Can we evict tenants right now?

[Sara Perkinson]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to get some information on evictions in the state of Virginia. Governor Ralph Northam signed a budget bill extending eviction protection until June 30, 2022. I have a tenant that pays rent late every month. The tenant doesn’t seem bothered by late fees and told me that rent due reminders aren’t appreciated. I told the tenant the rent being late each month isn’t appreciated and the tenant proceeded to defend the reasons why the rent has been late. I give the tenant a 3 day grace period and it’s now the second day after the third day the rent will be late and I will have to start charging a late fee. I’m going to see how the tenants attitude and behavior progresses for a couple of months to make my final decision but I was thinking of not renewing the lease to get around the eviction issue because I don’t have to renew a lease. Could the tenant make an issue about this ? Would I get in any trouble for doing this because they’ll have to find a new residence during this time of no evictions. Also, if I wanted to show the house to new prospective tenants could I do so even though they may have an issue? I have a video walk through so that can suffice if that’s not a good idea. Thank you for any advice.