Starting July 1, 2027, Virginia will require a specific group of landlords to offer a written rent payment plan before terminating a rental agreement for certain nonpayment balances. The rule does not apply to every landlord or every delinquency. It turns on the landlord's ownership interests and the amount of rent owed.
That makes the change a notice-workflow issue, not simply an optional payment arrangement. A qualifying landlord needs to recognize when the new rule applies before serving the notice that starts the nonpayment branch of the eviction process.
For the broader sequence from notice through court and possession, PMI James River's Virginia eviction process guide covers the full framework. This article stays focused on the narrower 2027 question: when the payment-plan offer is mandatory, what it must contain, and what happens after the tenant accepts or declines it.
Key Takeaways
- The mandatory payment-plan rule takes effect July 1, 2027. It is enacted now but is not yet in effect.
- It applies to a landlord who owns more than four Virginia rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity.
- The rule applies only when rent is unpaid when due and the exact amount of rent owed is no more than one month's rent plus qualifying late charges.
- The enacted Code gives the tenant 14 days to pay the exact amount due or enter the offered plan. An older HB95 bill summary still says five days, but the current future-effective Code text says 14.
- The landlord is required to offer the statutory plan only once during the term of the rental agreement, but a later default under the plan requires a new 14-day cure notice before termination.
In This Guide
- When the New Payment-Plan Rule Takes Effect
- Which Virginia Landlords Must Offer a Payment Plan
- When the Payment-Plan Offer Is Required
- What the Required Payment Plan Must Include
- Why the Deadline Is 14 Days, Not Five
- What Happens After the Tenant Enters the Plan
- How the Rule Fits With Virginia's Other Nonpayment Rules
- What Landlords Should Update Before July 1, 2027
When the New Payment-Plan Rule Takes Effect
The payment-plan requirement is part of the Virginia landlord-tenant law changes enacted in 2026, but it has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. The current future-effective version of Virginia Code § 55.1-1245 adds the rule in subsection G.
That timing is important. Virginia's ordinary nonpayment notice already changed from five days to 14 days on July 1, 2026. The 2027 law does something different. It requires a payment-plan offer in a narrower group of cases before a qualifying landlord may terminate for nonpayment.
Which Virginia Landlords Must Offer a Payment Plan
The ownership threshold is the first test. Subsection G applies to a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units in Virginia, or who owns more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity.
That means the rule is not triggered by a single rental home or a four-unit portfolio based on unit count alone. The statute also expressly includes qualifying ownership interests held through a business entity, so the ownership review should not look only at properties titled personally in the landlord's name.
Key point: A landlord should determine the subsection G ownership threshold before a nonpayment notice is generated. The correct notice depends on who owns the rental portfolio, not just what happened on one tenant ledger.
When the Payment-Plan Offer Is Required
Meeting the ownership threshold is not enough by itself. The payment-plan mandate applies when rent is unpaid when due and the exact amount of rent owed is less than or equal to one month's rent plus any late charges that are contracted for in the rental agreement and allowed by law.
If both tests are met, the landlord must serve a written notice stating the exact amount due and owed and offering the statutory payment plan. If the amount owed is above that threshold, subsection G does not create the mandatory payment-plan offer for that default, although Virginia's other nonpayment notice rules still apply.
This distinction is why a single generic "late rent" template is no longer enough for every portfolio. Beginning July 1, 2027, a qualifying landlord's notice workflow needs to evaluate both ownership and the balance before selecting the correct notice.
What the Required Payment Plan Must Include
Subsection G sets the core structure of the required offer. For a case covered by subsection G, the notice and payment plan must provide for:
- The exact amount due and owed. The written notice must tell the tenant the amount that must be paid.
- Equal monthly installments. The balance is divided into equal monthly payments.
- A limited plan period. The repayment period is the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement.
- Early payoff without a penalty. The tenant may repay the full remaining balance at any time during the plan period without incurring a penalty.
- A limited late-fee restriction. While the tenant makes timely plan payments, the landlord may not charge additional late fees in connection with the unpaid rental amount placed into the plan.
- A 14-day choice. The notice must tell the tenant that failure to pay the exact amount due or enter the offered plan within 14 days can allow the landlord to terminate the rental agreement and proceed to seek possession.
The late-fee restriction should be read narrowly. It concerns additional late fees connected with the unpaid rental amount placed into the plan while the tenant is making the plan payments on time. The tenant still has to pay current rent when it comes due.
Why the Deadline Is 14 Days, Not Five
Virginia's official HB95 legislative page creates an easy source of confusion. Its enacted-summary language still describes a five-day response period.
The current enacted Code text says 14 days. In subsection G, the notice must tell the tenant that the tenant has 14 days to pay the exact amount due and owed or enter the offered payment plan. The subsection then again states that if the tenant does neither within 14 days, the landlord may terminate and proceed to seek possession.
