How to Evict a Tenant in Virginia: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Virginia Eviction Timeline 2026: 14 Days, Not a 5-Day Grace Period Plus a 5-Day Notice
The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Va. Code §§ 55.1-1200 through 55.1-1262, governs eviction statewide. This page covers the lawsuit itself: notice, filing, the hearing, the writ. Deposits, repair rights, and lease disclosures are on our Virginia landlord-tenant law guide.
Grounds and Notice Periods
The single biggest number to get right here: Virginia’s non-payment notice is 14 days, one period, not a 5-day grace period stacked in front of a separate 5-day pay-or-quit notice. That doubled framing shows up often and understates the real window by 4 days either way.
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-payment of rent | 14 days | Va. Code § 55.1-1245(F) | Yes — pay within the 14 days; after filing, the tenant can still pay everything owed and end the case (§ 55.1-1250) |
| Lease violation, remediable | 30-day notice, with 21 days inside that window to cure | § 55.1-1245(A), (B) | Yes — remedying the breach before the date in the notice keeps the lease alive |
| Lease violation that can’t be remedied | 30 days | § 55.1-1245(C) | No |
| Criminal or willful act that can’t be remedied and threatens health or safety, including illegal drug activity | None — the landlord may terminate immediately; the first court hearing comes within 15 calendar days of service | § 55.1-1245(C) | No |
| Repeat breach of a like nature after an earlier breach was remedied | 30 days, notice must reference the earlier breach | § 55.1-1245(E) | No |
| No-cause, month-to-month | 30 days before the next rent due date, unless the lease sets a different period | § 55.1-1253(A) | N/A |
Two scheduled changes are already on the books. From July 1, 2027, a landlord who owns more than four rental units (or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four) will have to offer a payment plan with the non-payment notice when the amount owed is no more than one month’s rent plus late charges — that requirement sits in the version of § 55.1-1245 taking effect that day, not in today’s text. And a multifamily owner who declines to renew 20 or more month-to-month tenancies, or half of them, within 30 days in the same property already needs 60 days’ notice rather than 30 (§ 55.1-1253(B)).
The Court Process
- File. Once the applicable notice has run, the landlord files an unlawful detainer action in general district court. The court won’t enter an order of possession unless a copy of a proper termination notice is put into evidence (Va. Code § 8.01-126(D)).
- Serve. The summons has to be served at least 10 days before the return date (§ 8.01-126(B)).
- Hearing. Va. Code § 8.01-126 sets this as soon as practicable, no more than 21 days from filing — with a 30-day backstop if the court’s calendar can’t fit it inside that window. General district courts that run the Eviction Diversion Program can put an eligible tenant who appears on the first docket call and pays at least 10 percent of the amount due into a court-ordered three-month payment plan (§ 55.1-1262).
- Judgment. A win for the landlord produces a judgment for possession. From there, circuit court is open to the tenant for 10 days, with the bond posted and writ tax paid inside that same window; an indigent tenant doesn’t have to post an appeal bond (§ 8.01-129).
- Writ of eviction and the 72-hour notice. The landlord requests a writ, and can ask for it to issue right at judgment — but the sheriff can’t evict before the 10-day appeal period runs out. Before executing it, the officer has to serve at least 72 hours’ notice of the specific execution date and time — that’s a floor on advance warning, not simply “72 hours to vacate” (§ 8.01-470).
- Sheriff’s execution deadline. Execution should happen within 15 calendar days of the sheriff receiving the writ, or as soon as practicable after — but no later than 30 days from the date the writ was issued. If the door is locked, the officer can use reasonable force to get in once they’ve announced why they’re there.
Paying out of a non-payment case stays possible late in the process. Paying all rent, fees, late charges, attorney fees, and costs owed as of the court date gets the case dismissed; after the return date, paying everything claimed on the summons, including sheriff fees, no less than 48 hours before the scheduled eviction cancels it (§ 55.1-1250(C)–(D)). A landlord with four or fewer units can limit that redemption right to once per lease period by telling the tenant in writing.
What This Costs
General district court filing fees vary — check the current fee schedule before filing.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
Self-help — changing locks, hauling out belongings, cutting off water — is illegal regardless of how much rent is owed. § 55.1-1252 bars recovering possession by interrupting an essential service or by refusing the tenant access without a court order, and under § 55.1-1243.1 a general district court hears the tenant’s petition within five calendar days and, after a full hearing, awards actual damages plus $5,000 or four months’ rent, whichever is greater, and attorney fees. Retaliation is barred under § 55.1-1258, but not on a fixed lookback window the way some states run it: the statute bars a rent increase, service cut, or possession action once the landlord knows the tenant complained to a code agency, complained or sued over the Act, joined a tenant organization, or testified against the landlord — there’s no specific number of months that automatically triggers a presumption, and the tenant carries the burden of proving retaliatory intent. A rewritten § 55.1-1258 takes effect January 1, 2027, requiring actual knowledge and adding media complaints and fair-housing complaints to the protected list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Virginia’s non-payment notice really a 5-day grace period plus a 5-day notice? No — that’s a doubling that understates the real window. § 55.1-1245(F) sets one 14-day notice period, not two stacked 5-day ones. The earliest a non-payment eviction can be filed is after that single 14-day window runs, not after 10 days.
Does Virginia’s retaliation protection run on a fixed number of months? No. § 55.1-1258 turns on the landlord’s knowledge of the protected activity, not a set lookback period like the 6- or 12-month windows some other states use.
How long does the sheriff have to execute a writ of eviction in Virginia? Within 15 calendar days of receiving it, or as soon as practicable after that — but no later than 30 days from when the writ was issued. Before execution, the officer still has to give the tenant at least 72 hours’ notice of the specific date and time.