West Virginia Eviction Notice
West Virginia eviction notice: no pay-or-quit notice is required before filing under W. Va. Code Section 55-3A-1. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
West Virginia is one of the few states that does not require a landlord to serve a pay-or-quit or cure-or-quit notice before going to court. For nonpayment of rent, a breach of a lease warranty or covenant, or deliberate or negligent property damage, a landlord may file a verified "Petition for Summary Relief for Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property" directly in magistrate or circuit court under West Virginia Code Section 55-3A-1, with no pre-filing demand notice as a legal precondition. The compact notice text below is still useful: a landlord who wants to send one can use it as a courtesy or a paper trail, distinct from the required post-filing hearing notice covered further down this page. What West Virginia law does require is notice of what happens next: once the petition is filed, the court must schedule a hearing between 5 and 10 judicial days later, and the tenant must be served with notice of that hearing and given 5 days from receipt to file a written defense. Separately, ending a periodic tenancy without cause, not a wrongful-occupation case, still requires advance written notice under Section 37-6-5: 3 months for a year-to-year tenancy, or one full rental period for a shorter periodic tenancy. Self-help removal, changing locks or shutting off utilities, is never a substitute for either process.
Key Things to Know
- 1
An eviction notice is a written notice, or in West Virginia's case sometimes a court filing that itself functions as the tenant's notice, used to warn a tenant that a tenancy is ending before the landlord can lawfully remove them.
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West Virginia does not require a pre-filing pay-or-quit or cure-or-quit notice for nonpayment of rent, breach of a lease warranty or covenant, or deliberate or negligent property damage. A landlord may file a wrongful occupation petition directly. (West Virginia Code Section 55-3A-1(a)(3))
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What is required instead is notice of the court hearing: after the petition is filed, the court schedules a hearing 5 to 10 judicial days later, and the tenant must be served with notice of that hearing, by Rule 4 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested. (West Virginia Code Section 55-3A-1(b), (c))
- 4
There is no statutory cure period before filing for any ground. Once served, the tenant has 5 days from receipt of the hearing notice to file a written defense, and at the hearing may raise any defense available in an ejectment or unlawful detainer action. (West Virginia Code Sections 55-3A-1(c), 55-3A-2)
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The governing law is West Virginia Code Chapter 55, Article 3A, Remedies for Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property, Sections 55-3A-1 through 55-3A-3, which sets the petition, hearing, and enforcement process.
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Ending a periodic tenancy without cause is a separate track from a wrongful-occupation case. It requires 3 months' written notice for a year-to-year tenancy, or notice for one full period before a shorter period ends; it does not apply to a fixed-term lease ending on a stated date. (West Virginia Code Section 37-6-5)
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There's no state-mandated form for a pre-filing notice, because none is required. The court filing itself, the Petition for Summary Relief Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property (Magistrate Court form MLTPTWR), has content the statute requires: ownership or agency status, a property description, the specific ground with details, and a request for possession. (West Virginia Code Section 55-3A-1(a))
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in West 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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West Virginia Requirements for Eviction Notice
For nonpayment of rent, breach of a lease warranty or covenant, or deliberate or negligent property damage (or knowingly permitting another person to cause it), West Virginia law does not require the landlord to serve a pay-or-quit or cure-or-quit notice before filing. The landlord may file a verified Petition for Summary Relief for Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property directly in magistrate or circuit court.
Once the petition is filed, the court must schedule a hearing not less than 5 nor more than 10 judicial days later. A judicial day excludes only Sunday and legal holidays, so Saturdays count. The petitioner must immediately serve the tenant with notice of the hearing, by Rule 4 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested, and that notice must inform the tenant of a 5-day window from receipt to file a written defense.
West Virginia's wrongful occupation statute does not offer a pre-filing cure period for any ground. After being served with the hearing notice, the tenant may assert any defense available in an ejectment or unlawful detainer action. If the court grants a continuance at the tenant's request, the tenant must pay into court any periodic rent becoming due during the continuance.
Notice of the hearing must be served on the tenant in accordance with Rule 4 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure, or by certified mail, return receipt requested. The statute gives the petitioner a choice between the two methods, with no stated order of preference.
