Fabio
110 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
110 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; access to dwelling unit during certain emergencies."
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description: "Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;access to dwelling unit during certain declared states of emergency;emergency. Provides that a tenant shall be deemed to have reasonablejustification for declining to permit a landlord or managing agentto exhibit the tenant's dwelling unit for sale or lease if the tenanthas reasonable concern for his own health, or the health of any authorizedoccupant, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor inresponse to a communicable disease of public health threat and thetenant has provided written notice to the landlord informing thelandlord of such concern. The bill requires the tenant in such circumstancesto provide to the landlord or managing agent a video tour of the dwelling unit or other acceptable substitute for exhibiting the dwellingunit for sale or lease. The bill also provides that during a stateof emergency declared by the Governor in response to a communicabledisease of public health threat a tenant may provide written noticeto the landlord requesting that one or more nonemergency propertyconditions in the dwelling unit not be addressed in the normal courseof business of the landlord due to such communicable disease of publichealth threat. The bill provides that in such case, the tenant shallbe deemed to have waived any and all claims and rights under theVirginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act against the landlordfor failure to address such nonemergency property conditions. Thebill contains an emergency clause."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2021"
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identifier: "HB 1981"
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citation: "Virginia HB 1981 (2021)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
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version_count: 4
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action_count: 40
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vote_count: 9
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first_action: "2021-01-11"
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last_action: "2021-03-30"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/68bc51a6-390b-44d2-aff5-21241fee2bc6"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1981"
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source_hash: "6a96d6c31833363a7ab984e7634de02fc1956e0a6ca5b3c9417af9ae4b90355a"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 1981 (2021) — Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; access to dwelling unit during certain emergencies.
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Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;access to dwelling unit during certain declared states of emergency;emergency. Provides that a tenant shall be deemed to have reasonablejustification for declining to permit a landlord or managing agentto exhibit the tenant's dwelling unit for sale or lease if the tenanthas reasonable concern for his own health, or the health of any authorizedoccupant, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor inresponse to a communicable disease of public health threat and thetenant has provided written notice to the landlord informing thelandlord of such concern. The bill requires the tenant in such circumstancesto provide to the landlord or managing agent a video tour of the dwelling unit or other acceptable substitute for exhibiting the dwellingunit for sale or lease. The bill also provides that during a stateof emergency declared by the Governor in response to a communicabledisease of public health threat a tenant may provide written noticeto the landlord requesting that one or more nonemergency propertyconditions in the dwelling unit not be addressed in the normal courseof business of the landlord due to such communicable disease of publichealth threat. The bill provides that in such case, the tenant shallbe deemed to have waived any and all claims and rights under theVirginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act against the landlordfor failure to address such nonemergency property conditions. Thebill contains an emergency clause.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **CHAP0409** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0409)
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2. **HB1981ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1981ER)
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3. **Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/13/21 21102398D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1981)
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4. **Printed as engrossed 21102398D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1981E)
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## Votes
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- VOTE: Adoption #2 (55-Y 44-N) — **54–44** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from General Laws (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
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- Passed Senate with amendments (27-Y 12-N) — **27–12** (pass) · upper
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- VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 44-N) — **54–44** (pass) · lower
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- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N) — **54–45** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)
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- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
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- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/13/21 21102398D `introduction`
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- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2021-01-17** Assigned GL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection `referral-committee`
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- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB1981)
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- **2021-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
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- **2021-01-26** Reported from General Laws (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2021-01-27** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2021-01-28** Passed by for the day
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- **2021-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2021-01-29** Amendments by Delegate Simon agreed to `amendment-passage`
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- **2021-01-29** Emergency clause deleted
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- **2021-01-29** Engrossed by House as amended HB1981E
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- **2021-01-29** Printed as engrossed 21102398D-E
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- **2021-02-01** Read third time and passed House (55-Y 45-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2021-02-01** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N)
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- **2021-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2021-02-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB1981E)
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- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N)
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- **2021-02-10** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
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- **2021-02-10** Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2021-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
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- **2021-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2021-02-15** Reading of amendments waived
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- **2021-02-15** Committee amendments agreed to
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- **2021-02-15** Engrossed by Senate as amended
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- **2021-02-15** Passed Senate with amendments (27-Y 12-N) `passage`
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- **2021-02-17** Placed on Calendar
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- **2021-02-17** Senate amendments agreed to by House (55-Y 44-N)
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- **2021-02-17** VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 44-N)
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- **2021-02-17** Reconsideration of Senate amendments agreed to by House
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- **2021-02-17** Senate amendments agreed to by House (55-Y 44-N)
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- **2021-02-17** VOTE: Adoption #2 (55-Y 44-N)
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- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
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- **2021-02-22** Impact statement from DPB (HB1981ER)
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- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
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- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
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- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
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- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
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- **2021-03-30** Approved by Governor-Chapter 409 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/68bc51a6-390b-44d2-aff5-21241fee2bc6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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