By Ian Munro
The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO
As rental housing costs continue to rise, Virginia lawmakers passed a few modest measures this year to reduce fees, offer tenants more protections and boost housing for Navy sailors. More ambitious proposals, including potential rent controls, failed to win broad approval.
Several members expressed frustration about the state’s inability to address what is typically a tenant’s largest monthly expense - rent.
“We are at a point where, if we do not make significant changes, it will get exponentially worse, and I don’t think everyone is clued in on that enough,” said Del. Marcia Price, D-Newport News.
The average rent for an apartment in Virginia in May was $1,791, up 3.6% from the previous year, according to Apartments.com. Virginia is the 10th most expensive state for renters, according to the listing site.
The monthly median rent across Virginia is expected to rise 11% this year, from $1,810 to $2,020, marking the third-highest percentage increase of any state, according to an analysis by Construction Coverage. The median rents in the areas of Kingsport and Bristol, Harrisonburg and Hampton Roads are expected to see the highest increases, per the analysis.
Although evictions dropped statewide between 2023 and 2024, the cities of Newport News, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk still had some of the highest counts in the state, according to the University of Virginia’s Equity Center.
And eviction filings in the state during March reached back to pre-COVID averages, according to the Princeton Eviction Lab. In 2016, data showed Richmond, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Chesapeake were among the top ten cities with the highest eviction rates in the country.
A potential expansion of eviction diversion programs
With these mounting pressures, lawmakers expanded a small but promising pilot eviction diversion program initially tested in 2020 in Hampton, Richmond, Petersburg and Danville.
The pilot was set to expire on July 1, but the new law will allow localities to set up their own programs. The state budget includes $3.45 million in grant funding to support the programs. Applications with local matching funds will be given priority.
The diversion program allows delinquent renters and landlords to negotiate settlements before tenants are removed from a property. Certain tenants owing back rent but with the ability to pay current rent can request a diversion.
After testifying to a judge why they are unable to make rent, the tenants agree to a court-ordered payment plan. Tenants must pay at least a quarter of the delinquent rent on the first day of eviction court proceedings, and continue to pay off the debt in 25% installments during the next three months.
The 2023 report by the Virginia Housing Commission noted that “the pilot program was effective in preventing several evictions of tenants who fell into the targeted guidelines within this studied period.” Twenty cases went to the diversion program between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2023, according to the report.
“I think even one [eviction] prevention is life changing for that one person and their family,” said Del. Adele McClure, D-Arlington, co-sponsor of the measure with Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton.
Allowing other localities to establish their own diversion programs gives cities and counties more tools to prevent homelessness, McClure said.
“The court program is a tool that judges can use to help a person, a tenant, that has an extenuating circumstance that cannot pay their rent now but will be able to pay their rent,” said Elizabeth Palen, director of the Virginia Housing Commission. “It's crafting a win-win situation.”
The law was among the most prominent measures to increase safeguards for renters in this year’s General Assembly.
Lawmakers allocated $1.5 million for an eviction prevention program in Portsmouth and Chesapeake for homeless children housed through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Another new law bars landlords from charging processing fees for collecting rent unless they provide at least one free option for tenants.
State lawmakers also acknowledged the growing shortage of Navy housing. In the state budget, lawmakers earmarked a $40 million short-term, interest-free loan to Newport News to bolster Navy funding to build housing infrastructure. However, the state funding is contingent on several conditions to ensure improvements are underway and backed financially before administering the loan.
Resistance to several measures
Among the bills that failed this session were proposals in the House of Delegates and the Senate that would’ve allowed localities the ability to limit rent increases via civil penalties, with certain exceptions.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill to create a commission to study how a person’s criminal history can limit access to an affordable housing unit.
The bill, from Hampton Roads legislators Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Del. Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake, would have established a work group to offer recommendations for Virginia to match federal eligibility recommendations for formerly incarcerated people to access subsidized housing.
Housing is a piece of the puzzle for those trying to reintegrate with society or trying to turn their lives around, and the bill is a part of that, Hayes said.
Several bills regarding short-term rentals – aimed at regulating platforms like AirBnB – all failed this session. One set of unsuccessful bills would have created a tax registry of all active short term rental operators and would have fined companies that advertise unauthorized short term rentals on their sites.
Another failed rental bill sponsored by Price would have given localities more options to take negligent landlords to court for the conditions of their properties.
Also in the budget, Youngkin vetoed a $20 million fund to establish a rental assistance pilot program for Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, citing the failure of rental assistance pilot program bills to get through the session.
Supporters of subsidized and low-income housing hope the state takes a more aggressive role in the future to address housing issues.
McClure said making the eviction diversion program even more accessible is a future goal, especially as there are some indicators of an upcoming recession, such as decreased demand for gasoline and dropping consumer sentiment.
“I'm hoping that we have a new governor next year so we can bring even more protections at a time where people are facing hardships and even more evictions,” she said.
Reach Ian Munro at 757-447-4097 and ianmunronews@gmail.com.