Virginia Eviction Notice
Virginia eviction notice: the 14-day pay-rent notice (up from 5 days) under Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1245. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
Ask which Virginia statute covers a curable lease violation, and which one covers a safety threat, and the answer is the same: Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1245. Rather than spreading nonpayment, curable violations, incurable violations, and safety-threat terminations across separate code sections the way many states do, Virginia folds all four into one section's lettered subsections: (F) nonpayment, (A)-(B) a curable breach, (C) a non-remediable breach and its safety-threat carve-out. What follows here turns those subsections into an actual notice document to fill out and serve, not a summary of Virginia eviction law in general; the version to serve depends on which letter fits what happened. The subsection served most often, nonpayment under (F), changed recently: a 2025 amendment nearly tripled its window from 5 days to 14, and this page's documentText already carries that current figure. Subsection (A)-(B) runs two clocks at once: it states a 30-day termination date, but the tenant's actual deadline to fix the problem is only 21 days inside that window, so the number on the page and the number that matters differ. Subsection (C) reaches furthest: a criminal or willful act that threatens health or safety, including illegal drug activity, gets no waiting period at all, termination and possession follow the moment the act occurs. Every subsection sits inside the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, binding every jurisdiction in the Commonwealth and unmodifiable by any locality.
Key Things to Know
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Ask which statute covers nonpayment, which one covers a curable violation, which one covers an incurable violation, and which one covers a safety threat, and Virginia gives the same answer every time: Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1245 handles all four as lettered subsections in one section rather than four separate statutes, and the written notice this page produces is that document, the step that has to happen before a landlord can file an unlawful detainer lawsuit in Virginia's General District Court.
- 2
Subsection (F) is the one served most often, and it just got longer: a 2025 amendment nearly tripled the pay-or-quit window for unpaid rent from 5 days to 14, and that same 14-day period also covers a rent check or electronic funds transfer that was returned or stopped in bad faith.
- 3
Two numbers do different jobs inside subsection (A)-(B): a curable violation's notice states a 30-day termination date, but the tenant's actual deadline to fix the lease or health-and-safety problem is only 21 days inside that window, and keeping the tenancy depends on hitting the 21-day mark, not the 30-day one.
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Subsection (C) removes the fix-it option once a violation is classified as non-remediable, though the notice period itself doesn't shrink: still 30 days, just with no chance to cure inside it.
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That same subsection (C) has one more layer: a criminal or willful act that threatens health or safety, including illegal drug activity, skips the clock entirely. The landlord may terminate and seek possession the moment it happens, no 30 days, no 21 days, no waiting period of any length, the only zero-day path anywhere in the statute.
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None of these subsections bend by locality. Code of Virginia Sections 55.1-1200 through 55.1-1262, the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, houses Section 55.1-1245 and applies uniformly to every jurisdiction in the Commonwealth; no city or county government may modify it.
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Look for a pre-filing notice template on the Virginia Judiciary's landlord-tenant forms page and none exists; the closest listed form, DC-421, only opens the court case after the notice period has already run. Statute fills that gap instead, requiring the acts or omissions in breach and the termination date, and Section 55.1-1202 treats the notice as served once it reaches the tenant's last known place of residence, which may be the dwelling unit itself.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in Virginia, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
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Virginia Requirements for Eviction Notice
30-day notice with no cure option for a tenant breach that is not remediable (other than the criminal/safety-threat category, which has no waiting period at all). A repeat of substantially the same violation the tenant already remedied once also loses the cure right and gets a 30-day notice with no new opportunity to fix it.
14-day pay-or-quit notice, raised from 5 days by a 2025 amendment. The same 14-day period applies if a rent check or electronic funds transfer was returned for insufficient funds or a stop-payment order was placed in bad faith.
30-day notice stating the acts or omissions in breach and a termination date at least 30 days after receipt, but the tenant's actual cure window inside that notice is only 21 days. Remedy the breach by repair, payment of damages, or otherwise before the date stated in the notice, and the rental agreement does not terminate.
