Special Session is Over But Questions Remain

Housing providers are coming through a hard month that comes at the end of a hard year. The financial ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic have come down hard on tenants and landlords alike.

Governor Northam has now sent back his amendments to two pieces of legislation from this special session of the General Assembly that concern Virginia’s apartment industry, which the legislature have accepted. These amendments bring the legislation into line with the revised budget language on evictions that was negotiated by the two chambers.

The first, HB5088, is Delegate Josh Cole’s (D-Stafford) bill that seeks to protect applicants’ ability to qualify for housing if they accrue evictions or late payment histories during the time of the pandemic. It gives an applicant 24 hours upon electronic notification or five business days on posted notification of adverse action to assert that such action was the result of solely bad credit conditions created during the pandemic. A housing provider would then contact their screening company to initiate an individualized assessment of whether that was the case. The Governor slightly amended the bill to include reference to the definitions in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The second, HB5064, is Delegate Cia Price’s (D-Newport News) bill that requires the offering of a payment plan before filing an Unlawful Detainer until July 1, 2021. This bill, which VAMA worked on with the patron, contains changes that conform it to the budget by changing notice periods from five days to fourteen days, and to exclude late fees from payment plans.

VAMA will have more detailed guidance to share with members about these two pieces of legislation, as well as the more comprehensive action on evictions taken in the revised biennial State Budget. As passed, this budget language will create two systems; one for prior to January 1, 2021, and one for after January 1. You can read the passed language here. VAMA is analyzing the final language carefully so that we can offer members the best guidance in complying with the law.

We also urge members to continue to on-board to the RMRP through the Virginia Housing process that has been launched here. Virginia Housing, formerly VHDA, is administering a process by which housing providers can apply for RMRP funds on behalf of their residents. The November 15th deadline is fast approaching to apply. You can learn more and start the process at the Virginia Housing website here.

Please keep an eye out for more communication to come from VAMA concerning these legislative and regulatory actions, and please never hesitate to email me at tommy@vamaonline.org if I can answer any questions or provide any further information. Thanks for all that you do to protect your teams, communities and residents.