Housing

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; Virginia Consumer Protection Act; mold remediation. Requires landlords subject to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to utilize mold inspectors and remediators certified by a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body for mold remediation that comply with (i) the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification S520 Standard for Professional Mold Remediation, as revised, or (ii) any other equivalent ANSI-accredited mold remediation standard, when conducting or offering to conduct mold remediation in the Commonwealth. The bill additionally prohibits selling or offering for sale services as a professional mold inspector without meeting the same requirements of a mold inspector under the Act. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish and publish a resource to educate the public on laws, policies, and information about the mold inspection and mold remediation industry in the Commonwealth.

Local rent stabilization authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt rent stabilization provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under rent stabilization may be required to give up to a two-month written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's rent stabilization allowance, described in the bill as the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent during any 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for the region in which the locality sits, states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to annually by June 1 publish such allowance on its website. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from any such ordinance. The bill also requires such ordinance to provide a procedure by which a landlord may apply for an exemption from the rent stabilization provisions in situations where the net operating income generated by the rental facility has not been maintained due to escalating operating expenses or for other appropriate reasons as established by the locality. Finally, the bill provides that a locality may establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in the ordinance that shall not exceed $2,500 per separate violation.