Laws on Eviction of Unlawful Tenants in Virginia
As a landlord, you have the right of ownership to your property, but your renters have the rights of possession. Virginia law protects those rights by limiting the grounds you can use to evict tenants. Even if you have a legal reason, you have to follow state procedure in order to remove a tenant for "unlawful detainer."
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Justification
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Under Virginia law, you can terminate a lease if the tenant doesn't pay the rent, or if she breaks the terms of the lease. In the first case, you must give the tenant five days to pay up or leave; in the second, they have 21 days to fix the problem or else move out within 30 days. With month to month tenants you can simply give them 30 days' notice; week to week tenants get a week's warning. You can only use immediate termination when the tenant is engaged in criminal or dangerous activity.
Procedure
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You can't evict a tenant until you serves him with a written notice; a spoken statement won't do. Once the tenant receives the notice, the countdown to eviction begins. At the end of the notification period, if the tenant has neither fixed the problem nor moved out, you can file an unlawful detainer suit with the local court. The court will schedule a hearing and the county sheriff will notify the tenant of the date. At the hearing, you ask the judge to rule that the tenant is occupying the rental illegally.
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Eviction
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If an unlawful tenant refuses to move, you can ask the court for a writ of possession. The writ authorizes the sheriff to remove the tenant if he doesn't leave within the next 72 hours. The tenant has 24 hours after eviction to collect his possessions; after that, you can sell, destroy or store them as you choose, provided you tell the tenant your intentions in advance. If you sell his possessions, he's entitled to any money above what he owes you.
Considerations
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The law forbids evicting a tenant to punish her for reporting health and safety violations, testifying against you in court or otherwise exercising her legal rights. The tenant, however, has the burden of proving that the termination was retaliation rather than a legitimate exercise of your rights. To prove that you've complied with the law, keep a paper trail including copies of the notification letters you sent, her responses and any other relevant records.
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