If you take DIY possession and do repairs, the heirs might claim your possession was unlawful and you are not entitled to be paid for those repairs.

I filed an unlawful detainer against her (we are in the state of Virginia). 

@Jill F.Oh Everyone knows it’s technically “ unlawful .

(From the release of updates to Virginia Consumer Protection Laws)Real Estate “Unlawful practice: Makes the unlawful and unlicensed practice of contracting, real estate brokering, or real estate sales, in connection with a consumer transaction, unlawful under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.”

https://rappnews.com/2019/06/30/now-its-the-law-in-virginia/Unlawful practice: Makes the unlawful and unlicensed practice of contracting, real estate brokering, or real estate sales, in connection with a consumer transaction, unlawful under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

Unless there is specific written documentation that the tenant knew that the partial payment does not waive the landlord's rights to evict, then the unlawful detainer case may be dismissed.

This notice plus the utilities being shut off may motivate them to move on.If occupancy continues, then I suggest hiring an eviction attorney to file an unlawful detainer in court.

Unlawful eviction occurs when a landlord evicts or attempts to evict a tenant without a warrant of eviction or other court order.

Makes no sense.I see 2 likely outcomes from the case: (1) Gov Wolf's order is overturned and we go to business as usual with a massive eviction and foreclosure tidal wave, or (2) declare it an unlawful taking and order PA to pay damages to landlords.

Sorry to hear you’re going through this ordeal with your tenant, but I don’t see where you have any grounds now to file an unlawful detainer action for the smoke detector incident.