5 Day Pay or Quit Notice (VA specific) questions...

[Chinmay J.]

I have somewhat of a logistical question. 

Trying to serve someone a 5 day pay or quit notice in Richmond, VA, and asked a bunch of people on their opinions and got different responses, so a little bit confused here as to best practice.

A) If I  send a certified mail and the certified mail doesn't get picked up, can that be admitted in court as Notice Served? Isn't it the tenant's responsibility to go pick up the mail? Can the tenant say, that the mailman put the certified mail note on the wrong door, and he never got any indication that there was mail waiting for him? 

B) If I send a regular mail, he can always say he never received the mail. So that is out of question. 

C) If I stick a note on the door, then he can always say the wind might have blown it and by the time he got home from work, there was no note. 

How do you then properly serve the notice to tenant who is behind on paying rent. It seems that there is no foolproof way of serving the notice and get the process started..

The question can be answered by anyone really. Although the issue at hand is VA specific, the bigger issue is quite general.

[Matt Clark]

Chinmay J. Don’t overthink it. In VA, notice is considered served if you sign the affidavit that it was posted on the door, regardless of whether or not the tenant sees it. Likewise, it is considered served if sent by certified mail. If they don’t sign for it just take the returned envelope to court with you.

Some tenants will have a dozen excuses, but if you end up in court the judge will be more likely to believe a landlord with organized, detailed paperwork than a tenant who hasn’t paid rent.