Q: Can I ask someone to leave my house, from a verbal agreement that he pay his rent by buying groceries and cooking?
He is my daughter's boyfriend, and we had a verbal agreement, nothing written.
A:
In Virginia, an oral agreement is considered a contract. When's purpose is a residential lease, all the legal requirements embodied in the Code of Virginia for a landlord-tenant matter are applicable. If your daughter's boyfriend is seen by the law as a tenant, you must proceed with a written Notice to Pay or Quit and if he does not voluntarily lease, then to file an Unlawful Detainer action. You may know that there is a prohibition for a landlord to evict a tenant that is in force by order of the Virginia Supreme Court and that expires on June 28, 2020.
The Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to stop all court hearings associated with evictions for at least 20 days at the request of Gov. Ralph Northam, who says he’s developing a comprehensive rent relief program.
Chief Justice Donald Lemons said Monday, June 8, 2020, that he was extending his declaration of judicial emergency that suspends evictions through June 28. It’s the fifth time he’s extended the declaration, although non-emergency court proceedings — including evictions — started back up on May 18.
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