The Virginia General Assembly convened on Wednesday, January 8th for the start of the 2020 session, which is considered a "long session" consisting of 60 days this year. There are over 3100 bills and resolutions that will be considered this session along with the biennial budget.  

Virginia REALTORS® have several bills making their way through the General Assembly. Fifteen RVAR members and staff representing the Governmental Affairs Committee and the Board of Directors visited Legislators in Richmond on Tuesday, January 28th. This group promoted the following bills and advocating on issues important to our industry.

The 2019 session of the General Assembly is scheduled to conclude on March 6th.

Association Health Care Plans - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to allow an association, like the REALTORS®, to work with insurance providers in Virginia and establish health insurance plans that they can offer to members of their association. Most REALTORS® are independent contractors. They work for themselves, meaning that under existing law, the only place they can acquire health insurance is on the "small-group" market or the "individual" market. These are very costly options.

POA /COA Act Extension for Right of Rescission - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation that would allow parties to a transaction for a property located in a POA or Condo association to agree to extend the three-day right of rescission for up to an additional 4 days. Currently, the statute prohibits the parties from changing the three-day period, even if all the parties agree. Allowing the extension to 4 additional days provides extra time, if needed, but still allows for certainty of the contract.

Rent Money into Escrow - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to clarify a perceived discrepancy between escrow law and regulations. This legislation will 

require all rent monies, including current rent, to be deposited into an escrow account instead of operating accounts. This will provide additional protection for consumer funds.

Security Deposit Disbursement - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to clarify that the 45-day time period for returning a security deposit to a tenant starts running from the date of the termination of the tenancy or the date the tenant vacates the unit, whichever occurs last. This clarification will ensure that landlords and tenants are working with the same expectations.  

Eviction Diversion Program Technical Edit - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to clarify that tenants who have not used their right of redemption within the past 6 months may be able to participate in the pilot eviction diversion program. 

 

Death or Disability of a Broker - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to clarify that upon the death or disability of a real estate broker who was a sole proprietor or the only licensed broker in any business entity, the Real Estate Board can approve someone to close out the business. 

 

Removal of Restrictive Covenants - Virginia REALTORS® is seeking legislation to remove discriminatory restrictive covenant language that would violate fair housing law from real property title and deeds. Current law already declares such language void. This legislation would require all deeds in any residential real estate transaction to remove this offensive language that can affect property values and delay or prevent the sale of real property.