Duty of settlement agent; restrictive covenants.
Summary
Duty of settlement agent; restrictive covenants. Requires a settlement agent to notify the purchaser of any residential real property of the purchaser's right to remove a prohibited restrictive covenant that is contained in an instrument affecting the title of the property and disclosed as the result of the title search performed pursuant to the real estate transaction.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Dec 23, 2025
Signed Apr 8, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill was formally approved and enacted into law as Chapter 359 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive text of the law, which requires settlement agents to notify buyers about removing discriminatory restrictive covenants, remains unchanged.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's applicability is unchanged; it continues to apply to settlement agents in residential real estate transactions.
TECHNICAL
The document format was updated from 'Enrolled' status to 'Chaptered' status, including the addition of the official chapter number (359) and the approval date (April 8, 2026).
Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 2, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 6, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
31
Key actions
13
Committee
8
Amendments
3
Apr 8, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 359 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB39ER)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate amendments agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with amendments Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by Senate as amended
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
General Laws and Technology Amendment agreed to
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Committee
Assigned GL&T sub: Housing
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate subcommittee offered
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection
lower
Dec 23, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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