Few things start a landlord and tenant argument faster than a broken appliance and a question about who is supposed to fix it. The tenant says it's the owner's problem. The owner assumes somebody abused it. Nobody has opened the lease.
This one is for rental owners around Richmond, whether you're one of the private landlords in Virginia who self-manage a single house or an investor adding doors. We'll sort out what Virginia law puts on the landlord, what it puts on the tenant, what a lease can move from one side to the other, and where the gray areas show up. We'll also cover what happens when a repair drags on.
“$1,500 | or one month's rent if greater, the repair-and-deduct cap”
In This Guide
Who Owns What at a Glance
Virginia Code § 55.1-1220 covers the landlord's duties and § 55.1-1227 covers the tenant's. Here's the quick version.
| Item | Landlord | Tenant |
|---|---|---|
| Heat, plumbing, electrical, HVAC | Keeps systems in good, safe working order | Uses them reasonably, reports problems |
| Appliances the landlord supplies | Repairs them and keeps them working | Doesn't damage them deliberately or negligently |
| Smoke alarms | Provides working alarms and a certificate | Doesn't disable them or pull batteries |
| Trash | Provides receptacles, arranges removal | Disposes of trash properly |
| Moisture and mold | Prevents buildup, remediates visible mold | Prevents moisture, reports it promptly |
| Pests | Depends on cause and timing | Keeps the unit pest-free, reports promptly |
That's the starting point. A lease can adjust a few pieces, and we'll get to those.
What the Landlord Has to Keep Working
Virginia is landlord-friendly overall, but the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets a floor that lease language can't lower. Under § 55.1-1220, the landlord has to handle the following.
- Codes and habitability: Follow building and housing codes that affect health and safety, and make the repairs needed to keep the home fit to live in.
- Core systems: Keep electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in good, safe working order.
- Supplied appliances: Keep working any appliance or facility the landlord provides.
- Water, heat and cooling: Supply running water, reasonable hot water, heat in season and AC if the home has it.
- Moisture and mold: Keep the home in a condition that prevents moisture buildup and mold.
- Trash and alarms: Provide trash receptacles, arrange removal, and give the tenant a smoke alarm certificate.
There's one exception on the water, heat and cooling item. It doesn't apply when the equipment is under the tenant's exclusive control or comes from a direct public utility connection.
The new-appliance trap
Say an owner installs a brand-new dishwasher before move-in, and six months later it quits. The owner assumes the tenant broke it. Turns out the motor failed from a manufacturing defect.
Still the landlord's repair. The appliance came with the home, and its age doesn't change the duty. If the tenant had wrecked it through negligence, that's a different conversation.
How far liability goes
Landlords are not on the hook for every injury tied to disrepair. Under § 55.1-1220(B), a landlord is liable for a tenant's actual damages only when the landlord's failure to use ordinary care in carrying out these duties proximately caused them. In practice, a big part of ordinary care is responding when someone tells you something is broken.
What Tenants Are Responsible For
Tenants carry their own list under § 55.1-1227.
- Keep the unit clean and safe, dispose of trash properly and keep plumbing fixtures clean.
- Keep the unit free of insects and pests, and report problems promptly.
- Use utilities and appliances reasonably, and keep tenant-paid utilities turned on.
- Don't deliberately or negligently damage the home, or let a guest do it.
- Don't disable smoke or carbon monoxide alarms, including by pulling working batteries.
- Make reasonable efforts to prevent moisture and mold, and tell the landlord promptly about either one.
Pests deserve a closer look. A tenant who waits too long to report an infestation pays the extra treatment cost the delay caused. A tenant who caused the infestation pays the full cost. So no, pest control isn't automatically the landlord's bill.
Renters here include young professionals, people near VCU and UR, and military-connected households. They move often, and few have read anything on VA tenants rights and responsibilities. So clear onboarding matters more than most owners think.
What a Lease Can and Can't Shift to the Tenant
A landlord and tenant can agree in writing that the tenant handles certain items. The list is short.
- Common-area upkeep
- Trash
- Water, heat and AC supply
- Specific repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations and remodeling
The agreement has to be made in good faith, not to dodge the landlord's duties. The general habitability and code-compliance duties aren't on the list at all.
The word "specific" is doing a lot of work. "Tenant handles all repairs" is not a clause you can count on. "Tenant replaces the HVAC filter every 90 days" is. A free VA lease agreement you grab online may carry a vague maintenance clause that names nothing, so check what yours actually says.
The Gray Areas That Cause Most Arguments
Moisture and mold
Picture a landlord whose tenant reports a small roof leak after a storm. The landlord decides to wait and see. Two months later, the tenant reports visible mold on the ceiling.
A patch that might have run $300 to $600 is now a remediation job. Once mold is visible, the landlord has to remediate promptly, reinspect afterward and give the tenant a summary of the remediation.
