Virginia just changed the rules for landlords.

If you own a rental property in Richmond and you're managing it yourself, there's a good chance you missed some changes that took effect July 1, 2025 — changes that could cost you if you're not in compliance.

I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm saying it because I watch this stuff every day so my owners don't have to. And right now, there are three things every Richmond landlord needs to know.

Your lease must list all fees on page one — or you can't enforce them.

Under House Bill 2430, which took effect July 1, 2025, any lease entered into, renewed, or extended after that date must include a complete itemized list of all fees on the first page. Not page 3. Not an addendum. Page one.

This includes late fees, pet fees, admin fees, application fees — anything you charge. The lease must also include this exact statement:

"No additional security deposits or rent shall be charged unless they are listed below or incorporated into this agreement by way of a separate addendum after execution of this rental agreement."

Why does this matter? Because if your lease doesn't comply, you may not be able to enforce those fees — and if a dispute goes to court, a non-compliant lease is a liability. Every lease you sign from this point forward needs this updated.

You now have to give 60 days' notice before non-renewal.

If you own more than four rental units and you decide not to renew a resident's lease, you must now give 60 days' written notice before the lease ends. This is a significant change from the prior standard, and it's caught a lot of smaller landlords off guard.

Miss this deadline and you could find yourself in a holdover situation — or worse, dealing with a resident who legally has grounds to stay longer than expected.

Payment processing fees are now restricted.

Under HB 2218, you cannot charge residents a processing fee for paying rent — unless you offer at least one payment method that has no additional fee. If you use an online portal that passes the processing cost to the resident, you need to review your setup now.

You also must provide a written receipt when a resident pays by cash or money order. Simple, but it's the law.

What about the rent cap proposal?

You may have seen headlines about Richmond pushing for a 3% annual rent increase cap. Here's the update: that legislation failed in the General Assembly in February 2026. The bills were defeated in committee in both the House and the Senate.

That's the good news. The important news is that Richmond City Council made this one of their top three legislative priorities for 2026, which means it will be back in 2027. The political pressure behind it is real. Richmond is a majority-renter city — about 57% of residents rent — and resident advocacy groups are organized and vocal.

My read: this isn't going away. Landlords who operate professionally, with clean books and well-maintained properties, will have no problem under any future regulation. Landlords who have been cutting corners will be exposed.

The honest truth about self-managing in 2026.

The compliance burden on Richmond landlords is growing every year. New lease requirements. New notice timelines. New payment rules. A new resident rights statement that now must be provided in five languages. And more on the way.

Every one of these changes is manageable — when you have systems. When you're doing this on your own, between a job and a family and everything else, one missed update can mean a lease you can't enforce, a court case you can't win, or a fine you didn't see coming.

At The RVA Group, we track this so you don't have to. Every lease we produce is updated for current law. Every notice goes out on time. Every owner knows when something changes that affects their property.