Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia
I recently moved into an apartment with a roommate. My husbands military command doesn't want him living this far away from the command. They said we need to leave. The apartment manager said the only way out is to have our roommates sign us off. The roommates will not sign us off. What can I do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Va Code Sec. 55-248-.21:1 entitled "Early termination of rental agreement
by military personnel", specifies as follows: A. Any member of the armed forces of the United States or a member of the National Guard serving on
full time duty may ... through the procedure detailed in subsection B, terminate
his rental agreement if the member (I) has received permanent change of station orders to depart 35 miles or more (radius) from the location of the
dwelling unit; (ii) has received temporary duty orders in excess of three months
duration to depart 35 miles or more (radius)from the location of the dwelling unit;
This provision of the Va Code allows for termination of the rental agreement without
any penalty imposable by the landlord. For the exact procedures to be followed
you can look up subsection B of the Va Code on the Internet. And, if for some
reason you believe your husband doesn't qualify for this particular remedy, then post
a follow up question on LawGuru.com explaining the reason(s).