Virginia Bills

Removes the exception that persons selling certain products, such as window shades, kitchen equipment, and countertops, are deemed to be retailers and not consuming contractors for purposes of collecting sales and use tax, even if they intend to install such items for contractors. Generally, tangible personal property incorporated into real property is deemed to have been purchased for consumption by the contractor. This bill is identical to

Creates a new requirement that purchasers of cigarettes for resale must apply for a special cigarette exemption certificate from the Department of Taxation in order to not be liable for the payment of sales tax at the time of purchase. The bill sets forth numerous requirements that a taxpayer must meet in order to qualify for a cigarette exemption certificate and establishes processes and procedures for the application, renewal, denial, and revocation of the certificates. The bill creates new recordkeeping requirements for the sale or distribution of more than 50 cartons of cigarettes, or with a value greater than $10,000. The bill also makes technical changes. The provisions of the bill requiring the use of a cigarette exemption certificate have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018. This bill is identical to

Provides that if a residential dwelling unit is foreclosed upon and a tenant is lawfully occupying the dwelling unit at the time of the foreclosure, the foreclosure shall act as a termination of the rental agreement by the landlord. The bill also provides that, if there is in effect at the date of the foreclosure sale a written property management agreement between the landlord and a real estate licensee licensed pursuant to the provisions of § 54.1-2106.1, the foreclosure shall convert the property management agreement into a month-to-month agreement between the successor landlord and the real estate licensee acting as a managing agent, except in the event that the terms of the original property management agreement between the landlord and the real estate licensee acting as a managing agent require an earlier termination date. Except in the event of foreclosure, the bill permits a real estate licensee acting on behalf of a landlord client as a managing agent who elects to terminate the property management agreement to transfer any funds held in escrow by the licensee to the landlord client without his consent, provided that the real estate licensee provides written notice to each tenant that the funds have been so transferred. The bill provides that, in the event of foreclosure, a real estate licensee shall not transfer any funds to a landlord client whose property has been foreclosed upon. The bill provides immunity, in the absence of gross negligence or intentional misconduct, to any such licensee acting in compliance with the provisions of § 54.1-2108.1. The bill clarifies that a tenant residing in a dwelling unit that has been foreclosed upon is eligible to file an assertion pursuant to § 55-225.12 and that a court may order any moneys accumulated in escrow to be paid to the successor landlord or the successor landlord's managing agent, if any.

Adds physician assistant to the list of mental health service providers who have a duty to take precautions to protect third parties from violent behavior or other serious harm. This bill is identical to

Adds two new disclosures required to be made by a seller of residential real property to a purchaser, one for whether the property is subject to one or more conservation or other easements and a second for whether the property is subject to a community development authority approved by a local governing body. The bill also (i) adds a definitions section for the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act, (ii) provides for electronic delivery of required disclosures, and (iii) provides that the required disclosures provided by the Real Estate Board appear on its website. The bill has numerous technical amendments.

Provides that the pecuniary liability of an employer for a medical service provided for the treatment of a traumatic injury or serious burn includes liability for any professional service rendered during the dates of service of the admission or transfer to a Level I or Level II trauma center or to a burn center, as applicable. The measure increases the initial charge outlier threshold, which under the stop-loss feature allows hospitals to receive payments or reimbursements that exceed the fee schedule amount for certain claims, from 150 percent of the maximum fee for the service set forth in the applicable fee schedule to 300 percent of such amount. The measure allows the Workers' Compensation Commission to adjust the charge outlier threshold percentage; under existing law, it is allowed only to decrease the percentage. The measure also (i) expands the definition of codes, as used in the provision directing the Commission to establish fee schedules for scheduled medical services, to include revenue codes, which are defined in the bill; (ii) clarifies the definition of "HCPCS codes"; (iii) directs the Commission to use the regulatory advisory panel on all matters involving or related to the fee schedule as deemed necessary by the Commission; (iv) adds a definition of "new type of technology"; and (v) extends the deadline by which the regulatory advisory panel is required to meet, review, and make recommendations to the Commission from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2018. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Removes requirements regarding specific areas of expertise for members appointed to the Board of Veterans Services (the Board) by the Governor. The bill also (i) extends the number of consecutive terms for legislative members from four to six two-year terms for members of the House of Delegates and from two to three four-year terms for members of the Senate; (ii) removes the requirement that the Board be organized into at least three standing committees; and (iii) makes other changes to the administration of the Board and the eligibility for reappointment of nonlegislative citizen members of the Board. This bill is identical to

Allows Stafford County, by ordinance, to restrict the deferral of real property taxes authorized under current law to a taxpayer's sole dwelling whose tax levy for 2016 exceeded the tax levy for 2015 by at least 25 percent  due to improvements made to adjacent property by Stafford County. The amount of the deferral shall not exceed 95 percent of such excess. This bill is identical to

Provides that unless expressly authorized by the Property Owners' Association Act (§ 55-508 et seq.) or the declaration or as otherwise provided by law, no association may require the use of any for sale sign that is (i) an association sign or (ii) a real estate sign that does not comply with the requirements of the Real Estate Board. An association may, however, prohibit the placement of signs in the common area and establish reasonable rules and regulations that regulate (a) the number of real estate signs, (b) the geographical location of real estate signs, (c) the manner in which real estate signs are affixed to real property, and (d) the period of time after settlement when the real estate signs must be removed. In addition, no property owners' association may require any lot owner to execute a formal power of attorney if the lot owner designates a person licensed by the Real Estate Board to serve as his authorized representative in the sale of a lot. The bill provides that if a request has been made to an association or its common interest community manager to furnish the disclosure packet and such packet is not provided within 14 days of the request, it shall be deemed a waiver of any claim for delinquent assessments or of any violation of the declaration, bylaws, rules and regulations, or architectural guidelines existing as of the date of the request with respect to the subject lot. The bill also authorizes the Common Interest Community Board to assess a monetary penalty for failure to deliver the association disclosure packet within 14 days against the association or its common interest community manager. The bill also authorizes the Common Interest Community Board to receive a complaint directly from any person aggrieved by an association's failure to deliver a resale certificate or disclosure packet within the time period required under the Condominium Act, the Virginia Real Estate Cooperative Act, or the Property Owners' Association Act. This bill is identical to