Room Rental Lease Agreements in Virginia
A room rental lease agreement is the most basic type of lease signed in Virginia with respect to renting space in a residential property. With a room rental lease agreement, a person or group of people is paying consideration for a specific room within a home typically owned by another person. Room rental agreements also involve consideration of utilities and maintenance of common areas , such as kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms.
All parties typically sign the lease agreement, and a lease term is set, as is consideration. Rooms are sometimes furnished, and satisfaction of the rental agreement rules is expected.
Requirements of Virginia Room Rental Lease Agreements
It is important for both tenants and landlords to be aware of the specific legal requirements and regulations that govern room rental lease agreements in Virginia. While the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (RLTA) applies to many types of residential rental properties, rooming houses are treated differently under Virginia law. A rooming house is defined as any building containing one or more rooms in which the owner or manager rents sleeping accommodations to two or more persons for compensation. (For more information about the RLTA, how to start an unlawful detainer case, and other relevant issues, please see our related articles on unlawful detainer.) Rooming houses are allowed certain exceptions from the RLTA, but they are still subject to many of its terms. Virginia Code § 55.1-1200 provides that a rooming house is exempt from most of the RLTA if the total duration of all leases is less than six months. A rooming house is also exempt if there is a written lease for each lodging unit for a period of one year or longer. There is no exemption, however, for a rooming house where any of the leases are for less than one year. The RLTA endorsement to the Virginia Association of Realtors lease agreement covers most situations. It should be used as a base and amended, if necessary, to address any room requirements of the particular property. At least twenty-four hours prior to entry into premises, a landlord must provide a tenant written notice stating the full name and title of the person entering the premises, identifying the reasonable purpose of the entry, and specifying the date and time that the person will arrive (and specifying a specific date if entry is required to be made within an agreed upon time frame). Access to any room or premises in a rooming house can be provided to the landlord with a key or similar means, but only if specimens of such means are maintained and accessible to the occupant of the premises. The landlord must also keep a written record of each occasion when such a key or similar means are used to access a room or premises. Further, a rooming house shall not use any portion of a room for a purpose inconsistent with the residential occupancy status of the building. All entry doors to the exterior of a rooming house must be equipped with some form of locking mechanism and the master key to such locks must be kept on the premises. Further, a fire or other life safety system shall be installed in a manner and with features appropriate for the occupancy of the building. Virginia Code § 55.1-1215 allows an owner or manager to enter the room of a tenant after reasonable notice has been given to make necessary repairs or to obtain therefrom abandoned property, when personal property is in danger of materially diminishing in value, because it is necessary for the protection of life, safety or health, when reasonably necessary to deal with a condition that presents serious danger to other persons on the premises, or at the written request of the tenant or at their direction.
What a Virginia Room Rental Lease Must Include
In Virginia, the majority of room rental lease agreements will be governed by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Chapter 13.2 of Title 55 of the Code of Virginia). These rooms include bedrooms in homes and apartments and rooms within a hotel, motel, inn or boarding house that are rented for thirty days or longer.
For any lease of a room in Virginia, there are certain elements that every room rental lease should include as part of its contractual terms. If any of these sections are missing then the tenant may have certain remedies available to them under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Essential Lease Clauses: Every room rental lease will have certain items that they must include by operation of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Recommended Lease Clauses: Many leases will include additional items that are not required but that are used in practice. Some recommended lease clauses include:
Administrative Lease Clauses: Finally, leases will commonly have clauses included that do not relate to the practice of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. These clauses may be presented to the tenant only to codify policies, procedures and practices that are common without reference to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Some of these clauses include:
While any room rental lease can be written and negotiated by the parties, any lease with an invalid term could be problematic before a government agency such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Virginia or in a Circuit Court action. These types of provisions also have the potential to cause the entire Lease Agreement to be vacated.
Common Pitfalls in Virginia Lease Agreements
Renting in Virginia comes with a few pitfalls for tenants and landlords alike — especially when it comes to drafting and signing agreements. Misunderstandings of provisions or misinterpretations of landlord-tenant law can impact your ability to assert a claim, collect rent or charge penalties. Here are some common errors we have seen in Virginia room rental lease agreements, along with some tips for avoiding them.
