Virginia is short 159,765 affordable rental homes for extremely poor renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Last week, President Donald Trump unexpectedly thwarted a major housing initiative, but Virginia housing advocates say the state has made significant progress on strengthening tenant protections.
Laura Dobbs, director of policy for Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, gave progress on housing policy an “A-” this past legislative session. She said many housing bills that had previously been vetoed by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin were finally signed into law by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
“I think, for the first time, housing featured in a really real way,” Dobbs said in an interview. “There’s a whole affordability agenda from the Democrats, and housing affordability was really top line on that.”
Virginia is short 159,765 affordable rental homes for extremely poor renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Eviction rates in Virginia dipped during the pandemic, thanks in large part to rent relief programs, but have since climbed back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels, according to a report from Virginia Commonwealth University.
One bill that aims to help people avoid eviction will give renters 14 days to respond when their landlord tries to evict them. Currently, they have just five.
“I would say this is a banner year for getting tenant protections passed,” Dobbs said.
Housing conditions
Another bill that passed will allow tenants to bring up the conditions of their homes in court as a defense against eviction even if they are behind on rent. Currently, renters have to pay off what they owe before they can tell a judge they lack hot water or have mold on their walls.
“It also makes it easier for tenants to file a proactive case against their landlord for bad conditions issues,” Dobbs said. “It used to be you had to be current on your rent in order to file that lawsuit, but this legislation eliminates that requirement, so that tenants can actually have their day in court if the landlord isn’t fixing the serious health and safety issues on the property.”
State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) carried the bill in the Senate. She said she was shocked to learn renters could not bring up the conditions of their homes when landlords tried to evict them.
“I just recently know of someone who had no hot water for four months in their apartment,” Boysko said in an interview. “And they didn’t have the ability to bring that up in court.”
Other bills that passed will make it easier for tenants to access eviction diversion programs and require landlords to accept checks and money orders for rent payments.
Rent gouging
One tenant protection that didn’t pass this session was aimed at preventing landlords from jacking up rents at unreasonable rates.
Boysko carried a bill that would have allowed localities to adopt anti-rent gouging ordinances. Localities would be able to cap annual rent increases at 3%, but landlords could apply for exemptions to account for major capital expenses. The bill died despite compromises made to address landlords’ concerns, Boysko said.
“I think it’s a common sense, reasonable thing,” Boysko said. “This was something that had broad support from the communities who are dealing with these issues, and it’s my hope that it will become law next year.”
Boysko said that as Virginia works to bolster its supply of affordable housing, it must also strengthen tenant protections through measures such as an anti-rent-gouging bill, which she plans to reintroduce during the 2027 legislative session.
“We have to have a variety of tools to address the housing crisis that we’re in,” Boysko said. “Anti-rent-gouging is one of those tools to address it for immediate protection for these folks.”
