Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia
Tenant Eviction Rights
What are the legal rights of a tenant who is disputing the landord's terms for eviction?
The original lease had two mistakes: lease term was one month vs. one year & the tenants sister's name appeared on the lease. Days later, the tenant corrected the mistakes by signing a new lease, with term of one year with her name & her children's names listed. Landlord representative signed both original lease & subsequent corrected lease.
One month later, landlord is refusing to acknowledge second, corrected lease & trying to evict tenant.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Tenant Eviction Rights
To evict a tenant a land lord must go to court. When such court papers are served appear and tell the judge you are contesting the eviction. Some judges will ask why, others will set it down for a trial. Be prepared to respond if the judge does ask, and have your copies of the lease documents there and show the judge. Good luck.
Re: Tenant Eviction Rights
Assuming there are no more facts than you provide to justify the Landlord's (LL) position, that Tenant's (T) lease is signed by both LL and T, and Sister agrees that the first lease is no longer valid, it seems that there is no basis to evict. In a residential situation, the LL has to file in court to evict, and any legitimate defenses (such as a valid unbreached lease) will be before any eviction can happen. A lawyer should review the documents, make sure everything is OK, and send a letter to the LL putting it on notice that there is a valid lease.
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