Landlord Won't Make Repairs in Virginia: What Can I Do?

1. Virginia law requires your landlord to follow local building and housing codes that protect your health and safety. Your landlord must also make all repairs needed to keep your home fit to live in.

   Code of Virginia § 55.1-1220(A)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

2. Your landlord must keep your home's electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, and other systems in good, safe working order. This includes elevators in apartment buildings that have them.

   Code of Virginia § 55.1-1220(A)(4)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

3. Tell your landlord in writing if something is broken that affects your health or safety. This can include no heat, no hot or cold water, no electricity, no working sewage system, or rodents. Your landlord then has 14 days from your written notice to take reasonable steps to fix it.

   Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244.1(B)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

4. Keep a copy of every message you send your landlord about repairs, and write down the date you sent each one. This can help prove your case later if you go to court.

   RenterLaw editorial

5. If your landlord does not take reasonable steps to fix it within 14 days of your written notice, you may hire a licensed contractor. For rats or mice, you may instead hire a licensed pest control business. You can get back what you paid, up to $1,500 or one month's rent, whichever is more. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays. For example, with $1,200 rent, the cap is $1,500. Give your landlord a bill and receipts for each cost before taking it off your rent. Only use a licensed contractor or pest control business and follow these steps, or your landlord may dispute it in court.

   RenterLaw editorial Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244.1(C)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

6. A city or county building inspector may visit your home, especially after you report a serious problem. If the inspector decides your home is not safe to live in, the inspector can order everyone to leave until it is fixed. This can happen even if you want to stay.

   RenterLaw editorial

7. Before you ask a court to hold your rent, you must have told your landlord about the problem in writing. A state or local inspector's notice about the problem also counts. Virginia courts usually treat more than 30 days from when your landlord got your notice as too long to wait for a fix.

   Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244(B)(1)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

8. If your landlord still does not fix a serious problem, you can file a tenant's assertion (a filing asking for help fixing the problem). You file it in the general district court, Virginia's lower civil court. Covered problems include no light, no electricity, no working sewage system, and rodents. No heat, or no hot or cold water, counts too, unless that bill is yours to pay and you did not pay it.

   Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244(A)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

9. If you file a tenant's assertion asking a court to hold your rent, you must keep paying rent. You pay it into the court instead of your landlord. You must pay within 5 days of the date rent is normally due under your lease. If you stop paying rent instead of paying the court, your landlord can take you to court for unpaid rent.

   RenterLaw editorial Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244(B)(2)

   ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

10. If a court agrees your landlord did not fix a real problem, it can use rent paid into the court for repairs. The court can also lower your rent for the time the problem lasted. If your landlord still does not make repairs within a reasonable time, the court can order that rent be paid back to you.

    Code of Virginia § 55.1-1244(D)

    ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

11. If your home has a serious safety problem when you move in, you can cancel your lease. This includes no heat, no hot or cold water, no electricity, no working sewage system, or mice or rats. You must tell your landlord in writing within 7 days of the date you were supposed to move in. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction.

    RenterLaw editorial Code of Virginia § 55.1-1234.1(A)

    ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

12. If your home was unsafe when you moved in and you canceled in writing within 7 days, your landlord owes you money back. Unless your landlord disputes that the problem was serious enough, your landlord must repay your deposit and rent within 15 business days. This 15-day clock starts on the day you give notice or move out, whichever is later. If your landlord disputes your cancellation, you can ask a court to decide and return your money. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays. If the court sides with your landlord, you may still owe rent and face eviction.

    RenterLaw editorial Code of Virginia § 55.1-1234.1(A)

    ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

13. Your landlord cannot raise your rent, cut services, or try to evict you to punish you. This rule applies if you report a housing code problem that seriously affects health or safety to a government agency. It also applies if you complain to your landlord or sue your landlord for breaking this law. Joining a tenants' group or testifying in court against your landlord counts too. Your landlord can still raise rent to what similar rentals charge. Your landlord can also cut a service if the cut applies equally to all tenants. One caution: if conditions are very bad, an inspector can condemn the home (order everyone to leave).

    RenterLaw editorial Code of Virginia § 55.1-1258(A)

    ✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026

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