๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ'๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ-๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ญ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฏ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐:
- ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: Landlords must accept rent by check or money order and cannot charge processing fees beyond actual third-party costs.ย
- ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: The notice period before a landlord can move to terminate a lease for unpaid rent has increased from ๐ง๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด.
- ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐: Landlords can ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ง ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐จ๐ฉ๐จ unless the tenant caused the damage through a lease violation.
The repair fee provision is the most consequential. For years, tenant-paid maintenance clauses โ covering repair deductibles, small repairs, and general wear โ have been standard in Northern Virginia leases. Those clauses no longer stand under the new law.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ: repricing at renewal, tighter lease language around what qualifies as tenant-caused damage, and a fresh look at the rent-vs-sell calculation for smaller landlords across Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐. ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐. ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐.
Michele Hudnall
Real Estate of NVA | Equity-First Real Estate Strategist
RealEstateofNVA.com | 703.867.3436
