State Specific Question About: VIRGINIA (VA)

Sorry if this is long! I had a couple of earlier posts (August 3 and 5) about my tenants complaining about a perfume smell in their rental home that was causing them headaches, etc. We offered to come and do an ozone treatment when they were away and also to have someone come and look at the AC to see if there was some sort of Freon leak. They declined the ozone because they read about it and thought it was dangerous to their health and they said they would just try to keep the windows open and that was the last we heard from them (August 6). Today I get an e-mail from the male tenant with the results of a mold test he apparently had done. The test indicated the presence of mold in the bathroom fan, and on the ceiling and somewhat in the air of the bathroom. Keep in mind, this is a powder room so there is no steam that would be getting in the fan. The results say that mold is present (I mean, isn’t some mold present everywhere?), but doesn’t say it is at critical levels. Tenants say based on this and the fact they are sick they will be moving out in a few days. Obviously they have been digging through the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act for an out. They say that since I didn’t “indicate the presence of mold in my move in inspection report” they are allowed out of their lease.

Here is what the law actually says: “As part of the written report of the move-in inspection required by § 55-248.11:1, the landlord shall disclose whether there is any visible evidence of mold in areas readily accessible within the interior of the dwelling unit. If the landlord's written disclosure states that there is no visible evidence of mold in the dwelling unit, this written statement shall be deemed correct unless the tenant objects thereto in writing within five days after receiving the report. If the landlord's written disclosure states that there is visible evidence of mold in the dwelling unit, the tenant shall have the option to terminate the tenancy and not take possession or remain in possession of the dwelling unit.”

I filled in the move in report and they both signed and dated it, and didn’t get back to me within 5 days to let me know of this supposed mold I didn’t inform them of. Virginia law says further that landlord has to be allowed to remediate the mold problem and that mold is not necessarily a reason to get out of a lease. Also, they say that they will relieve of us all legal liability once their security deposit is returned. I strongly suspect that they just didn’t like the house and want to move elsewhere, so they invented this bogus story. They also didn’t really allow us to do any remediation. What should I do? They are highly collectible with good jobs and credit. I don’t mind letting them out of the lease, however I think I should be compensated for the inconvenience of having to find new tenants. My ELT is $3500, which they don’t want to pay, but I think I should at least be able to keep the security deposit ($1800). What does the board say?

As ususal I agree with PattyK. Get em out.

If you agree to let them out of the lease I do not see how you can keep the security deposit. Thus, if you plan on doing this, I would not let them know you agree to their plan to leave without paying the ELT. You have a good case NOT to allow them out of this lease.

Secretly though you should be happy they are leaving. They sound like a royal pain and would only continue to complain about nonsense issues throughout their entire lease.

Tamara - find a local LL attorney that would briefly consult for no fee or low fee for 1st 30 minutes.

It has not happened to me yet. But I am tired of tenants being able to just say the mold word and being able to void a lease. Why even get the tenants to sign a lease?

I do agree that if you really think that there maybe a real large mold problem then consider letting them go. But I don't think this is your case.

At this point I would not say anything until they contact you again or have moved. They have already told you what they are doing.

Next I would keep the deposit and see if that is the end of things. Send a letter adding the full elt fee in the accounting. But forget about the balance.

This will let them know if they try to take this to court that they may lose and it could cost them more.

If they want to sue then you counter for the full amount.

Also you are right it would be hard not to find some mold in a bath. Find out what type of test they did.

To help your case, you may need to call in a professional to document that that there was no danger.

Let them go, change the locks, photo the damages and get estimates that align with damages, send the accounting statement deducting damages and the balance of the ELTis due in 30 days, enjoy your trip to whereever and be relieved that nobody can sign for any court papers in your absense.

Thanks, all, for your valuable input. I guess my issue is that they told us they were leaving due to mold, however Virginia law says that the landlord has 5 days to remove the mold once a tenant has notified him. Landlord is also supposed to put them up in a hotel during this process. They basically just told us they hired someone to do a test (without even a discussion with us or any indication that they were concerned about the possibility), then told us they were leaving. Then they threw in that bit about "upon return of the security deposit we will consider this matter closed and legal liability waved," which seems like a veiled threat, when none was called for. Both sides (us and them) have been very cordial during this process. We were almost ready to just let them go due to their complaints about headaches before they pulled this stunt, which really angered us (as you can tell:)

Why not have a real estate agent show the house while you are away, and vet any potential tenants.

It might make everything easier.

Wow! Those are really low mold numbers! I have numbers higher than that outside, in my home with expensive filters running, and in my office!

Hopefully they move out fast as they indicated. Make sure you get the keys from them and change the locks on the spot. Hopefully you also said you were the manager, not the owner.

I still say hold your ground.

If you cant win this case then everyone need to change their lease to read.