Progress Interrupted: Virginia's Hesitant Movement to Landlord-Tenant Reform

In 2018, Virginia’s eviction crisis received national attention. Over the next three legislative sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2021, more than two dozen laws were enacted—a few on a temporary basis but most on a permanent basis—to be more fair, favorable, and friendly to tenants. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the Virginia Governor declaring a State of Emergency on March 12, 2020—the final day of the Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly. The pandemic added urgency to an already accelerating movement toward landlord-tenant reform which had mustered bipartisan support. That progress dramatically halted in the 2022 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly with the defeat of at least five landlord-tenant bills intended to rectify the imbalance between the rights of tenants and landlords. Although some see that as a desired return to normalcy, others see that as a “normal” that Virginia should not want to go back to.