Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; duties of landlord, mold remediation, civil penalty.

Plain English Breakdown

The official bill text does not provide specific details on monetary damages beyond general provisions.

Virginia Law on Landlord and Tenant Responsibilities; Mold Remediation

This law updates Virginia's rules for landlords to include requirements about mold remediation when it affects tenants' health and sets penalties for non-compliance.

What This Bill Does

• Allows tenants, authorized occupants, or guests to sue a landlord if they get sick from mold in the rental home.
• Requires landlords to fix mold problems based on a written medical statement by a qualified professional if it materially affects someone's health.
• Lets tenants leave temporarily so the landlord can clean up mold safely.

Who It Names or Affects

• Landlords who own rental homes in Virginia.
• Tenants living in rental homes in Virginia.
• Guests or invited people staying at a tenant’s home.

Terms To Know

Gross negligence

When someone does something very careless and it causes harm to others.

Qualified medical professional

A doctor or other health expert who can give a written statement about a person's health condition.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill text does not specify when the law will start.
• It is unclear how much money landlords might have to pay in damages for mold issues.
• The exact professional standards for mold remediation are not detailed in this summary.

Official Summary Text

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; duties of landlord; mold remediation; civil penalty.
Provides that a tenant, authorized occupant, or guest or invitee of a tenant or authorized occupant may bring a personal injury or wrongful death action for exposure to mold arising from the condition within the interior of a dwelling unit or for any property damage claims arising out of the landlord-tenant relationship to recover (i) compensatory damages, including medical bills, lost wages, and injury to personal property; (ii) punitive damages; and (iii) reasonable attorney fees and costs, if the mold is caused solely by the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the landlord or managing agent. The bill also mandates a landlord to require a tenant to temporarily vacate the dwelling unit in order for the landlord to perform mold remediation in accordance with professional standards if it has been determined by a physician or other qualified medical professional and certified by a written medical statement that the mold condition in the dwelling unit materially affects the health or safety of the tenant or any authorized occupant.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL NO. 79

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on General Laws

on ________________)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Price)

A BILL to amend and reenact §
55.1-1259
of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; actions to enforce chapter.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §
55.1-1259
of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§
55.1-1259
. Actions to enforce chapter.

A.
In addition to any other remedies in this chapter, any person adversely affected by an act or omission prohibited under this chapter may institute an action for injunction and damages against the person responsible for such act or omission in the circuit court in the county or city in which such act or omission occurred.
Such an action may be brought at law or in equity and may sound in contract, in tort
, or both.
If the court finds that the defendant was responsible for such act or omission, it shall enjoin the defendant from continuance of such practice, and in its discretion award the plaintiff damages as provided in this section.

B. The duties imposed upon a landlord pursuant to
this chapter, including the obligations set forth in §
55.1-1220
and any other provision requiring a landlord to maintain
a
premises in a fit and habitable condition, are duties imposed by law for the protection of the life, health,
safety, and property of tenants,
authori
zed occupants, and guests or invitees.
A landlord shall exercise ordinary care in
performing, and in refraining from unreasonably delaying or withholding, any repair or maintenance required by this ch
apter or pursuant to the rental agreement.

C. For purposes of this section and any other provision of this chapter authorizing the recovery of
damages or actual damages, such damages shall be construed broadly to include all forms of compensatory damages available under the laws of the Commonwealth, including, where proven, both economic and noneconomic loss.
Any person who suffers loss as the result of a violation of this chapter shall be entitled to initiate an action to recover actual damages, or $500, whichever is greater. If the trier of fact finds that the violation was willful, it may increase damages to an amount not exceeding three times the actual damages sustained, or $1,000, whichever is greater.