Fabio
106 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Va. Residential Landlord & Tenant Act; submetering, energy allocation, & ratio utility billing sys."
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description: "Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; civil action for unlawful detainer; termination notice; energy submetering equipment. Provides that no landlord shall file or maintain an action for unlawful detainer against a residential tenant for any alleged lease violation until the landlord has provided the tenant with a proper and effective termination notice and that no notice of termination of tenancy for nonpayment of rent pursuant to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act shall be effective unless such notice contains a written statement of charges and payments over the course of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, and any late charges, attorney fees, costs, and other charges or damages as contracted for in the rental agreement that are due and owing. The bill requires such notice to also include debits and credits incurred by the tenant for energy and utility bills and any additional charges permitted as applicable. The bill also requires the owner of any residential building to maintain adequate records indicating how monthly energy and utility billing fees are calculated and including a history of billing fee payments for each tenant over the duration of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter. Such records shall be made available to the tenant upon request. Finally, the bill removes a provision allowing for the collection of fees when a tenant requests such records. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 1361."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "SB 294"
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citation: "Virginia SB 294 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Lashrecse D. Aird"]
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version_count: 5
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action_count: 39
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vote_count: 7
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first_action: "2026-01-13"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ba04cc29-f39f-4653-bd50-e62c97ef1731"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB294"
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source_hash: "202a8bcb0a699aa62d94bab49ffa579a840e8406dabd454a2075a73bbe174826"
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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 SB 294 (2026) — Va. Residential Landlord & Tenant Act; submetering, energy allocation, & ratio utility billing sys.
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Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; civil action for unlawful detainer; termination notice; energy submetering equipment. Provides that no landlord shall file or maintain an action for unlawful detainer against a residential tenant for any alleged lease violation until the landlord has provided the tenant with a proper and effective termination notice and that no notice of termination of tenancy for nonpayment of rent pursuant to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act shall be effective unless such notice contains a written statement of charges and payments over the course of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, and any late charges, attorney fees, costs, and other charges or damages as contracted for in the rental agreement that are due and owing. The bill requires such notice to also include debits and credits incurred by the tenant for energy and utility bills and any additional charges permitted as applicable. The bill also requires the owner of any residential building to maintain adequate records indicating how monthly energy and utility billing fees are calculated and including a history of billing fee payments for each tenant over the duration of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter. Such records shall be made available to the tenant upon request. Finally, the bill removes a provision allowing for the collection of fees when a tenant requests such records. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 1361.
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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. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088573.PDF)
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2. **General Laws Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191550.PDF)
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3. **General Laws and Technology Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127956.PDF)
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4. **Housing/Consumer Protection Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186964.PDF)
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5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209859.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **10–0** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from General Laws with substitute — **20–1** (pass) · lower
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- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute — **11–3** (pass) · upper
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- Concur House Substitute R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **75–23** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Lashrecse D. Aird — primary (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100979D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-21** Assigned GL&T sub: Housing `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-23** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB294)
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- **2026-01-28** Senate subcommittee offered
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- **2026-02-04** Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (11-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-05** Committee substitute printed 26106528D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB294)
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- **2026-02-06** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-06** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-06** Passed by for the day
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- **2026-02-09** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-09** General Laws and Technology Substitute agreed to
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- **2026-02-09** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-10** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-13** Placed on Calendar
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- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-23** Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-26** House subcommittee offered
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- **2026-02-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) `substitution`
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- **2026-03-03** Reported from General Laws with substitute (20-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-03-03** Committee substitute printed 26108714D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2026-03-05** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-03-06** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-03-06** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
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- **2026-03-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-06** Passed House with substitute (75-Y 23-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB294)
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- **2026-03-10** House substitute agreed to by Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `substitution`
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- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB294ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-01** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB294)
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 784 (effective 7/1/2026) `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/ba04cc29-f39f-4653-bd50-e62c97ef1731`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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