Virginia Landlord Tenant Law Changes 2026–2027: The 14-Day Notice, Payment-Method Limits, and 2027 Payment-Plan Mandate
Introduction
If you own rental property in Virginia, understanding the Virginia landlord tenant law changes 2026–2027 is essential — whether you own a single home in Fairfax County, a condo in Arlington or Alexandria, or a small portfolio across Loudoun and Prince William — the rules for handling late rent changed in 2026, and another change is already on the books for 2027.
Two laws took effect on July 1, 2026: the nonpayment notice period grew from 5 days to 14 days, and landlords must now accept rent and security deposits by check and money order, with new receipt and fee rules attached. A third law, effective July 1, 2027, will require larger landlords to offer a written payment plan before terminating a rental agreement for certain small nonpayment balances.
This article explains each change in plain terms, who it applies to, and what to update now. It is general information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, talk to a Virginia attorney.
Virginia Landlord Tenant Law Changes 2026 2027: What Changed on July 1?
The nonpayment notice is now 14 days
Under HB 15 / SB 48, the mandatory notice period before a landlord may terminate a rental agreement for nonpayment increased from five days to 14 days (Code of Virginia § 55.1-1245(F)). The notice must still tell the tenant about the nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid — only the timeline changed.
The same 14-day period now applies to the bad-check case: if a rent check bounces or an electronic transfer is rejected for insufficient funds (or a bad-faith stop payment), the tenant has 14 days after written notice to pay by cash, cashier's check, certified check, or a completed electronic funds transfer before the landlord may terminate.
Practical effect: if your notice templates, collections calendar, or property management software still reference a five-day deadline, they are now out of date. Update every template to 14 days and build the extra days into your collections timeline.
You must accept checks and money orders
Under HB 1005 / SB 313 (amending § 55.1-1204), landlords covered by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA) must now accept periodic rent and any security deposit by check and money order. You can still accept online payments — but you can no longer require tenants to use one specific online platform as the only way to pay.
Note what this law does not do: it does not require landlords to accept cash. The acceptance duty covers checks and money orders. Cash is addressed separately, through the receipt rule below.
Receipts: cash and money orders, automatically
Section 55.1-1204(J)(1) requires the landlord to provide the tenant with a written receipt whenever the tenant pays rent in cash or by money order. Before the 2026 amendment, that receipt was required only upon the tenant's request — the amendment struck the "upon request" qualifier, so the receipt is now automatic. In practice, money-order receipts may be delivered electronically.
Two limits matter here. First, the receipt duty covers cash and money-order rent payments; it does not impose the same statutory receipt duty for checks. Issuing receipts for every payment, including checks, is still wise practice — it is simply not what this subsection mandates. Second, because cash acceptance itself is not required, the cash-receipt rule applies when a tenant does pay in cash, not as a duty to take cash.
A fee-free way to pay must always exist
HB 1005 added a distinct requirement that is easy to miss: a landlord may not charge a tenant any fee for collecting or processing a payment of rent, a security deposit, or any other fees, unless the landlord also offers an alternative method of payment that does not include additional fees. In other words, if your online portal charges tenants a convenience fee, tenants must still have a fee-free way to pay — and the check-and-money-order duty above will usually be that route.
Separately, any payment fee that is charged is capped at cost: no landlord may require a tenant to pay a fee to submit periodic rent or other amounts due that exceeds the landlord's actual out-of-pocket expenses charged by a third party to process a payment by credit card, debit card, or electronic payment. A processing fee may not be a profit center.
Maintenance and repair fees are banned, with one exception
Under § 55.1-1208(C), unless necessitated by the tenant's violation of a requirement of the VRLTA, no landlord may require a tenant to pay any fee for the maintenance or repair of a dwelling unit. Routine repair costs can no longer be passed to tenants as a standard fee. A charge tied to damage the tenant actually caused in violation of the Act is a different matter — keep it tied to the violation and documented.
What changes on July 1, 2027: mandatory payment plans
HB 95 (Acts of Assembly, Chapter 1105, approved May 14, 2026) adds a payment-plan requirement with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. It is enacted now but not yet in effect, which makes this the right time to prepare rather than scramble next summer.
