Virginia Security Deposit Law Changes: SB349, the 2024 Lapse and 2027

What changed, at a glance

SB349: a bill, not law

As of November 12, 2026, one bill in the 2027 session cites the deposit section by number: SB349, “Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; pre-tenancy fees”. It was introduced in the 2026 session and continued to the 2027 session by the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on February 11, 2026. The 2027 Regular Session convenes in January 2027.

Two texts matter, and they say different things. As introduced, the bill would set a one-month limit on deposits, a 30-day deadline and a separate pet deposit; the summary the legislature’s site displays describes that version. A substitute offered in the Senate committee on February 11, 2026 does none of those. The bill’s history records that substitute as offered, not as adopted, and the committee continued the bill the same day, so nothing we read settles which text the 2027 session will take up. As the substitute reads, it would:

• change “may be applied” to “shall be applied”;
• add a new subsection B, under which no part of the deposit could be applied to the cost of professional services, or to the cost of materials and labor performed by the landlord or the landlord’s employee, unless the cost is reasonably necessary to return the premises to their condition at the start of the rental agreement, less reasonable wear and tear, and the landlord gives the tenant a receipt for it;
• cut the notice for deductions made during a tenancy from 30 days to 15, in both places that rule uses the number;
• cut the extra period for a contractor itemization from 15 days to 10;
• move every subsection after A down one letter (B would become C, and so on to J, which would become K), so the subsection letters this site cites would change.

The substitute would not change the two-month limit or the 45 days, and the words “or as a pet deposit” would stay in the definition of a security deposit. Until a version passes, SB349 changes nothing in the other Virginia guides on this site.

As of November 12, 2026, a search of the same session’s bills for the words “security deposit” also returns HB278 and SB355 (local anti-rent-gouging authority), HB1252 (algorithmic pricing) and HB1409 (prohibited lease provisions). All four are in committee, and none of their texts cites the deposit section. The deposit section and the bills that cite it are on this site’s weekly watch.

The 30-day contractor period that expired in 2024

For one year the extra period for a contractor itemization was 30 days, not 15. Two 2023 acts, chapters 433 and 434, changed that one number and nothing else in the deposit section, and carried a clause that their provisions would expire on June 30, 2024. So the period was 30 days from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, and it has been 15 again since July 1, 2024. Today’s sentence:

In the event that damages to the premises exceed the amount of the security deposit and require the services of a third-party contractor, the landlord shall give written notice to the tenant advising him of that fact within the 45-day period required by subsection A. If notice is given as prescribed in this subsection, the landlord shall have an additional 15-day period to provide an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E)

The Code’s history line for the section still lists the 2023 acts with no sign that the change lapsed, so a guide written in that year may still say 30.

All three conditions are needed: the damages exceed the deposit, they require a third-party contractor, and the written notice saying so is given within the 45 days. What is extended is the itemization of the damages and the cost of repair, nothing else. The text does not say when the additional 15 days start; our reading is that they follow day 45. The deadline guide works through the dates.

Changes already enacted that take effect in 2027

Changes already enacted for 2027 touch other sections of the Act; none of them changes the deposit section itself. Nine pages of the Act on the Code site print a second, 2027 version. Four of those changes bear on rules used here: fire or casualty (§ 55.1-1240, January 1, 2027), the notice section (§ 55.1-1202, July 1, 2027; how a notice is given does not change), tenant records (§ 55.1-1209, July 1, 2027), and applications (§ 55.1-1203, July 1, 2027). Each Code page linked below prints the version in force first and the 2027 version under it.

• January 1, 2027: fire or casualty (§ 55.1-1240). The section is reorganized into lettered subsections, A through E. Its sentence requiring the landlord, when the rental agreement is terminated, to return all security deposits in accordance with § 55.1-1226 moves to the new subsection E and reads the same. The section’s other changes are to how and when a fire or casualty ends the tenancy, which this site does not cover. (Both versions on the Code site)
• July 1, 2027: notice (§ 55.1-1202). A new subsection E makes a termination notice for nonpayment of rent ineffective unless it contains a written statement of charges and payments over the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, and any late charges, attorney fees, costs and other charges due under the lease. The subsection that lets a landlord delegate written notices to a managing agent or other third party moves from E to F. Subsections A and B, on electronic notices and on where a notice to the tenant is served, read the same in both versions. (Both versions on the Code site)
• July 1, 2027: tenant records (§ 55.1-1209). A new subsection F requires a landlord, when a tenant asks in writing for a copy of the tenant records, to provide within 10 business days, in writing or through an electronic portal at no charge to the tenant, a written statement of charges and payments over the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, including any application fee, application deposit, security deposit, rent and other charges that make up rent under the lease. It does not apply to a landlord that owns fewer than four rental dwelling units in Virginia, or less than a 10 percent interest in more than four, directly or through a business entity, unless the landlord receives state or local rental or utility assistance funds on the tenant’s behalf. The statement-of-charges rule in force today, which the 2027 version of its own section keeps, is § 55.1-1204(D): on a tenant’s written request, a written statement of all debits and credits over the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, within 10 business days. (Both versions on the Code site)
• July 1, 2027: applications (§ 55.1-1203). A new subsection A requires a landlord, before requesting or collecting any payment or information about a prospective tenant, first to tell the applicant, in writing or by posting in a manner accessible to a prospective tenant, the amount of any fee or application deposit that may be charged and whether it is refundable. The same notice must give the tenant selection criteria, any criteria that will result in an automatic denial and others that may result in a denial, the name and address of the consumer reporting agency if the landlord uses a consumer report, and the applicant’s right to a free copy of the consumer report after a denial or other adverse action and to dispute it. Today’s subsections A through D, among them the refund clock for an application deposit, become B through E and read the same. (Both versions on the Code site)

