republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2018/hb-857.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Landlord and tenant law; general provisions and Act."
description: "Removes remaining differences between general landlord and tenant provisions and the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act by conforming provisions pertaining to residential dwelling units in the following areas: (i) termination of a nonresidential tenancy by self-help eviction or by filing an unlawful detainer action; (ii) tenant obligations to maintain a dwelling unit; (iii) notice to the tenant in the event of foreclosure; (iv) wrongful failure to supply heat, water, hot water, or essential services; (v) prohibited provisions in the rental agreement; (vi) early termination of a rental agreement by military personnel; and (vii) remedies for the landlord's failure to deliver possession. The bill also makes the following changes to landlord and tenant law: (a) clarifies the lease termination process; (b) provides that if a tenant allows his renter's insurance to lapse, the landlord may provide coverage and require the tenant to pay the premium; (c) establishes protection for landlords who provide tenant information to a federal census official; (d) authorizes a landlord or property manager to appear in court to seek final rent and damages related to a dwelling unit; and (e) clarifies remedies for a tenant's failure to prepare the dwelling unit for insecticide or pesticide applications."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 857"
citation: "Virginia HB 857 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property and Conveyances"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Christopher K. Peace"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 17
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-03-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a78881c7-58b3-4f7c-a6e3-b287e05ee627"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB857"
source_hash: "f870949ccbd3a499aaf7682552328f3810ba230bf53216ddfed9a78042af9ac6"
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 857 (2018) — Landlord and tenant law; general provisions and Act.

Removes remaining differences between general landlord and tenant provisions and the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act by conforming provisions pertaining to residential dwelling units in the following areas: (i) termination of a nonresidential tenancy by self-help eviction or by filing an unlawful detainer action; (ii) tenant obligations to maintain a dwelling unit; (iii) notice to the tenant in the event of foreclosure; (iv) wrongful failure to supply heat, water, hot water, or essential services; (v) prohibited provisions in the rental agreement; (vi) early termination of a rental agreement by military personnel; and (vii) remedies for the landlord's failure to deliver possession. The bill also makes the following changes to landlord and tenant law: (a) clarifies the lease termination process; (b) provides that if a tenant allows his renter's insurance to lapse, the landlord may provide coverage and require the tenant to pay the premium; (c) establishes protection for landlords who provide tenant information to a federal census official; (d) authorizes a landlord or property manager to appear in court to seek final rent and damages related to a dwelling unit; and (e) clarifies remedies for a tenant's failure to prepare the dwelling unit for insecticide or pesticide applications.

## Version chain

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

1. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB857ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB857ER)
2. **House: Committee substitute printed 18106539D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB857H1)
3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18102837D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB857)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **6–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House — **97–1** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Christopher K. Peace — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18102837D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-24** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-08** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-02-09** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-09** Committee substitute agreed to 18106539D-H1
- **2018-02-09** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB857H1
- **2018-02-12** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 1-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2018-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-26** Enrolled
- **2018-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2018-02-28** Signed by President
- **2018-03-02** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 2, 2018
- **2018-03-02** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 9, 2018
- **2018-03-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 221 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a78881c7-58b3-4f7c-a6e3-b287e05ee627`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).