---
type: "Bill"
title: "Unlawful detainer; expungement of actions, effective date."
description: "Unlawful detainer; expungement. Creates a process by which unlawful detainer actions filed in a general district court that have been dismissed or nonsuited may be expunged upon request of the defendant to such action. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022, and the provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 640"
citation: "Virginia SB 640 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Scott A. Surovell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 43
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a4bea70d-a849-48c7-8683-c161894ca95e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB640"
source_hash: "be6aee4dcb80d6ec6788dd4e49131041e94175c709e8ed884cb78893cf0f9ede"
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 SB 640 (2020) — Unlawful detainer; expungement of actions, effective date.

Unlawful detainer; expungement. Creates a process by which unlawful detainer actions filed in a general district court that have been dismissed or nonsuited may be expunged upon request of the defendant to such action. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022, and the provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1013)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1013)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB640ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB640ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB640ES1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB640ES1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB640)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB640)
5. **SB640S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB640S1)

## Votes

- House amendment agreed to by Senate (39-Y 1-N) — **39–1** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Reconsideration of passage agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (36-Y 0-N) — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100736D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-23** Impact statement from DPB (SB640)
- **2020-01-24** Assigned Judiciary sub: Civil Law `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** Committee substitute printed 20107609D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-06** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed (36-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-11** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-02-11** Committee substitute agreed to 20107609D-S1
- **2020-02-11** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-11** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-11** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB640ES1
- **2020-02-11** Printed as engrossed 20107609D-ES1
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-11** Reconsideration of passage agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-14** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-14** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-14** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-21** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (7-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (SB640ES1)
- **2020-02-28** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-03-04** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-03-04** Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Passed by temporarily
- **2020-03-05** House amendment agreed to by Senate (39-Y 1-N)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB640ER)
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1013 (effective 1/1/22) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a4bea70d-a849-48c7-8683-c161894ca95e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).