republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-208.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.	Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.Specifies that the use of funds paid to a general contractor or subcontractorand used by such contractor or subcontractor before paying all amountsdue for labor performed or material furnished gives rise to a civilcause of action for a party who is owed such funds. The bill furtherspecifies that such cause of action does not affect a contractor'sor subcontractor's right to withhold payment for failure to properlyperform labor or furnish materials and that any contractual provision that allows a party to withhold funds due on one contract for allegedclaims or damages due on another contract is void as against publicpolicy.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	SB 208	Virginia SB 208 (2020)	bill		enacted	J. Chapman Petersen	3	24	6	2019-12-30	2020-04-08	openstates	ocd-bill/65ba3e66-4326-4125-b037-433f11398224	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB208	48b2a15f62118529dddf0304d40e4c7553f711c65dbe4987cd59a43c514bde47	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 208 (2020) — Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.

Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.Specifies that the use of funds paid to a general contractor or subcontractorand used by such contractor or subcontractor before paying all amountsdue for labor performed or material furnished gives rise to a civilcause of action for a party who is owed such funds. The bill furtherspecifies that such cause of action does not affect a contractor'sor subcontractor's right to withhold payment for failure to properlyperform labor or furnish materials and that any contractual provision that allows a party to withhold funds due on one contract for allegedclaims or damages due on another contract is void as against publicpolicy.

Version chain

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

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0873) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB208ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB208ER) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — 37–0 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N) — 5–1 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Judiciary (13-Y 0-N 1-A) — 13–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — 20–0 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Passage (66-Y 30-N 1-A) — 65–30 (pass) · lower
• Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• J. Chapman Petersen — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2019-12-30 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102138D introduction
• 2019-12-30 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary referral-committee
• 2020-01-08 Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
• 2020-01-16 Assigned Judiciary sub: Civil Law referral-committee
• 2020-01-29 Reported from Judiciary (13-Y 0-N 1-A) committee-passage
• 2020-01-31 Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-03 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2020-02-04 Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2020-02-18 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-18 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-18 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2020-02-21 Assigned Courts sub: Civil referral-committee
• 2020-02-24 Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N)
• 2020-02-28 Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-03-03 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-03-04 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-03-04 Passed House (66-Y 30-N 1-A) passage
• 2020-03-04 VOTE: Passage (66-Y 30-N 1-A)
• 2020-03-07 Enrolled
• 2020-03-07 Signed by President
• 2020-03-08 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-12 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
• 2020-04-08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 873 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/65ba3e66-4326-4125-b037-433f11398224. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).