In Virginia, a nonpayment notice gives the tenant 14 days to pay and must say you intend to terminate the lease if they don't. For a bounced check or rejected transfer, the notice can require cash, cashier's check, certified check or a completed electronic transfer.
Step by step in Virginia
Confirm the rent was unpaid when due.
Write a notice stating the nonpayment and that you will terminate the rental agreement if rent isn't paid within 14 days.
For a bad check or rejected transfer, say payment must be by cash, cashier's check, certified check or completed electronic transfer.
Serve the notice and keep proof.
After 14 days without payment, terminate and file for possession.
This is general information, not legal advice. The verified rule and official sources above control. Check the source or a local attorney for your situation.
Related Virginia rules
Eviction court process & timeline
The initial hearing on an unlawful detainer must be held within 21 days of filing (30 days at the latest), and the summons must be served at least 10 days before the hearing.
$36 court fee. For all court and magistrate services in each unlawful detainer filed in general district court, the fee is $36. Other charges, such as service of process, are set by separate statutes.
If a landlord willfully and without court authority locks out a tenant, interrupts an essential service, or makes the premises unsafe, the tenant can petition the general district court. A hearing is held within 5 calendar days, and the court can order possession or service restored.
A landlord may not raise rent, cut services, sue or threaten to sue for possession, or end a periodic tenancy after learning that the tenant complained to a code agency, complained or sued under the Act, joined a tenant organization, or testified against the landlord. Market-rate increases and service changes applied to all tenants are allowed.
If a tenant stays without consent after the lease ends, the landlord may sue for possession and recover actual damages, attorney fees and court costs, unless the tenant proves the failure to leave was reasonable.
A tenant may file a 'tenant's assertion' in general district court over serious unremedied conditions, but only after written notice and a reasonable time to fix (more than 30 days is presumed unreasonable). The tenant must pay rent into the court within 5 days of each due date.
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