Earlier changes: 2015, 2019 and 2026

• January 1, 2015: deposit interest ended. A 2014 act struck the duty to accrue interest from the deposit section, repealed the rate schedule from that date, and added a clause that never became part of the Code: no interest is due under the Act from January 1, 2015, but interest that had accrued by December 31, 2014 is still payable, on the clause’s own timing. The interest guide covers it, including why the Code still says “accrued interest” in several sections.
• October 1, 2019: the Act was renumbered. It moved from Title 55 to Title 55.1, and the deposit section, formerly § 55-248.15:1, became § 55.1-1226. Older guides and court opinions cite the old number.
• April 1, 2026: a new escrow regulation for real estate licensees. The Real Estate Board’s escrow rules are now in 18VAC135-20-181; the older 18VAC135-20-180 is repealed, so a guide that cites it is out of date. These rules bind licensees holding deposits for a landlord, not a landlord who manages the rental without one.

What has not changed

The deposit section itself, § 55.1-1226, has read as it does today since July 1, 2024, when the contractor period went back to 15 days, and every other sentence in it has read the same since at least July 1, 2023, when the 2023 act reenacted the whole section. So the two-month limit, the 45 days from the later of the termination date of the tenancy and the date the tenant vacates, the written itemized notice and the remedy for a willful failure to comply are as the other Virginia guides on this site describe them.

The Code site makes no “current through” statement we could quote, so that rests on our own checks:

• The section’s history line ends with the 2023 acts, chapters 433 and 434.
• The Code site’s index of 2026 updates to Title 55.1 lists sixteen sections of the Act, and § 55.1-1226 is not one of them.
• The same database shows 2024, 2025 and 2026 acts on twenty-two neighbouring sections, so its silence on the deposit section is not a stale page.
• A search of the legislature’s bill system for “55.1-1226” (bill text, all versions, failed bills included), run on November 12, 2026, returns six bills in the 2024 session (two enacted, as chapters 726 and 762, on manufactured home parks; three vetoed; one incorporated into another bill), none in the 2024 special session, one in 2025 (vetoed), five in the 2026 regular session, none in the 2026 special session, and one in 2027 (SB349); no enacted bill among them is in the deposit section’s history line.

Work out a Virginia deposit return under the current law

The free Virginia deposit tool applies the rules as they stand today, with the 45 days counted from the later of the termination date of the tenancy and the date the tenant vacates, and generates a statute-cited return letter, all in your browser with nothing stored.

Virginia deposit law changes: common questions

Is Virginia changing its security deposit law in 2027?

Nothing enacted changes the deposit section itself. Changes already enacted for 2027 touch other sections of the Act; four bear on rules used here: fire or casualty (§ 55.1-1240, January 1, 2027), the notice section (§ 55.1-1202, July 1, 2027; how a notice is given does not change), tenant records (§ 55.1-1209, July 1, 2027), and applications (§ 55.1-1203, July 1, 2027: before requesting or collecting any payment or information, a landlord must tell the applicant the amount of any fee or application deposit and whether it is refundable). The guide linked below sets them out. The only bill we found in the 2027 session that names the deposit section is SB349, a 2026 bill that a Senate committee continued to the 2027 session on February 11, 2026; it is not law. As introduced, which is the version the bill summary on the Legislature’s bill site describes, it would set a one-month cap, a 30-day deadline and a separate pet deposit. A substitute offered in the Senate committee on February 11, 2026, which the bill’s history records as offered and not as adopted, does none of those. As that substitute reads, it would change "may be applied" to "shall be applied"; bar applying the deposit to professional services, or to materials and labor by the landlord or the landlord’s employee, unless the cost is reasonably necessary to return the unit to its condition at the start of the rental agreement, less reasonable wear and tear, and the landlord gives the tenant a receipt; cut the notice for deductions during a tenancy from 30 days to 15; cut the contractor extension from 15 days to 10; and reletter every subsection after A; under it the two-month cap and the 45 days would not change. Until a version passes, SB349 changes nothing on this site. (SB349, 2026 Regular Session, continued to 2027; Va. Code §§ 55.1-1226, 55.1-1240, 55.1-1202, 55.1-1209, 55.1-1203)

Is Virginia lowering the security deposit limit to one month?