Who must offer a plan
The mandate applies to a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units in Virginia, or who holds more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity. Smaller landlords are not covered by this particular requirement — though the 14-day notice, payment-method, receipt, and fee rules above still apply to them.
When it applies
For a covered landlord, where rent is unpaid when due and the exact amount owed is no more than one month's rent plus late charges contracted for in the rental agreement and allowed by law, the landlord must serve a written notice informing the tenant of the exact amount due and owed, and offering a payment plan. Larger balances fall outside this requirement. The statute states that this payment-plan subsection applies notwithstanding the ordinary nonpayment-notice subsection — for qualifying cases, the payment-plan notice is the required step.
What the plan must look like
The tenant must pay the exact amount due in equal monthly installments over the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement. The tenant may repay the full balance at any time during the plan period without penalty. No additional late fees may be charged during the plan period for that unpaid amount, as long as the tenant pays on time. The landlord is only required to offer a plan once during the term of the rental agreement.
If the tenant does not take the plan, or stops paying
The tenant has 14 days from the notice to pay the exact amount in full or enter the offered plan. If the tenant does neither, the landlord may terminate the agreement and proceed to seek possession. If the tenant enters a plan and then misses a rent payment or a plan installment, the landlord must send a new written notice giving the tenant 14 days to pay the amount then due before terminating.
Why some summaries say five days — and why 14 days governs
Owners researching this law will find conflicting numbers, so here is the reconciliation. The five-day figure comes from two superseded sources. First, early bill summaries of HB 95 — written before the bill was reenrolled — described a five-day response period, and several secondary summaries repeated that figure. Second, the old text of § 55.1-1245(F) itself said five days, and HB 95's chapter text reprints that old wording because HB 95 was drafted before HB 15 changed it.
The final enacted law says otherwise. HB 95 as chaptered (Chapter 1105) states 14 days three times in its new payment-plan subsection: the tenant's window to pay or enter the plan, the same window measured from service of the notice, and the cure window after a plan default. The current Code of Virginia (§ 55.1-1245, version effective July 1, 2027) carries the same 14-day language, and HB 15 separately changed the ordinary nonpayment notice from five to 14 days effective July 1, 2026. Fourteen days is the number in the law as enacted. Any summary still saying five days is relying on pre-reenrollment text.
What this means for Northern Virginia owners
These are statewide Virginia rules, and they are particularly relevant to owners of larger rental portfolios across Northern Virginia. For owners in Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun and Prince William, the practical steps are the same: update notices, review payment options and prepare for the July 2027 deadline.
What Northern Virginia landlords should do now
Replace every five-day notice template with a 14-day version, including any templates stored in property management software — for ordinary nonpayment and for bad-check cures.
Confirm your rent collection accepts checks and money orders for rent and deposits, and remove lease language requiring one exclusive payment platform.
Set up automatic written receipts for cash and money-order rent payments, and issue receipts for checks as standard practice even though the statute does not mandate them.
Audit your fee structure twice: first, confirm a genuinely fee-free payment method is always available; second, confirm any processing fee charged to tenants does not exceed your actual third-party cost. Remove default maintenance and repair fees.
If you are over the four-unit threshold, draft your payment-plan process now: how you test whether a balance qualifies, the notice form, and how installments will be tracked. The act directs the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a sample payment plan — confirm whether that form is available before relying on it.
Calendar July 1, 2027, and review leases at renewal so the new requirements are reflected before the mandate takes effect.
Mistakes to avoid
Using old notice forms. A termination notice that still references the old five-day period risks being defective.
Refusing a check because "we only take online payments." Checks and money orders must be accepted.
Giving receipts only when asked. For cash and money-order rent payments, the written receipt is now automatic.
Charging a portal fee with no free alternative. A collection or processing fee is allowed only alongside a fee-free payment method, and never above actual processing cost.
Charging repair fees as routine line items. Such fees are prohibited unless necessitated by the tenant's VRLTA violation.