The statutory basis for the petition, hearing, and possession-order process on this page: West Virginia Code Chapter 55, Article 3A, Remedies for Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property. If the tenant remains past the date the court's order specifies, the sheriff, not the landlord, removes the tenant.
Distinct from the wrongful occupation petition above: ending a periodic tenancy without cause requires written notice at least 3 months before the end of a year-to-year tenancy, or notice for one full rental period before the end of any shorter period. This section does not apply where the lease fixes a different notice period, dispenses with notice, or ends on a stated date.
No pre-filing notice form exists, because West Virginia does not require a pre-filing notice. The magistrate court petition itself has statutorily required content: the petitioner's ownership or agency status, a property description sufficient to identify it, the specific ground with a description of the arrearage, breach, or act, and a prayer for possession. The West Virginia Judiciary publishes an official petition form, MLTPTWR, built around these elements.
Frequently Asked Questions
West Virginia generally does not set a fixed pre-filing notice period for nonpayment of rent, a lease breach, or property damage; the landlord can file a wrongful occupation petition under West Virginia Code Section 55-3A-1 without first serving a notice at all. What is timed by statute is what happens after filing: the court must schedule a hearing 5 to 10 judicial days later, and the tenant gets 5 days from receiving that hearing notice to file a written defense. Separately, ending a periodic tenancy without cause needs 3 months' notice for a year-to-year tenancy, or one full period's notice for a shorter periodic tenancy, under Section 37-6-5.
For nonpayment, a lease violation, or property damage, yes in the narrow sense that no pre-filing notice to the tenant is legally required before the landlord files a wrongful occupation petition in magistrate or circuit court. But the landlord cannot remove a tenant without any notice at all: once the petition is filed, the tenant must be served with notice of the court hearing, and self-help removal, changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings without a court order, is never a lawful substitute.
A wrongful occupation petition under Section 55-3A-1 is for cause: nonpayment of rent, breach of a lease warranty or covenant, or property damage, and it requires no pre-filing notice, only the post-filing hearing notice. A no-cause termination notice under Section 37-6-5 is different: it ends a periodic tenancy (year-to-year or shorter) without any cause at all, but it must be given in advance, 3 months for a year-to-year tenancy or one full period for a shorter one, before the tenancy actually ends.
Under Section 55-3A-1(a), the verified petition must state that the petitioner is the owner or the owner's agent with the right to possession, describe the property well enough to identify it, describe the specific ground, rent arrearage, breach, or damage, in detail, and include a request for possession. The Magistrate Court's own form for this, MLTPTWR, is built around these same required elements.
Not for a pre-filing notice, since West Virginia doesn't require one for nonpayment, lease violations, or damage. What does have a state form is the court filing itself: the West Virginia Judiciary publishes form MLTPTWR, the Petition for Summary Relief Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property, for use in magistrate court. A Section 37-6-5 no-cause termination notice has no prescribed government form either, just a written-notice requirement.
No. West Virginia's wrongful occupation statute doesn't offer a pre-filing window to fix a rent arrearage, a lease breach, or damage before the landlord can file. The tenant's opportunity comes after filing: raising a defense at the hearing, the same defenses available in an ejectment or unlawful detainer case. If the tenant requests and gets a continuance of the hearing, the tenant must pay any rent that comes due during that continuance into court, which can function practically like a chance to catch up, though it isn't a formal statutory cure period.
Count judicial days, not calendar days, from the date the petition is filed. Under magistrate court rules, a judicial day is any day except Sunday and legal holidays, so Saturdays count. The hearing must be scheduled no sooner than 5 judicial days and no later than 10 judicial days after filing, and the tenant's 5-day window to file a written defense runs from the date the tenant actually receives the hearing notice, not the date it was sent.
If the tenant doesn't appear, answer, or file any other responsive pleading by the time of the hearing, the court enters an order granting the landlord immediate possession of the property. If the tenant continues occupying the property past the date the court's order specifies, the sheriff, not the landlord, removes the tenant and enforces the order.