Landlords still attempt to brand the landlord-tenant relationship as a service contract governed by Virginia’s Consumer Protection Act. Doing so puts you at risk of liability under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, which does not cover "service. In Virginia, that standard forms vary for room rentals versus apartment rentals and town home rentals. For instance, the Standard Virginia Apartment Lease from the Virginia Apartment Management Association contains a section on landlord’s right to enter premises/building keys. A standard form lease , generally speaking, should contain information for the type of premises being rented. Landlords with a standard form agreement can also incur liability for violations of the Virginia Room Rent Ordinance if their lease does not include certain disclosures and terms that the Room Rent Ordinance requires, such as whether unit has been inspected by certain fire safety officials and disclosure of landlord’s right of entry. Landlord’s right of entry is an important term for leases involving room rentals. Even when the tenant requests entry, the tenant should not create a waiver of landlord’s right to enter. Include a clause that spells out exactly how and under what circumstances landlord’s right to entry is alleged to be waived, such as with a written waiver signed by the tenant and referencing which provision of the lease is being waived.
Landlord & Tenant Rights and Obligations
A room rental lease agreement may be entered into between either a professional landlord or a homeowner looking for a boarder. The rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants under a room rental lease agreement depend in large part on who is the landlord, being either an individual or a "professional" landlord. A "professional" landlord is an individual, such as the owner of a single-family detached home for rent, who leases the property to a tenant or boarder. A "professional" landlord is defined as a person or entity that, on more than one occasion, leases or subleases, within any 12 month period, a main dwelling unit. This includes any office, apartment, or basement unit located within the individual’s dwelling. A "professional" landlord also includes a person or entity leasing or subleasing more than four units of real property simultaneously or leasing or subleasing more than one of those units more than one time within a 12 month period. The Virginia Room Rental Act, Va. Code § 55-248.2:1 et seq., sets forth more specific rights and responsibilities for the landlord and tenant for certain property types. For example, the landlord must (i) provide adequate cooking and plumbing facilities that conform to all applicable code requirements, (ii) maintain common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition, (iii) maintain in good working order all electrical, plumbing, heating, and sanitary facilities and appliances supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord, (iv) comply with all applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, (v) maintain in reasonably good working order all electrical, plumbing, heating, and sanitary facilities and appliances supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord, and (vi) provide the tenant with a written statement detailing any restrictions on use of common areas, such as quiet hours and pool, fitness center, or laundry facility hours. In addition to the landlord being required to give the tenant a statement of restrictions on use of common areas, the landlord is also responsible for posting notices of the restrictions in common areas. The tenant has the same right to privacy as a tenant in a conventional lease. The tenant has the right to quiet, exclusive possession of the premises and is entitled to quiet enjoyment, free from disturbances by the landlord and any agent acting on behalf of the landlord.
How to Handle Virginia Room Rental Disputes
As in any rental situation, disputes may arise between the tenant and the landlord and/or the room rental provider. Sometimes these disagreements can be worked out between the parties directly; however, there are occasions when disputes cannot be resolved. Virginia law allows most tenants the right to legal counsel. Legal aid services are available throughout Virginia to handle issues that arise in room rental situations.
In Virginia, there can be a significant difference in how disputes are settled between landlords and tenants depending on whether there is a written lease in place. In many circumstances, even with a written lease, the landlord will willingly negotiate the resolution of the dispute directly with the tenant, often without having to go through the court system.
Tenants who have a dispute with their landlords may wish to consider alternative dispute resolution methods provided by Win for Life Families (as discussed previously in Section 4). The community mediation process used by Win for Life Families has been used effectively around the country to resolve disputes with private landlords. It should also be noted that the process for resolving disputes is particularly informal when landlords and tenants have separate agreements between them. Tenants should be cautious about how much information they disclose in these informal settings.
If no resolution is reached directly with the landlord and it is necessary to go to court , it is important for tenants to know that small claims courts generally do not hear cases against landlords even when the tenant claims $2,000 or less in damages. However, if the case is related to an issue which already involve a different action (such as a type of proceeding before the Virginia Landlord-Tenant Board or a landlord-tenant magistrate) or in a loose or alternative relationship between the landlord and tenant (as discussed in Section 3), a tenant may bring a lawsuit in small claims court. As previously stated, a tenant’s best protection from retaliation is to always cooperate with the local office of the Department of Human Services and to maintain receipts to show what actions (if any) were taken by the local office to minimize the harm.
Virginia law allows for landlords to recover damages from tenants who have violated any provision of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the tenant’s lease, or local ordinances. If the tenant has violated the lease, the landlord may seek an eviction action or damages for the unpaid rent or damages done to the apartment. If the landlord has violated the lease, the tenant may seek an action for injunctive relief or, in some instances, damages.
If a resolution is reached between the parties on how the dispute will be handled, the parties should document that agreement in writing and file it with the court.