Assuming the payment-plan rule applies to everyone — or to no one. It has both a size threshold and a balance cap. If you are over the threshold, it applies to qualifying balances; if you are under it, this particular mandate does not.
Treating this article as legal advice. It is a plain-language summary of new statutes. Leases, notices, and enforcement decisions deserve a Virginia attorney's review.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 14-day notice apply under the VRLTA generally?
Yes. The July 1, 2026 change extended the mandatory nonpayment notice period from five days to 14 days under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, including for bad-check cures.
Can I still accept online payments?
Yes. Online payment is still fine — it just cannot be the only accepted method. Checks and money orders must also be accepted, and a fee-free payment method must always be available.
Do I have to accept cash?
No. The acceptance duty covers checks and money orders. But if a tenant does pay rent in cash, a written receipt is mandatory — and the same automatic receipt rule applies to money orders.
Do I owe a receipt when rent is paid by check?
Section 55.1-1204(J)(1) imposes the written-receipt duty for cash and money-order rent payments, not for checks. Issuing receipts for checks anyway is good practice and avoids disputes.
What exactly is the fee-free payment method rule?
A landlord may not charge any fee for collecting or processing rent, a deposit, or other fees unless a fee-free alternative method is also offered. Any fee that is charged may not exceed the landlord's actual out-of-pocket third-party processing cost.
Can I still charge a tenant for damage they caused?
The ban covers fees for maintenance and repairs unless necessitated by the tenant's violation of the VRLTA. Damage caused by a tenant's violation is a different matter from routine maintenance fees, but keep the charge tied to the violation and documented.
Do I have to offer a payment plan today?
No. The mandate takes effect July 1, 2027, and only for landlords over the unit threshold and for balances within the one-month-plus-contracted-charges cap.
My lease still says five days. Is that a problem?
Update it. Notices and lease provisions using the old period are out of date, and a termination notice built on the old timeline risks being defective.
Talk through your options
If you are considering professional property management for your Northern Virginia rental, explore SINDOLA's services or contact us through our enquiry page.
Sources (checked November 5, 2026)
Official sources first; secondary sources used for framing only, never as legal authority.
Virginia Acts of Assembly, 2026 Reconvened Session, Chapter 1105 (HB 95) — final enacted text: payment-plan subsection (threshold, balance cap, equal installments over the lesser of six months or remaining term, early repayment without penalty, no added late fees while timely, 14-day tenant window stated three times, once-per-term offer, new 14-day cure notice after plan default); enacting clause 2 (effective July 1, 2027); clause 3 (direction to the Department of Housing and Community Development). https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1225663.PDF
Virginia Legislative Information System, HB 95 (2026 Regular Session) — approved by the Governor, Chapter 1105, effective July 1, 2027. https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB95
Code of Virginia § 55.1-1245, version effective July 1, 2027 — subsection F (14-day nonpayment notice, including bad-check cure) and the payment-plan subsection (14-day windows, once-per-term offer). https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/55.1-1245/
Virginia Legislative Information System, HB 1005 (2026 Regular Session) — approved by the Governor, Chapter 722, effective July 1, 2026. https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1005
HB 1005 enrolled text, § 55.1-1204(J)(1) (via LegiScan) — check and money order acceptance for rent and deposits; written receipt for cash or money order rent payments with the "upon request" qualifier struck; fee-free alternative method requirement; at-cost cap on payment fees. https://legiscan.com/VA/text/HB1005/id/3407342/Virginia-2026-HB1005-Enrolled.html
Fairfax County Government, "Notable New State Laws Effective July 1, 2026" — HB 15/SB 48 (five days to 14 days); HB 1005/SB 313 (check and money order acceptance, receipt, maintenance-fee prohibition). https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/notable-new-state-laws-effective-july-1-2026
Sands Anderson via JD Supra, "Virginia Residential Landlords: Three New Laws That Change How You Handle Late Rent" — framing only. Its summary line stating a five-day plan response window is NOT relied on: it repeats the pre-reenrollment summary and is contradicted by the chaptered text. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/virginia-residential-landlords-three-3100643/
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