republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-77.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 HB 803."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 77"
citation: "Virginia SB 77 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Schuyler T. VanValkenburg"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-12-23"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bb809bcd-4648-4e23-8cf4-fa8a97ff9ebb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB77"
source_hash: "b0e9b3793e8c61599a20772023a3b484c4ab82cbcb8926aee9e0ace23188d580"
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 77 (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 HB 803.

## 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/1082139.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218038.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092070.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177057.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **34–5** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **74–22** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **13–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-23** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100177D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-12-23** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-19** Senate committee offered
- **2026-01-19** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-20** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-20** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-21** Committee substitute printed 26105696D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-01-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-21** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) `substitution`
- **2026-01-21** Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) `substitution`
- **2026-01-22** Read third time and passed Senate (34-Y 5-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-01-28** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB77)
- **2026-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-03** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-24** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB77ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB77)
- **2026-02-24** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-24** 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 429 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0429)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bb809bcd-4648-4e23-8cf4-fa8a97ff9ebb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).