Virginia's New Rental Rules Draw a Line at Four Units: Where Does Your Alexandria Rental Fall?

If you own one condo in Alexandria and rent it out, a missed rent payment now plays out on a different timeline than it did a year ago. Since July 1, 2026, Virginia law has required a landlord to wait 14 days after a written nonpayment notice before pursuing termination. The old wait was five days. On the same date, Alexandria General District Court opened an eviction diversion program that can turn a nonpayment case into a court-ordered repayment plan lasting several months.

The changes most Virginia roundups lead with are mandatory payment plans and 90 days' notice of a rent increase. Those take effect on July 1, 2027, and they apply only to landlords who own more than four rental units, or more than a 10% interest in more than four. For a small Alexandria owner, the changes that matter most are already in force, and the headline 2027 rules may not apply at all.

A nonpayment case in Alexandria, step by step

This is how the process works under current law for a tenant who falls behind and then qualifies for the court's diversion program. It describes how the rules operate. It is not a recommendation for any particular case.

1. Written notice. The landlord serves written notice of the nonpayment and of the intent to terminate if the rent isn't paid. The 14-day waiting period starts on that notice, under HB 15 and its identical Senate bill, SB 48.
2. First hearing. To be referred to the Eviction Diversion Program, the tenant has to appear at the first docket call and ask for it. The tenant also has to pay at least 10% of the amount owed, show enough income or other funds to finish the plan, and give sworn testimony about why the rent went unpaid.
3. Who qualifies. A tenant is not eligible after defaulting on a rent payment plan, owing rent under a plan, or taking part in a diversion program within the previous 12 months.
4. Three installments. The rest of the balance goes to the landlord in three installments of 30% each. Each is due by the fifth of the month for the next three months and is paid by cashier's check, certified check, money order or electronic funds transfer.
5. Regular rent continues. While the plan runs, the tenant also owes regular monthly rent, due within five days of the date in the lease.
6. Dismissal. If the tenant completes the plan, the city says the eviction case is dismissed.

Here is what that looks like at local prices. ALXnow reported a median Alexandria apartment rent of $2,193 for September 2026. If a tenant owes one month at that figure, the program means about $219 at the hearing, followed by three payments of about $658 each on top of the regular rent. For an owner with one unit, that missed month comes back over roughly a quarter of a year. The owner's mortgage, condo fees and insurance stay on their monthly schedule throughout.

The diversion program came from HB 837 and SB 273, which set the rules for courts that run these programs. Under those bills, courts must give tenants facing an unlawful detainer information about the program and who qualifies. No participation numbers had been published as of this writing. The latest city eviction figures cover January 1 through April 1, 2026, before the program started. In that period, 1,150 summonses were issued, down 32% from the same stretch of 2025, and 469 writs of eviction, down 18%, according to ALXnow's report on city data.

A second July change also affects how a contested case unfolds. SB 373 removed the requirement that a tenant still in the unit first pay into court the rent the court finds due before raising a defense in a rent or possession case. ARLnow summarized it as letting tenants present evidence on uninhabitable living conditions as a defense. In practice, the condition of the unit is now part of the nonpayment case.

The four-unit line was already there. The 2026 session moved more rules onto it.

Virginia law already treated small landlords differently before this session. The existing text says a landlord with four or fewer rental units, or up to a 10% interest in four or fewer, does not have to accept rent or a security deposit by debit or credit card. Before the 2026 amendment, only landlords above that line had to give written notice of a rent increase at renewal and 60 days' notice of nonrenewal.

The 2026 session put its two biggest operational changes on that same line:

Under HB 95, which Elizabeth Bennett-Parker introduced, a landlord above the line who intends to terminate over arrears of no more than one month's rent plus contracted late charges has to offer a plan first. The plan spreads the balance over equal monthly installments for six months or the rest of the lease, whichever is shorter. No new late fees can be added to that balance while the tenant pays on time. Under HB 678, a rent-increase notice from a landlord above the line must arrive at least 90 days before the lease ends. It must also give the tenant at least 30 days to decide whether to renew.

An owner with one or two units sits below that line on both rules. The same owner is fully covered by the 14-day notice, the payment-method rules and the Alexandria diversion program.

How the count works

The threshold isn't measured one property at a time. The HB 678 text applies to a landlord who owns "more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity, in the Commonwealth."

That language matters for some local situations:

• Units held in an LLC count toward the total, along with units held in your own name.
• The count is statewide, so a rental outside Alexandria can push the total over four.
• A minority stake over 10% in a larger building counts toward that larger number of units.

Anyone near the threshold can raise a question like this with a Virginia attorney. Your answer determines which 2027 obligations apply to you.

Rules that apply to every landlord now

HB 1005 and SB 313 changed how rent gets paid. A landlord under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act must accept rent and security deposits by check and money order. Any fee to submit a payment can't exceed what a third-party processor actually charges the landlord. And a tenant can't be required to pay for maintenance or repairs unless the tenant's own violation of the Act made the repair necessary. For a condo owner who set up an online rent portal with a convenience fee, the fee limit is the part that changes the arrangement.

HB 519 makes landlord-supplied central air conditioning an essential service if it was working, or represented as working, when the lease took effect. Under HB 14 and SB 290, a locality can now sue for an injunction and damages on behalf of a tenant over a serious safety, health or fire-hazard condition. The locality has to notify the landlord first and give a reasonable chance to fix the problem.

More dates are coming that small owners should keep on the calendar. HB 329 expands anti-retaliation protections starting January 1, 2027. Covered conduct includes harassment, increased fees, selective rule enforcement and retaliatory nonrenewal of tenants who receive housing assistance, and good-cause exceptions remain. Beginning July 1, 2027, HB 379 requires landlords to disclose fees, refundability, selection criteria and applicant rights before collecting application money. The existing $50 cap stays in place. Also starting July 1, 2027, HB 1361 and SB 294 require nonpayment termination notices to include an accounting of charges and payments.

What did not become law

Several bills that drew attention during the session aren't on the books:

• Local rent stabilization. HB 1177 was struck from the House committee docket. HB 278 and SB 355, which would have allowed local anti-rent-gouging ordinances, were continued to the 2027 session.
• Dismissed eviction records. HB 1078 would have barred larger landlords from acting on dismissed or nonsuited unlawful detainers. The state's legislative record shows it failed after being left in a Senate committee.

A few questions Alexandria owners ask

Do the 2027 payment-plan and rent-notice rules start in January? No. Some early summaries listed January 1, 2027. The chaptered text for HB 95, HB 678 and HB 379 sets July 1, 2027.

Does the diversion program apply if I own only one unit? The program is run by the court for eligible tenants in nonpayment cases. The research behind this post found no unit-count limit tied to the landlord.

Where do tenants get rental help? The city directs residents to the Department of Community and Human Services at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive, or 703-746-5700.

Did rents change much this year? Alexandria's median apartment rent was $2,193 in September 2026, down from $2,235 a year earlier, ALXnow reported.

If you own a condo or townhome in Alexandria and want to know how the 14-day notice, the new payment rules and the court's diversion program fit into your lease and rent collection, Beltran & Associates Realty can review it with you. Our property management team handles leasing and rent administration with a broker overseeing the work, and our Alexandria neighborhood page covers the local market. Talk with a Local Broker Today.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.