---
type: "Bill"
title: "Real estate settlements; kickbacks and other payments, remedies, penalties."
description: "Real estate settlements; kickbacks and other payments; remedies; civil penalties. Relocates from Chapter 9 (Real Estate Settlements) to Chapter 10 (Real Estate Settlement Agents) within Title 55.1 the existing provision that prohibits persons from paying or receiving a kickback, rebate, commission, thing of value, or other payment pursuant to an agreement to refer business incident to a settlement. This relocation authorizes the State Corporation Commission to impose penalties, issue injunctions, and require restitution in cases where a person who does not hold a license from the appropriate licensing authority has violated the provision. The measure also adds to Chapter 10 of Title 55.1 provisions that (i) authorize a court to assess civil penalties of not more than $5,000 per violation of the chapter and (ii) authorize the recovery of costs and reasonable expenses and attorney fees. "
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 819"
citation: "Virginia HB 819 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Marcus B. Simon"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5e9df99d-d45a-4ed3-bb43-8116e0314fdd"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB819"
source_hash: "f61a4892fc6fba9f0c64159049f2a35a97e162f975ffd337aca90a343831b6b6"
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 819 (2020) — Real estate settlements; kickbacks and other payments, remedies, penalties.

Real estate settlements; kickbacks and other payments; remedies; civil penalties. Relocates from Chapter 9 (Real Estate Settlements) to Chapter 10 (Real Estate Settlement Agents) within Title 55.1 the existing provision that prohibits persons from paying or receiving a kickback, rebate, commission, thing of value, or other payment pursuant to an agreement to refer business incident to a settlement. This relocation authorizes the State Corporation Commission to impose penalties, issue injunctions, and require restitution in cases where a person who does not hold a license from the appropriate licensing authority has violated the provision. The measure also adds to Chapter 10 of Title 55.1 provisions that (i) authorize a court to assess civil penalties of not more than $5,000 per violation of the chapter and (ii) authorize the recovery of costs and reasonable expenses and attorney fees. 

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0700)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0700)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB819ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB819ER)
3. **Engrossed by House as amended HB819E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB819E)
4. **Impact statement from SCC (HB819)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB819)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendments (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Referred from General Laws — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Marcus B. Simon — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102120D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Referred from General Laws
- **2020-01-16** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-21** Impact statement from SCC (HB819)
- **2020-02-04** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendments (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by House as amended HB819E
- **2020-02-06** Printed as engrossed 20102120D-E
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Impact statement from SCC (HB819E)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Reported from General Laws and Technology (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** Enrolled
- **2020-02-28** Impact statement from SCC (HB819ER)
- **2020-02-28** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-02** Signed by President
- **2020-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2020
- **2020-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 700 (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/5e9df99d-d45a-4ed3-bb43-8116e0314fdd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).