Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Eviction Diversion Program, eligibility.
Summary
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Eviction Diversion Program; eligibility. Requires any general district court that implements the Eviction Diversion Program to attach information about the Program, including eligibility criteria, to any summons for unlawful detainer. The bill also alters eligibility requirements for a tenant to participate in the Program. This bill is identical to SB 273.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
4 edits
MODERATE
This bill formally enacts the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act amendments regarding the Eviction Diversion Program into the official code. The primary substantive change is the correction of a payment schedule error, where the required monthly payment was incorrectly listed as 25% and is now correctly set to 30%.
REQUIREMENT
The required initial payment for the eviction diversion program was corrected from 25% to 30% of the amount due.
The schedule for remaining payments was updated to reflect the corrected 30% payment amount for each of the three monthly installments.
TECHNICAL
Added official chapter number (Chapter 230), session details, and approval date to finalize the bill as law.
Removed draft status indicators and placeholder text used during the legislative process.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 9, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 6, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
31
Key actions
13
Committee
8
Amendments
2
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 230 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB837ER)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from General Laws and Technology (9-Y 6-N)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Committee
Assigned GL&T sub: Housing
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendments agreed to
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from General Laws with amendment(s) (16-Y 5-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 2-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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