iii) encouraging understanding of eviction-related processes and facilitating the landlord’s and tenant’s entering into a reasonable payment plan that provides for the landlord to receive full rental payments as contracted for in the rental agreement and for the tenant to have the opportunity to make current such rental payments; and (iv) encouraging tenants to make rental payments in the manner as provided in the rental agreement.
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