Q: I have a legal question about someone vacating my residence
I gave someone 45 days to vacate my home I gace a verbal,text message and written documents..they said ok and moved 80% of their stuff out and have not stayed at the home since but still have items there i reach.out and ask when they were coming to get there remainder of the items but they ignore my text plus they haven't Paid rent in a month so am I wrong to change the locks and have them contact me when they want the rest of the belongings due to me not being comfortable with them having access to my home although they have 30 days left ...I told her on the 15th of Feb she needed to be gone by the 31st of March but she was moving her items out thi s past Saturday what am I to do I do t want her in my house if she isn't staying there after she moved more than most of her items out
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A: I advise against taking "self-help". The Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act creates a high penalty for landlords who evict a tenant without obtaining a Judgement of Possession and Writ of Eviction through a Court. The penalty can exceed $5,000 plus attorney fees for the tenant. Additionally, if you go to Court, then the Judge will decide whether or not the Notices you provided to the tenant were legally sufficient. I recommend hiring an attorney, as it can be faster and cheaper than making mistakes in an eviction matter.
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