Know your rights
Start here: pick your state
Rules, playbooks, and deadlines vary by state, and often by city. Find renter resources for your state.
Rental law, written for the person living with the problem.
We are a national platform publishing reviewed playbooks one state at a time, and Virginia is where we started. Rules resolve by the city you actually live in, not by ZIP code. In Virginia a ZIP can cross a city line and a county line. Every playbook shows what has been sourced and what is still waiting on a lawyer.
Awaiting attorney review
This playbook is written and sourced, but a qualified Virginia reviewer has not signed off on it yet. Use it to understand the landscape and to prepare, not as a legal conclusion, a deadline, or a remedy.
Ending a lease after abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or trafficking
If you are a victim of family abuse, sexual abuse or criminal sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking, Virginia law lets you end your rental agreement early. You serve written notice with a copy of a protective order or a qualifying court document, and the agreement ends 28 days after service. Rent is owed through that date, and no liquidated damages may be charged.
Read the playbookLocked out, or utilities shut off
A landlord generally cannot put you out by changing the locks or shutting off utilities. This is an emergency; document it today and call legal aid the same day.
Read the playbookEviction notice or court date
A notice is not an eviction. Only a court can order you out, and a court date is the one thing you cannot ignore. Get a lawyer or legal aid involved before the date on the paper.
Read the playbookRepairs and habitability
Your landlord must keep the home fit to live in and keep promised essential services running. Virginia has a court process for conditions that are ignored, but it has strict requirements, and withholding rent outside that process can put your tenancy at risk.
Read the playbookDiscrimination and fair housing
Federal and state fair housing law prohibit discrimination in renting. Complaints run on short clocks, and what you recorded in the moment often decides the case.
Read the playbookRetaliation for complaining or organizing
Retaliation is often invisible in a single document and obvious in a timeline. Save the complaint, save the response, and get advice early; these claims are limited by time.
Read the playbookLease non-renewal and termination
A termination or non-renewal notice has formal requirements. Form, reason, delivery and the date received all matter, and the sequence around it can matter too.
Read the playbookRent increases and unexplained fees
Most fee disputes turn on two documents: your lease and a written ledger. Get both before you argue, and find out which charges Virginia actually limits.
Read the playbookSecurity deposit disputes
Deposit disputes are won on paper: move-in condition, a forwarding address, and an itemized statement. Find out what the landlord actually claims before you argue about the amount.
Read the playbookLandlord entry and privacy
Virginia limits landlord entry and generally requires notice, except in emergencies. Keep a dated log, because a pattern is what makes this visible.
Read the playbookBuilding-wide and common-area conditions
Shared-space and building-wide conditions are usually a pattern, not an incident. Document across units with explicit consent, and treat organizing as a complement to legal help, not a replacement.
Read the playbookThis is legal information, not legal advice.
Tenant Nexus is not a law firm and does not represent you. Reading a playbook does not create an attorney-client relationship. Notice requirements, delivery methods and time periods are where tenants lose cases, so confirm anything that affects a deadline with a lawyer or legal aid before you act.