Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia

Re: defense advise to delay eviction

The new owner takes the property subject to the terms of the lease that was in place at the time of the sale. He may not terminate your lease early and force you out unless the lease itself contains a provision that would allow for this.

It's not clear whether your lease is governed by the statutory versions of the common law which were enacted by the General Assembly in 1919 or

the more recent Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act(VRLTA) enacted by the legislature in

the 1970's. If the former, then notice requirements in order for the landlord to enter the premises are determined by whatever the lease says in regard to this issue.(If there's no specific provision, then whatever is reasonable--which would be at least 24 hours.)If your lease, however, is governed by the provisions of the "Act" mentioned above, then the landlord is required to give the tenant at least 24 hours of notice in advance in order to enter the premises.

If the landlord intends to retain your security deposit and apply it to damages allegedly incurred as a result of your tenancy, he must

give you advance notice of this intent(30 days, I

believe) as well as an accounting of the damages with reasonable estimated costs of repair. If you

disagree with these assessments, you may contest them in court. However, if the landlord fails to follow this procedure described above, he must return your deposit in full minus whatever nominal amounts he is permitted by law to retain for average maintenance costs. If the landlord

under these circumsatnces refuses or fails to return the security deposit to you, then you may

sue for it as well as reasonable attorneys' fees

if you are represented by a lawyer.