Virginia fourteen-day rent notice

Virginia nonpayment notice: fourteen days after service in Fairfax County

This form addresses a new, undisputed rent default at an ordinary residential rental in actual Fairfax County. It gives notice of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate under Virginia Code § 55.1-1245(F). The supported notice dates are July 1–December 31, 2026. Read the version effective until July 1, 2027 when following a statute link that displays several future versions.

1. Confirm the rental and the law that applies

The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act generally covers ordinary single-family and multifamily dwellings. Section 55.1-1201 also identifies exclusions and special situations. A hotel stay, manufactured-home lot, ownership dispute, employee occupancy or commercial lease should not be treated as an ordinary apartment merely because an occupant owes money.

Check the property's actual jurisdiction. Fairfax County and the independent City of Fairfax are not interchangeable; a mailing address does not resolve that distinction. This form is limited to the county. The state Act applies across local jurisdictions, while the county's sheriff and court procedures address later service and enforcement. The form does not invent a separate county cure period.

2. Use the current fourteen-day requirement

The Fairfax County Sheriff's current guidance confirms that the fourteen-day nonpayment notice replaced the former five-day notice on July 1, 2026. Section 55.1-1245(F) requires written notice of the nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within fourteen days after service. A material lease breach or repeat breach has a different analysis and should not be forced into this rent notice.

The notice states the statutory period relative to actual service. Its preparation date and signature date do not start that period. This form does not calculate an exact payment deadline or earliest filing date. Preserve the real service date and verify the full period before starting a case. A lease requiring additional time, another notice or a further delivery step needs separate review. Future provisions shown beneath the current statute, including July 2027 changes, are not applied to this 2026 form.

3. Determine the complete amount actually owed

Match the lease, rent due dates, payment history and any credits. The ledger requires real due dates no later than the notice date. It supports fully unpaid periodic rent only: partial payments, returned checks, rejected transfers, allocation disputes, payment plans and previously delivered notices require a different review. Never delete a payment from the ledger merely to make a situation fit the form.

Virginia's definition of rent in § 55.1-1200 is broader than the monthly base charge. That is why this form is available only when no late fees, utilities, damages, legal costs or other sums are owed, rather than silently omitting such amounts. Check the lease's due date and any applicable grace period. Section 55.1-1204(C)'s default terms for the absence of an offered written rental agreement should not be mistaken for a universal grace period in every written lease.

4. Separate signature from actual delivery

Section 55.1-1202(E) expressly addresses electronic signatures in written notices. The optional electronic choice also records confirmation of the parties' agreement and the signer's intention under § 59.1-483. Choosing it cannot create another person's agreement. Without that confirmation, prepare the notice and sign the printed copy.

This form uses personal delivery of a printed copy to each named tenant at the rental, consistent with the notice provisions in §§ 55.1-1200 and 55.1-1202(B). Keep the complete notice and a factual record for each recipient, with the actual date, time, location and delivery person's name and signature. Do not sign a delivery record before the event occurs. The separate electronic-notice rules in § 55.1-1202(A), including a lease provision, the tenant's paper election and proof of delivery, are not satisfied just by clicking Share or adding an electronic signature.

5. Reassess every payment after the notice

Payment of the stated rent within the notice period prevents termination for that default. Later payments also matter. Section 55.1-1250 governs acceptance of rent, reservation notices and redemption. This notice does not elect a reservation of rights or limit redemption. Do not add a sentence saying that every payment will be accepted without stopping eviction unless the statutory requirements and their consequences have been reviewed.

The amount and procedure for redemption can change once a case exists. Section 55.1-1250 distinguishes payment or a qualifying redemption tender at the first return date, payment of the lawful amounts then due, and payment at least 48 hours before a scheduled eviction. It also contains conditions and a limited small-landlord election. Those provisions do not mean that the original rent figure remains the complete payoff throughout a lawsuit. Obtain an accurate current statement and review the applicable stage before continuing.

6. Check tenant-rights documents before a court action

Section 55.1-1204(B) and (H) addresses the rental agreement and the Department of Housing and Community Development's statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. Subsection H prohibits filing or maintaining a lease-violation court action until the tenant has been provided that statement. Creating a nonpayment notice does not prove that this separate obligation was met.

Use the current DHCD resources and rights statement. Keep delivery evidence and the required acknowledgment or record of a refusal to sign. DHCD also provides a sample nonpayment notice with alternatives for different circumstances; optional assisted-housing and reservation sections should not be copied as if they were facts about every rental.

7. Distinguish notice, lawsuit and physical eviction

If the default remains after the required process, § 55.1-1251 addresses remedies after termination. An unlawful-detainer case, its summons, the court's decision and a later writ are separate steps. Fairfax's sheriff explains service requests and enforcement; a landlord's delivery record is not a sheriff's return or a court summons.

The notice does not authorize removal, a lock change or an essential-service shutoff. Section 55.1-1243.1 provides tenant remedies for specified unlawful exclusion, service interruption and unsafe conditions. Recheck the lease, all payments and communications, proof of notice, required rights documents and current court rules before filing. Repairs, retaliation, discrimination or other defenses require individual analysis.

8. Identify assisted housing and keep a complete record

Assistance programs and covered or uncertain loans are outside this ordinary branch. Section 55.1-1202(D) requires specified legal-aid information on the first page of certain assisted-housing termination notices. Section 55.1-1245(G) requires public housing authorities to provide income-recertification information on pink or orange paper. Other program and federal obligations may also apply. These are substantive differences, not optional design choices to remove for a cleaner page.

Keep the lease, due-date ledger, payment evidence, final signed notice, actual-delivery records and subsequent correspondence. DHCD links to Virginia Legal Aid and 2-1-1 Virginia for legal help and available assistance. Assistance availability does not itself establish a defense or suspend a deadline; its effect on the particular tenancy must be checked.