HOA communities
In Chesterfield and Henrico, many rentals sit inside an HOA. That adds a third party to the maintenance question, since the HOA may control exterior elements, common areas or certain systems. Whether you're comparing property management companies Chesterfield VA has to offer or handling it yourself, put the HOA's responsibilities in the lease in plain words. Property management in Midlothian, VA often means reading the HOA rulebook next to the lease.
Older Homes and Seasons Make It Harder
Richmond's older housing stock in places like Church Hill, The Fan, the Museum District and Jackson Ward often has aging plumbing, older wiring and deferred maintenance. That muddies the question of whether something is a structural issue or tenant misuse. Owners in those neighborhoods should expect more maintenance calls.
Richmond's weather adds predictable pressure points.
- July and August: HVAC runs hard, and filter questions pop up.
- January and February: Hard freezes put pipes at risk.
- Fall: Roofs and gutters take the beating.
A service call to diagnose a problem generally runs somewhere around $50 to $250 before repairs begin. That's cheap compared to arguing for a month about whose problem it is.
What Happens When a Repair Drags On
Tenants have more options than most landlords realize. None of them is simply withholding rent.
- Repair-and-deduct: For a material noncompliance or a serious health or safety condition, like rodents or no heat or water, the tenant gives written notice. The landlord has 14 days to take reasonable steps. If nothing happens, the tenant may hire a licensed contractor, recover actual costs up to the greater of one month's rent or $1,500, and deduct them from rent with an itemized statement and receipts.
- The 21/30-day notice: If a breach materially affects health and safety, the tenant can send written notice that the lease ends at least 30 days after receipt unless the landlord fixes it within 21 days.
- Court action: A tenant can file a tenant's assertion in General District Court. Delay of more than 30 days after written notice is presumed unreasonable, and under the current version the tenant must pay rent into court within 5 days of its due date. A new version takes effect January 1, 2027, so check the current text.
Repair-and-deduct doesn't apply if the tenant or a guest caused the problem, if the tenant denied access, or if the landlord already fixed it. And the landlord has a mirror remedy. If a tenant's breach materially affects health and safety, the landlord can serve the same kind of 21/30-day notice, and repairing or paying for the damage in time stops the termination.
Documentation Beats Good Intentions
If you've gone looking for the best landlord tips Richmond Virginia owners pass around, most come down to the same thing. Write it down.
Most owners who lose a damage dispute don't lose because the tenant didn't cause the damage. They lose because the move-in condition wasn't documented well enough. Phone photos snapped on move-in day often aren't detailed or timestamped in a way that holds up. Virginia also sets its own rules for returning deposits, so check the current statute.
Here's a simple checklist.
- Take dated photos of every room, including inside appliances, under sinks and in closets.
- Complete a written condition report and have the tenant sign it.
- Log the smoke alarm check.
- Keep every request and repair in one searchable place.
Why We Don't Hand Small Repairs to Tenants
Some owners write leases that make tenants fix anything small. We think it usually backfires.
Say a tenant ignores a slow drip under the sink because paying for the fix isn't worth it to them. Six months later it's a rotted cabinet and a bigger bill. When all requests, even small ones, go through one documented channel, the asset stays protected and the paper trail is there at move-out.
Johnny Wilson, who owns PMI James River, came to property management through rental investing, so we look at maintenance the way an owner does, in terms of cash flow and long-term value. We manage single-family homes, multi-family, townhomes and condos, and Section 8/HUD properties.
How We Handle Maintenance Requests
Tenants submit requests through our Rentvine portal, or by email, phone or text. Rentvine logs every one from the moment it comes in. Our response times run near-immediate for emergencies, 1 to 3 business hours for urgent requests and one business day for routine ones.
One vendor who works with many property managers put it this way: "He takes a thorough personal interest in the properties he represents. He is timely accurate thorough in his handling of issues that can cost an owner money."
An out-of-state owner wrote that because of our attention and communication, "my property is not a headache." That's the goal of PMI rental management done right. Plenty of owners find PMI property management in Virginia appealing for the systems behind it, but what matters is how the work gets handled on the ground.
If sorting out who fixes what feels harder than it should, we're open to a conversation.
FAQ
Who pays when an appliance the landlord supplied breaks?
The landlord does, since Virginia requires landlords to keep supplied appliances in good, safe working order. The exception is damage the tenant caused deliberately or negligently.
Can a lease make the tenant responsible for all repairs?
No. A written agreement can shift only certain items, such as common-area upkeep, trash, and water, heat and AC supply, plus specific repairs and maintenance tasks. It has to be in good faith, and the habitability and code-compliance duties stay with the landlord.
Can a tenant just withhold rent if a repair isn't made?
Not simply. The current remedies are repair-and-deduct after 14 days' written notice, the 21/30-day termination notice, and a court tenant's assertion with rent paid into court.
Who pays for pest control?
It depends. Tenants must keep the unit pest-free and report problems promptly, and they pay the extra cost caused by delayed reporting, or the full cost if the infestation is their fault.
Is a landlord liable for every injury caused by disrepair?
No. Liability covers actual damages proximately caused by the landlord's failure to use ordinary care in carrying out maintenance duties. Prompt responses and written records are the best protection.
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