The statutory basis for every notice type on this page and the General District Court process that follows if the tenant does not comply: Code of Virginia Sections 55.1-1200 through 55.1-1262 (Title 55.1, Chapter 12). The Act applies to every jurisdiction in the Commonwealth and cannot be waived or modified by any locality.
Notice to the tenant is served at the tenant's last known place of residence, which may be the dwelling unit itself; there is no ordered hierarchy of delivery methods like personal-service-first. Electronic delivery is permitted only if the rental agreement provides for it and the tenant has not requested paper notice. A landlord may delegate delivery to a managing agent or attorney.
Distinct from the for-cause notices above: ending a periodic tenancy without cause requires at least 30 days' notice for a month-to-month tenancy, or 7 days' notice for a week-to-week tenancy. A multifamily owner failing to renew 20 or more, or 50 percent, of its month-to-month tenancies within a consecutive 30-day period must give at least 60 days' notice to each affected tenant, unless the tenant failed to pay rent.
No waiting period at all for a criminal or willful act that is not remediable and poses a threat to health or safety, including any illegal drug activity. The landlord may terminate the rental agreement and proceed to obtain possession immediately, without waiting for a conviction of any related criminal offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the cause. Nonpayment of rent gets 14 days to pay before the rental agreement can terminate (Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1245(F), raised from 5 days by a 2025 amendment). A curable lease violation gets a 30-day notice, but the tenant only has 21 days inside that notice to fix the problem and keep the lease. A non-remediable violation gets a 30-day notice with no cure option. And for a criminal or willful act that poses a threat to health or safety, including drug activity, the landlord may terminate and seek possession immediately, with no waiting period at all.
Almost never. Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1245 requires written notice before a landlord can terminate a rental agreement for nonpayment or a lease violation, and the unlawful detainer summons statute, Section 8.01-126, defines the "termination notice" the court must see as one given under Section 55.1-1245. The narrow exception is a criminal or willful act that is not remediable and poses a threat to health or safety: the statute lets the landlord terminate immediately, without the 30-day wait that applies to other non-remediable violations.
At minimum, identify the landlord, the tenant, and the rental address, and state the acts or omissions that make up the breach. For a curable violation, Section 55.1-1245(A) requires the notice to specify what the tenant must fix and state the 30-day termination date; the tenant separately gets 21 days inside that period to actually remedy it. For a repeat violation of a kind the tenant already fixed once, the notice should reference the earlier notice by date, since the repeat gets no new cure chance.
No. The Virginia Judiciary's landlord-tenant forms page lists no state-mandated pre-filing notice-to-quit or pay-or-quit form; the only official eviction-related form listed, DC-421, is the Summons for Unlawful Detainer filed with the court after the notice period has already run. A landlord can write the pre-filing notice itself, as long as it contains the content Section 55.1-1245 requires.
Count from the date the tenant receives the notice, not the date it's mailed or signed. For nonpayment, count 14 days. For a curable violation, the termination date on the notice must be at least 30 days out, but track the 21-day mark separately, since that's the tenant's real deadline to fix the problem and keep the lease. For a non-remediable violation, count 30 days with no cure. For a criminal or safety-threat act, there is no waiting period to count at all.
Code of Virginia Section 55.1-1202 treats notice as served on the tenant at the tenant's last known place of residence, which can be the dwelling unit itself; it doesn't set an ordered list of delivery methods the way some states require personal service first. Electronic delivery is allowed only if the lease provides for it and the tenant hasn't asked for paper notice instead. A landlord may also have a managing agent or attorney handle delivery.
No. The notice is the first step, a written warning that starts the pay, cure, or vacate clock. If the tenant doesn't comply, the landlord's next step is filing a summons for unlawful detainer in General District Court, and Code of Virginia Section 8.01-126 requires the court to see a copy of the termination notice entered into evidence before it can enter an order of possession. Only a court judgment and a subsequently issued writ of possession lead to actual removal; the notice itself does not.
If the tenant hasn't paid, cured, or vacated by the stated deadline (or immediately, for a criminal or safety-threat act), the notice alone doesn't remove anyone from the property. The landlord's next step is filing a summons for unlawful detainer with a magistrate or the General District Court for the county or city where the property is located, which opens the formal court case.