Landlord and tenant; statement of tenant rights and responsibilities.

Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities; explanation and remedy for material noncompliance. Requiresthe Director of the Department of Housing and Community Developmentto develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explainingin plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants underthe Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 etseq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website alongwith a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospectivetenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. Failure to provide the statementof tenant rights and responsibilities to a prospective tenant orto provide a signed copy of the form with the copy of the signed rentalagreement creates a rebuttable presumption that a landlord who hasan assertion made against him of material noncompliance with the lease agreement has failed to maintain the dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition.