We need your help to pass legislation now!
We are working to increase transparency for renters in Virginia.
Last year we stopped 100 evictions from across the City of Richmond based on referrals that our members and partners sent our way. Only 25 of those households were in Greater Fulton, but we knew that we could assist, so we did.
We discovered three key problems:
- The general ledger was wrong in 75 of the total 100 cases
- In 96 of those 100 cases the renter had been unable to obtain a copy of their general ledger
- Landlords were stacking up utility arrears for months until they equaled two months of back rent before filing an eviction and tenants had no idea what they owed
It took one email from us to the landlord to get the ledger and charges, but we had evidence from each tenant that they had repeatedly attempted to obtain this information on their own. In all cases with an incorrect ledger, we were able to work with property management to correct it. We connected the renter with any resources to resolve the balance if there were any arrears that they could not afford. We assisted 10 renters with readjusting their budget for future months so that they could make the arrears payments themselves. None of these households were attempting to avoid paying rent or charges—they just wanted to clear up discrepancies. Seems reasonable, right?
We also learned that landlords were evicting people over RUBS (ratioed utility billing systems). RUBS is used in apartment buildings to charge residents an estimate of utility usage, which is not necessarily provided as an itemized statement like in s single unit.
These aren’t isolated problems. Current law requires that tenants must know to request the general ledger from their landlord. The tenant then must wait until the landlord provides it and, as we found, this may take a very long time. Under current law, the tenant must also know that they can request their itemized RUBS statement and can be required to pay for the reproduction of it.
People all over the Commonwealth are being taken to court right now without being able to obtain a copy of the charges being used to evict them. This means that they are unable to properly prepare for court and only see the ledger as they are in front of a judge.
A vote will be happening soon in the House Courts of Justice Committee for our bill, HB1361. We need this bill to pass the committee so that it makes it out to the House floor for a vote. We were able to get the bill reported out of subcommittee with a 10-0 vote, which included vocal bipartisan support from subcommittee members. Our bill has a positive fiscal impact statement, which means it’s unlikely to be eliminated during the budget process.
We need you to send an email to the following House Courts of Justice Committee members to ask them to vote in favor of HB1361: Hope (Chair), Maldonado (Vice Chair), Watts, Simon, Sullivan, Delaney, Hernandez, Cousins, Reaser, Callsen, Keys-Gamarra, Mehta, Carnegie, Thornton, Schmidt, Kilgore, Leftwich, Ballard, Williams, Davis, Whittle, Pence
Here’s a sample email:
I am writing in support Delegate Maldonado’s HB1361.
This Ledger Transparency Bill is a simple change that ensures that tenants receive a full accounting of charges related to their tenancy before an eviction is filed. This bill ensures that:
- When a tenant receives a pay-or-quit notice, that they also receive a ledger showing all debits and credits for the lease term, or the prior 12 months, whichever is shorter.
- Tenants can clearly see what they are being asked to pay at the moment it matters most.
- Under current law, landlords are required to provide tenants with a pay or quit notice of the amount due, yet tenants often run into barriers when trying to get details on the breakdown of those amounts.
HB1361 fixes this by ensuring tenants receive the same accounting information landlords already maintain, upfront and with the notice itself. That promotes fairness, reduces disputes, and helps resolve issues before they reach the courtroom.
Importantly, HB1361 does not change what landlords may charge or how utilities are billed. It simply requires transparency.
Please vote in favor of HB1361. This bill is about ensuring that tenants are able to resolve tenancy billing disputes quickly and hopefully without court.
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Paste these email addresses into the “To” section of your email: DelPHope@house.virginia.gov, DelVWatts@house.virginia.gov, DelMSimon@house.virginia.gov, DelRSullivan@house.virginia.gov, DelKDelaney@house.virginia.gov, DelPHernandez@house.virginia.gov, DelRCousins@house.virginia.gov, DelAReaser@house.virginia.gov, DelKCallsen@house.virginia.gov, DelKKeys-Gamarra@house.virginia.gov, DelLMehta@house.virginia.gov, DelKCarnegie@house.virginia.gov, DelVThornton@house.virginia.gov, DelCSchmidt@house.virginia.gov, DelTKilgore@house.virginia.gov, DelJLeftwich@house.virginia.gov, deljballard@house.virginia.gov, delwwilliams@house.virginia.gov, DelWDavis@house.virginia.gov, DelMWhittle@house.virginia.gov, DelJPence@house.virginia.gov, delmmaldonado@house.virginia.gov
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We have a Senate version of the bill too and we will be in touch soon to ask you to take action on that.
We rarely engage in legislative policy work, but we couldn’t walk away from an opportunity to address a recurring problem that is contributing to potentially avoidable houselessness.
Will you help us keep families housed?