# Virginia HB803: Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry.

Virginia HB803, Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Betsy B. Carr (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-08 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0428)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB803-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB803
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-08, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0428)
- Sponsor: Betsy B. Carr (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (175 yes, 43 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Repairs or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property; petition for entry. Allows an owner of real property who seeks to repair or maintain the exterior of his property to petition the circuit court for a right of entry to an adjoining property for the purpose of performing the repairs or maintenance when the property is so situated that it is impossible to perform the repairs or maintenance without entering such adjoining property and permission to enter such adjoining property has been denied. The bill requires the petition and affidavits to contain specific information including the nature of the repairs and what efforts were made by the owner to obtain permission. The bill also provides that the petitioner shall be required to return the adjoining property to its previous condition and shall be liable to the adjoining owner or his lessee for actual damages occurring as a result of the entry. This bill is identical to SB 77.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Court access to neighbor's land for repairs: mixed, medium. The law lets a property owner ask the circuit court to enter a neighbor’s land to do exterior repairs when access is needed and the neighbor refused or set unreasonable terms. The owner must first try in good faith to get permission and properly serve the neighbor with the petition. The petition mu…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Betsy B. Carr (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Passed Senate | pass | 31 | 6 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-18 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice | pass | 11 | 2 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 69 | 29 |   |
| 2026-01-28 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute | pass | 16 | 4 |   |
| 2026-01-26 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute | pass | 8 | 2 |   |

## Actions (28)

- 2026-04-08: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0428) (Governor)
- 2026-04-08: Approved by Governor-Chapter 428 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-02-25: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB803ER) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-23: Passed Senate (31-Y 6-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Reported from Courts of Justice (11-Y 2-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Read third time and passed House (69-Y 29-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-02: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-02: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-02: Read second time (House)
- 2026-01-30: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-28: Committee substitute printed 26106221D-H1 (House)
- 2026-01-28: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (16-Y 4-N) (House)
- 2026-01-26: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 2-N) (House)
- 2026-01-26: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-22: Assigned HCJ sub: Civil (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102262D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-08: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218035.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218034.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-02-25: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177815.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177814.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-28: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100149.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100148.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-26: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096794.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096798.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096793.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096797.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085959.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085957.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218035.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218034.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177815.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177814.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100149.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100148.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096794.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096798.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096793.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096797.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085959.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085957.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB803-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).