Virginia General Assembly Concludes...For Now

Virginia General Assembly Concludes…For Now

By: Tommy Herbert, VAMA Manager of Government Affairs

Early this month, the Virginia General Assembly gaveled out of session. The legislature considered a broad slew of bills on nearly every topic from marijuana legalization to vanity license plates. A full legislative report will be forthcoming to all members. It is very possible that the legislature will reconvene for another Special Session before the end of the year. 

The big developments from this year’s session revolve once again around responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

VAMA’s number one priority this session was to oppose and prevent passage of House Bill 1889, patroned by Delegate Cia Price, which would have made mandatory payment plans a permanent fixture of Virginia’s Landlord Tenant Law. Thanks to decisive action from our members, even in the adverse political environment we are currently in, we were able to educate the members of the Senate Committee on General Laws and withdraw opposition in exchange for a compromise. Rather than making payment plans a permanent fixture right now, HB1889 was amended to extend its sunset until July 1, 2022, with the understanding that the bill would be worked on in the Virginia Housing Commission over the intervening year.

While the policy may yet become permanent, as the bill’s patron explicitly desires, in the Housing Commission, housing providers will actually have a seat at the table to discuss this policy and its consequences. Over the course of the last few years, Virginia has enacted a confusing web of eviction protections at various stages of the legal process, none of which work in concert with one another. This bill is an opportunity to discuss how we can make more cohesive policies with less unintended consequences, which ultimately benefits both housing providers and residents alike. While VAMA repeatedly tried to have that conversation with the patron in advance of session, we were met with no response.

Virginia’s amended eviction process under the amended budget language from last year remains in effect, however a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas has stricken down the eviction moratorium put into place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Trump Administration last year. While the ruling will most likely be appealed, and the judge in question has not issued an injunction on the order for that time, this is still an optimistic development for housing providers, who have been under tremendous financial pressure to meet their operating costs without the one legal avenue they have to enforce timely payment.

Congress has sent down over $520 million in rent relief to Virginia, as well as to two localities therein, Chesterfield and Fairfax Counties, which are operating their own rent relief systems, and the Rent Relief Program (note: mortgages no longer covered) is staffing up to help get it distributed. One roadblock to accomplishing that, a federal mandate that required two months’ back income verification for each resident, has now been removed, which constitutes optimistic news.