republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-803.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry."
description: "Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property; petition for entry. Allows an owner of real property who seeks to repair or maintain the exterior of his property to petition the circuit court for a right of entry to an adjoining property for the purpose of performing the repairs or maintenance when the property is so situated that it is impossible to perform the repairs or maintenance without entering such adjoining property and permission to enter such adjoining property has been denied. The bill requires the petition and affidavits to contain specific information including the nature of the repairs and what efforts were made by the owner to obtain permission. The bill also provides that the petitioner shall be required to return the adjoining property to its previous condition and shall be liable to the adjoining owner or his lessee for actual damages occurring as a result of the entry. This bill is identical to SB 77."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 803"
citation: "Virginia HB 803 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3d47ba7a-8f87-4e26-9fde-a25a64df01e9"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB803"
source_hash: "13aebf31069319bb69bf5eeec8a3dfcd39e739f1e9f9f9b7cf6ac3de44004af1"
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 803 (2026) — Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry.

Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property; petition for entry. Allows an owner of real property who seeks to repair or maintain the exterior of his property to petition the circuit court for a right of entry to an adjoining property for the purpose of performing the repairs or maintenance when the property is so situated that it is impossible to perform the repairs or maintenance without entering such adjoining property and permission to enter such adjoining property has been denied. The bill requires the petition and affidavits to contain specific information including the nature of the repairs and what efforts were made by the owner to obtain permission. The bill also provides that the petitioner shall be required to return the adjoining property to its previous condition and shall be liable to the adjoining owner or his lessee for actual damages occurring as a result of the entry. This bill is identical to SB 77.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085957.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218034.PDF)
3. **Civil Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096797.PDF)
4. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100148.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177814.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **8–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **11–2** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **16–4** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **31–6** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **69–29** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102262D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-26** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 2-N) `substitution`
- **2026-01-28** Committee substitute printed 26106221D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (16-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-02** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-02** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (69-Y 29-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Reported from Courts of Justice (11-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-20** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-20** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Passed Senate (31-Y 6-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-25** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-25** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB803ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-25** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-25** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 428 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0428)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3d47ba7a-8f87-4e26-9fde-a25a64df01e9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).