Q: What is the law concerning eviction in page county Virginia.
My family of 5 including myself live with my mother-in-law & her boyfriend but she just on the 13th of Sept passed from covid. We are not on the lease. We did sign a paper when we moved in here for 4 months & we've been here almost 2yrs. though, the boyfriend being friends with the landlord. Long story short there were issues with the boyfriend he left, came the next day & got a bunch of stuff & hasn't been back until today when he showed up with the landlord (his friend) who I spoke with & he essentially told me 2 get in touch with his wife. After the landlord & boyfriend we found an eviction notice for the boyfriend taped on door stating he had 5 days or they would pursue legal action. I know from being close with my mother-in-law that they only paid 550.00 rent & this notice states that he owes 750 back rent. I am 99% sure that is false Nanna would not be behind on her rent that's jus how she was. But ok what am I to do? Only my husband works & he missed a month from covid
A:
In Virginia, the laws that govern landlord-tenant matters are found in the Virginia Code (statewide laws), and not in a county-by-county set of rules.
In a situation in which the landlord claims the tenant/occupants are behind in the monthly rent, the proper procedure is for the landlord to give the tenant a written 5 day notice to pay or quit. If the rent is not paid within the 5 days, then the landlord can file an Unlawful Detainer with the court and seek an order of possession. Only a court can order an eviction, and only a Sheriff/Deputy Sheriff can serve the eviction at the premises. A landlord has no legal authority to serve a notice of eviction.
If you dispute the rent arrearage as claimed by the landlord, get your records together to prove the rent payments and show a copy of those rent payments to the landlord. That should settle the dispute about rent arrearage.
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