Virginia Extends the Pay-or-Quit Notice Period From 5 to 14 Days

Before this amendment, a landlord could send a pay-or-quit notice giving the tenant just 5 days to pay before pursuing termination; this amendment extends that to 14 days.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F), as amended by H.B. 15/S.B. 48, 2026 Va. Acts of Assembly, cc. 353/354]

That extension gives a tenant meaningfully more time to resolve a rent shortfall, whether that means securing funds from a paycheck, family assistance, or another source, before a landlord can move forward with terminating the tenancy over that unpaid rent.

The notice has to inform the tenant of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent isn't paid within the 14-day period.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

That specific language requirement means a vague or informal reminder about late rent doesn't satisfy this notice; the notice has to clearly connect the 14-day payment deadline to the landlord's stated intent to terminate if that deadline passes without payment.

This 14-day notice requirement covers unpaid rent, bad checks or insufficient-funds payments, and stop-payment orders made in intentional bad faith.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

That broader scope means a tenant who submitted a payment that later bounced, or who placed a stop-payment order in bad faith, falls under this same 14-day framework as a tenant who simply never paid at all; a landlord facing any of these situations follows the same extended notice process.

The stop-payment provision specifically requires intentional bad faith, not just any stop-payment order a tenant might place.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

That qualifier matters; a tenant who placed a stop-payment order for a legitimate reason unrelated to avoiding rent, say, a banking error or a lost check, isn't automatically treated the same as a tenant who deliberately stopped payment specifically to avoid paying rent they owed.

A landlord relying on lease language that still references the old 5-day notice period risks complications if that outdated language conflicts with the actual 14-day requirement now in effect.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

A lease clause stating a 5-day cure period doesn't override the statutory 14-day requirement; a landlord attempting to terminate based on the shorter, outdated lease language risks a tenant successfully challenging that termination as noncompliant with current law.

Since this 14-day period has to run before a landlord can terminate the rental agreement, the entire eviction timeline, from missed payment through actual court filing, shifts later than it did under the previous 5-day standard.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

A landlord planning the practical timeline for pursuing an eviction over nonpayment needs to build this extended 14-day period into that planning from the start; the overall process now takes meaningfully longer before a termination and subsequent filing can even begin.

This extended notice period exists alongside a separate requirement, also enacted around the same period, requiring larger landlords to offer a payment plan for small arrears before terminating a tenancy.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F); Va. Code 55.1-1245, payment-plan provision, H.B. 95, 2026 Acts, c. 1105]

A larger landlord navigating a nonpayment situation needs to track both requirements as they actually apply: this 14-day notice period applies broadly, while the separate payment-plan requirement adds yet another step specifically for landlords with more than 4 units and arrears within a one-month threshold.

Since the 14-day period has to run in full before termination, a landlord benefits from clear, verifiable documentation of exactly when the notice was delivered to the tenant.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

A dispute over the actual delivery date directly affects when the 14-day countdown began and ended; a landlord using a delivery method that creates a clear, dated record avoids ambiguity over whether the full 14-day period was actually provided before termination proceeded.

Unlike some of Virginia's other recent landlord-tenant changes, which apply specifically to landlords owning more than 4 units, this 14-day pay-or-quit notice requirement applies to landlords and tenants broadly.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

A smaller landlord who might not be subject to some of Virginia's other 2026-2027 unit-count-based requirements still has to comply with this extended notice period; it isn't limited by portfolio size the way several related provisions are.

Since lease and notice templates built around the old 5-day period are now out of step with the actual legal requirement, updating those templates to reflect the 14-day period is a direct, immediate compliance step.

[Cite: Va. Code 55.1-1245(F)]

A landlord using property management software with a built-in notice template should specifically confirm that template reflects 14 days, not 5, since software defaults don't automatically update to match a legal change unless the platform itself has been updated.

The practical starting point is auditing every lease template and notice form for any remaining reference to the old 5-day pay-or-quit period and updating it to the current 14-day requirement.

Building the 14-day window into the overall eviction timeline planning, rather than treating it as a minor technical adjustment, keeps a landlord's broader nonpayment-response process realistically aligned with how long the process now actually takes.