---
type: "Bill"
title: "Real estate with delinquent taxes or liens; sales by nonprofit organizations."
description: "Real estate with delinquent taxes or liens; sales by nonprofit organizations. Provides that a nonprofit organization that acquires real estate with delinquent taxes or liens pursuant to the appointment of a special commissioner may sell to eligible purchasers either (i) both the land and structural improvements on a property or (ii) only the structural improvements of a property, without the land. The bill provides that a sale of only the structural improvements is permissible only if (a) the improvements are subject to a long-term ground lease with a community land trust and (b) the community land trust retains a preemptive option to purchase such improvements at a price determined by a formula that ensures that the improvements remain affordable in perpetuity to low-income and moderate-income families."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 535"
citation: "Virginia HB 535 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-05"
last_action: "2020-03-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/41c1ae30-7bce-415d-b024-912ed033e139"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB535"
source_hash: "82cc238528e3df004581bfab755bc8e79d6933efdc8855a60ab5631ed12b514e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 535 (2020) — Real estate with delinquent taxes or liens; sales by nonprofit organizations.

Real estate with delinquent taxes or liens; sales by nonprofit organizations. Provides that a nonprofit organization that acquires real estate with delinquent taxes or liens pursuant to the appointment of a special commissioner may sell to eligible purchasers either (i) both the land and structural improvements on a property or (ii) only the structural improvements of a property, without the land. The bill provides that a sale of only the structural improvements is permissible only if (a) the improvements are subject to a long-term ground lease with a community land trust and (b) the community land trust retains a preemptive option to purchase such improvements at a price determined by a formula that ensures that the improvements remain affordable in perpetuity to low-income and moderate-income families.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0244)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0244)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB535ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB535ER)
3. **Impact statement from TAX (HB535)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB535)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (82-Y 17-N) — **81–17** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 2-N) — **7–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100584D `introduction`
- **2020-01-05** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-12** Impact statement from TAX (HB535)
- **2020-01-14** Assigned Finance sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 2-N)
- **2020-01-22** Reported from Finance (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-24** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-27** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-28** Read third time and passed House (82-Y 17-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-28** VOTE: Passage (82-Y 17-N)
- **2020-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-29** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-20** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled
- **2020-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-26** Impact statement from TAX (HB535ER)
- **2020-02-26** Signed by President
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 3, 2020
- **2020-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 244 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/41c1ae30-7bce-415d-b024-912ed033e139`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).