# Virginia HB837: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Eviction Diversion Program, eligibility.

Virginia HB837, Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Eviction Diversion Program, eligibility., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Adele Y. McClure (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0230)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-06).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB837-2026
- As of: 2026-11-06
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB837
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Eviction Diversion Program, eligibility.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0230)
- Sponsor: Adele Y. McClure (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (155 yes, 67 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 3

## 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 overview: provisions PRIA read

- Required eviction diversion notices end for renters: cost, low. The law removes the requirement to attach eviction diversion information and eligibility rules to eviction summonses. Courts running the program are no longer required by this section to provide that information with each summons.
- Renters get payment plans with eviction risks: mixed, medium. Courts must place eligible Virginia renters and their landlords in a payment plan and pause the eviction case for payment. The plan uses an official court form and a payment arrangement based on the rental agreement. After the initial payment, the schedule lists three 30% installments. The landlord…
- Virginia renters face eviction diversion eligibility rules: mixed, medium. Virginia renters no longer need to request a referral to qualify for eviction diversion. You must attend the first court call and pay the landlord or court at least 10% of the amount due. That amount includes any changes made at the first court call. You must explain under oath why rent was missed…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Adele Y. McClure (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-10 | Senate | Passed Senate | pass | 21 | 19 |   |
| 2026-03-06 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 39 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-06 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Reported from General Laws and Technology | pass | 9 | 6 |   |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 62 | 35 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | House | Reported from General Laws with amendment(s) | pass | 16 | 5 |   |
| 2026-01-29 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) | pass | 8 | 2 |   |

## Actions (31)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0230) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 230 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-31: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB837) (House)
- 2026-03-31: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-31: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-31: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-30: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB837ER) (House)
- 2026-03-30: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-30: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-10: Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-10: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Passed by for the day (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Reported from General Laws and Technology (9-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Assigned GL&T sub: Housing (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-09: Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB837) (House)
- 2026-02-06: Engrossed by House as amended (House)
- 2026-02-06: committee amendments agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-06: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-05: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-03: Reported from General Laws with amendment(s) (16-Y 5-N) (House)
- 2026-01-29: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-29: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 2-N) (House)
- 2026-01-26: Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on General Laws (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103706D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216998.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216997.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210853.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210852.PDF)
- Engrossed, 2026-02-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116327.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116326.PDF)
- Amendment, 2026-02-03: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115373.HTML)
- Amendment, 2026-01-29: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103080.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103449.HTML)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086097.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086096.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers. (signed)
- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB848: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; material noncompliance by landlord, rent escrow, relief. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB768: Custody and visitation arrangements for minor; custody evaluation, report. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216998.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216997.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210853.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210852.PDF)
- [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116327.HTML)
- [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116326.PDF)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115373.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103080.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103449.HTML)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086097.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086096.PDF)

## Related
- [HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB20-2026)
- [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)
- [HB848: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; material noncompliance by landlord, re…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB848-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB768: Custody and visitation arrangements for minor; custody evaluation, report.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB768-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB837-2026 (as of 2026-11-06).