republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1655.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Landowners; sale of certain property by locality, tax delinquent property."
description: "Sale of certain property by locality to adjoining landowners. Provides that, in any instance in which a parcel of real estate is (i) located within an undeveloped common area in a subdivision, (ii) located in a subdivision with a homeowners' association that has been previously dissolved, and (iii) tax delinquent, a locality may, after giving at least 30 days of notice to adjacent property owners, choose to offer for sale such tax delinquent property in whole or in part to adjacent property owners prior to any public auction of the tax delinquent property. The locality may waive any liens associated with the property in order to facilitate the sale and may further waive payment of any past taxes, penalties, and interest with regard to any new owner."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1655"
citation: "Virginia HB 1655 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert D. Orrock, Sr."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-01-17"
last_action: "2020-03-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4aa8c9eb-ba79-4886-9f9c-667ef6c41e45"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1655"
source_hash: "62c31714623175c6ce4962dd681339c974ab20d71bb9ea49e2daec3dcccaa94a"
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 1655 (2020) — Landowners; sale of certain property by locality, tax delinquent property.

Sale of certain property by locality to adjoining landowners. Provides that, in any instance in which a parcel of real estate is (i) located within an undeveloped common area in a subdivision, (ii) located in a subdivision with a homeowners' association that has been previously dissolved, and (iii) tax delinquent, a locality may, after giving at least 30 days of notice to adjacent property owners, choose to offer for sale such tax delinquent property in whole or in part to adjacent property owners prior to any public auction of the tax delinquent property. The locality may waive any liens associated with the property in order to facilitate the sale and may further waive payment of any past taxes, penalties, and interest with regard to any new owner.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0346)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0346)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1655ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1655ER)
3. **Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1655)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1655)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendment (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with amendment (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government with amendment (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (96-Y 1-N) — **95–1** (pass) · lower
- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Robert D. Orrock, Sr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-17** Presented and ordered printed 20104419D `introduction`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1655)
- **2020-01-17** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-21** Assigned CC & T sub: Land Use `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-31** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-05** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-06** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-07** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-17** Reported from Local Government with amendment (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-19** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-19** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-19** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2020-02-19** Passed Senate with amendment (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-19** Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-19** Passed Senate with amendment (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-21** Senate amendment agreed to by House (96-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-21** VOTE: Adoption (96-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-26** Enrolled
- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 5, 2020
- **2020-03-05** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Approved by Governor-Chapter 346 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4aa8c9eb-ba79-4886-9f9c-667ef6c41e45`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).