Not under any law in force or enacted. The limit is two months’ periodic rent. SB349, a bill continued to the 2027 session, would cut it to one month as introduced, and that is the version the summary on the legislature’s site describes. A substitute offered in the Senate committee on February 11, 2026 would keep the two-month limit; the bill’s history records it as offered, not as adopted. Neither text is law. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(A); SB349, 2026 session)

Is the Virginia security deposit deadline 45 days or 60 days?

Forty-five. The only extra time the section gives for itemizing is narrow: where the damages to the premises exceed the deposit and require the services of a third-party contractor, a landlord who gives the tenant written notice of that within the 45 days gets an additional 15 days to provide an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair. All three conditions are needed, and only that itemization is extended: the written notice, and any amount due, are still due by day 45, so the extension never makes a 60-day deadline for the notice or the money. The statute does not say when the additional 15 days start; our reading is that they follow day 45. From July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 the additional period was 30 days, under a 2023 act that expired on its own terms, so a guide written in that year may still say 30. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E))

Did Virginia change its security deposit law in 2023?

For one year, and one number. Two 2023 acts, chapters 433 and 434, changed the additional period a landlord gets for a contractor itemization from 15 days to 30, changed nothing else in the deposit section, and provided that the change would expire on June 30, 2024. It did: the period was 30 days from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, and it has been 15 days again since July 1, 2024. The 45 days did not change. The Code’s history line still lists the 2023 acts without saying the change lapsed, so a guide written in that year may still say 30. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E); 2023 Va. Acts chs. 433, 434)

When did Virginia’s security deposit law last change?

The deposit section, § 55.1-1226, has read as it does today since July 1, 2024, when the contractor period went back from 30 days to 15; every other sentence in it has read the same since at least July 1, 2023. The changes that take effect in 2027 are to other sections of the Act, not the deposit section, and SB349, which would amend it, is a bill continued to the 2027 session, not law. Separately, the Act has required no interest on a deposit since January 1, 2015, though interest built up by December 31, 2014 on an older deposit is still payable, "no later than 45 days after termination of tenancy and delivery of possession" in the 2014 clause’s own words, which are not the trigger of today’s 45 days. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226; 2014 Va. Acts ch. 651, cl. 4)

How long does a Virginia landlord have to return a security deposit?

Forty-five days, counted from the later of two dates: the termination date of the tenancy and the date the tenant vacates the dwelling unit. By then the landlord must itemize the deposit and any deductions, damages and charges in a written notice given to the tenant, together with any amount due to the tenant, and must have applied the deposit under the section’s rules. The notice is the duty whether part of the deposit is kept or all of it is returned: a cheque on its own does not meet it. The 45 are calendar days, and the day the clock starts is not counted. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(A), (C); § 1-210(A))

Sources

• SB349 (2026 session, continued to 2027), Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; pre-tenancy fees: the pending bill and the committee substitute offered February 11, 2026
• Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E): the contractor period today
• 2023 Va. Acts ch. 433 (HB 1542): the 30-day contractor period, expired June 30, 2024
• Va. Code § 55.1-1240, fire or casualty damage (two versions on the page; the first is in force)
• Va. Code § 55.1-1202, notice (two versions on the page; the first is in force)
• Va. Code § 55.1-1209, tenant records (two versions on the page; the first is in force)
• Va. Code § 55.1-1204(D): the statement of charges in force today
• 2014 Va. Acts ch. 651, cl. 4: the end of deposit interest
• 18VAC135-20-181, Real Estate Board escrow accounts (in force April 1, 2026)
• Code of Virginia, 2026 updates to Title 55.1
• The Virginia security deposit tool and full cited rules

About this page

Each change above was read in the Code of Virginia, the enacting act or the bill text itself, not in a summary, and the bill was read with its struck words visible. One exception: the October 1, 2019 date of the recodification is taken from the bill summary on the legislature’s site, because the 2019 act itself was not read. The 2027 versions were read on the Code site beside the versions in force. The statutes and the bills that cite the deposit section are on this site’s weekly watch. Where a sentence gives our reading rather than the text, it says so. How we verify the law explains the process. This is general information that cites the law, not legal advice, and Orygn LLC is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Virginia attorney.