Timeline for notices after nonpayment of rent - Virginia

[Matt B.]

In Virginia, we have a 5 day grace period after rent is due.  So assuming rent is due on the 1st, rent is considered late (with a late fee) on the 6th.  

What timeline do you fellow Virginia BPers follow as far as notices being sent, court filings, etc??  I'm looking for a hard timeline that says for example:  Day 1-rent due.  Day 6- notice of nonpayment of rent sent out, day 10- blah blah.    And the timeline that you use, do you tell the tenant so they know exactly when those dates are so there's no question?

[Levi T.]

Virginia requires a 5 day pay or quit notice. You need to send it certified and keep the receipt along with a copy of the notice. We send standard notice on the 5th, certified by or before the 10th, and file court by the 15th. Make sure your notice has a date on it, and it would not hurt to sign your pay or quit notice (We have had a Richmond judge reject a case because we did not sign them once). After 5 business days you can go down to the court house and file a UD.

You need these two forms, the 2nd form you need per person your evicting. Do not sign any of them till your standing in front of the court clerk.

http://www.courts.state.va.us/forms/district/dc421...

http://www.courts.state.va.us/forms/district/dc418...

Each county has dates for evictions. I think Richmond is 1st, 2nd, and 4th Wed of each month. Other counties only do one day per month.

I would call the clerks office and see how many copies of the two forms they want you to bring in. Some counties require you to bring in the copies or they will charge you to make copies, others like you to bring one copy, so they don't have to sign all of them, and they just copy the one you brought for free.

Once you have filed the items above with the court clerk, you will need to mail one copy of the filed notice to the tenant. Make sure you do that!

When you go to court, it will be in Civil General District Court. They will do all unserved cases, then the attornies go first, then you. You will need to bring the pay or quit notice along with the certified recipe (I would staple them together), you will also need to bring a copy of your lease, and a copy of the tenants payment ledger. These copies are given to the courts to never be returned, so don't go bringing down the originals, or you will never see them again.

The judge will call your names, you stand on the left generally and the judge will tell the defendant why they are being summoned to court. They will have a chance to say guilty or not. Most of the time tenants no show, sometimes they do, hardly anyone tries to buy time by pleading not guilty, but some do. Luckily if they do, most courts will give you the unlawful detainer if you request it, and setup another date for a hearing about the monies owed.

Unless a judge gives you "immediate possession", the tenants has 10 days to get out from the court date, if they are not gone on the 10th day, you then have to wait 72 hours before filing a Writ with the clerk, which tells the police departments to setup a time to come out and remove anyone from the property.

Once you have your writ, you will get a call from the PD to schedule a time to perform the eviction. YOU MUST bring new locks for all the doors, otherwise the eviction process wont happens. So make sure you have new door locks or bring a handyman/locksmith who can change it out for you.

If stuff is left in the property, you have to sit on it for 30 days or put it into storage. After everything is said and done, tally up the security deposit, and keep a record of the current balance owed.

You can expect no one to ever pay you back unless you start doing garnishments (That's a topic unto itself), so your #1 goal is to get the tenant out soon than later and get someone in that does pay, more than it is to collect the monies that are past due.

Good luck!