For implementation, the enacted Code text controls the statutory deadline. Landlords preparing forms, software rules, staff instructions, or attorney templates for July 1, 2027 should use 14 days rather than importing the older five-day wording from the bill summary.
What Happens After the Tenant Enters the Plan
An accepted plan does not freeze the rest of the tenancy. The tenant must continue paying current rent when due and must make the agreed plan installments when due.
If current rent goes unpaid or a payment due under the plan is missed, the landlord does not simply jump to termination. Subsection G requires a new written notice advising the tenant that the rental agreement will terminate unless the tenant pays the exact amount then due and owed within 14 days of receiving that notice.
The statute also limits the mandatory offer to once during the term of the rental agreement. A landlord is not required by subsection G to offer another statutory plan every time a tenant falls behind during the same lease term.
How the Rule Fits With Virginia's Other Nonpayment Rules
Virginia's baseline nonpayment rule remains the 14-day notice in § 55.1-1245(F). PMI James River's Virginia 14-day pay or quit notice article covers that statewide requirement. Subsection G begins by applying notwithstanding subsection F, so qualifying payment-plan cases need the additional subsection G terms rather than just the ordinary nonpayment demand.
The 2027 payment-plan rule is also different from Virginia's Eviction Diversion Program. The Eviction Diversion Program in § 55.1-1262 is a court-stage process with separate eligibility requirements after an unlawful detainer case reaches court. Subsection G is a pre-termination notice requirement.
Virginia is also adding other notice requirements effective July 1, 2027. Those changes should be coordinated in the same notice system, but they do not change the ownership and balance tests that trigger this payment-plan rule.
What Landlords Should Update Before July 1, 2027
The cleanest implementation is to treat the new rule as a branching workflow, not a paragraph pasted onto every nonpayment notice. Before July 1, 2027, a landlord or property manager handling a qualifying portfolio should be able to answer the following questions before a notice goes out:
- Does the landlord meet the subsection G ownership threshold?
- Is the unpaid-rent balance within the statutory one-month-rent-plus-late-charges threshold?
- Has the required subsection G payment plan already been offered during this rental-agreement term?
- Does the notice state the exact amount due and include the required plan terms?
- Can the accounting system separately track current rent, the payment-plan balance, and timely plan installments?
- If the tenant later defaults, is the new 14-day cure notice triggered before termination?
At PMI James River, the operating rule is to serve the required nonpayment notice promptly once rent is late rather than spend extra days negotiating informally before the statutory clock begins. The 2027 law does not call for delaying that response. It makes correct classification more important: the system needs to identify the right notice path immediately and include the payment-plan offer when subsection G requires it.
HB95 also directs the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a sample payment plan for landlords. Before the rule takes effect, landlords should check DHCD's landlord and tenant resources for the current state materials rather than building a permanent template from an older bill summary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Every Virginia Landlord Have to Offer a Payment Plan Before Eviction?
No. The July 1, 2027 requirement applies only to landlords who meet subsection G's ownership threshold and only when the unpaid-rent balance meets the statutory amount test. Virginia's ordinary nonpayment rules still apply outside that narrower payment-plan trigger.
Is the Payment-Plan Deadline Five Days or 14 Days?
It is 14 days under the current enacted future-effective text of § 55.1-1245(G). The official HB95 summary still contains five-day language, but the Code text uses 14 days for the tenant's initial choice to pay or enter the plan.
Can a Landlord Charge Late Fees While the Plan Is Active?
The statute prohibits additional late fees in connection with the unpaid rental amount placed into the plan while the tenant makes timely payments under the plan. That restriction should not be read as eliminating the tenant's obligation to pay current rent when due.
Must the Landlord Offer Another Plan If the Tenant Defaults?
Subsection G says the landlord is required to offer the statutory payment plan only once during the term of the rental agreement. If the tenant later misses current rent or a plan installment, however, the landlord must send the new 14-day cure notice described in subsection G before terminating on that default.
Is This the Same as Virginia's Eviction Diversion Program?
No. The subsection G payment-plan offer happens before termination in qualifying nonpayment cases. Virginia's Eviction Diversion Program is a separate court-stage process with its own eligibility rules.
Make the New Rule Routine Before It Becomes Urgent
The July 1, 2027 change is manageable when the decision points are built into the rent-collection system ahead of time. The landlord needs to know whether subsection G applies, use the correct notice, offer the prescribed plan when required, track the plan separately from current rent, and issue the required cure notice if a later default occurs.
For Richmond-area owners who want rent collection, notices, documentation, and escalation handled through one operating system, PMI James River's Richmond property management services can manage the day-to-day process while keeping the owner informed at the decision points that matter.
Published: August 27, 2026
