Virginia mobile home rights cheat sheet

A quick reference to how Virginia law generally treats manufactured home park lot tenancies. Virginia has a strong dedicated park law — the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act, Va. Code Title 55.1, Chapter 13. This is general information, not legal advice, and the authors are not lawyers — for a specific situation, consider consulting a licensed attorney in Virginia. Each line cites the controlling statute; read it at the official source linked in Sources below.

At a glance

Topic	What the law generally provides	Cite
Governing law	Dedicated Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act (Title 55.1 Ch. 13).	§55.1-1300+
Written lease	Required, signed; copy + chapter + statement of rights to tenant.	§55.1-1301, §55.1-1303
Lease term	Park must offer a 1-year+ lease; auto-renews same terms.	§55.1-1302(A),(B)
Rent / term change	60 days' notice at renewal; tenant may object in 30 days; no deposit increase on renewal; no statewide rent cap.	§55.1-1302(B)
Late fee	≤ 10% of periodic rent (must be in lease).	§55.1-1302(D)
Entrance/exit fees	Both prohibited; only rent/utility/incidental charges allowed.	§55.1-1306, §55.1-1301
Sale commission	None unless the tenant expressly hired the park.	§55.1-1306(A)(2)
Sell in place	No prohibition on selling; no unreasonable refusal/restriction; age-based refusal unreasonable; for-sale sign; landlord bears burden.	§55.1-1301, §55.1-1310
Vendor choice	Owner not restricted in choice of home/goods/services vendors.	§55.1-1306(C)
Eviction — change of use	Non-waivable 180-day certified-mail notice.	§55.1-1308(B)
Closure / redevelopment	$5,000 relocation if sold to redeveloper; notice of intent to sell (90/60-day, 25%-tenant offer).	§55.1-1308.1, §55.1-1308.2
Eviction — after judgment	90 days to sell or move the home (and may sublet to an approved subtenant).	§55.1-1316
Retaliation	Barred (rent hike, service cut, or possession action).	§55.1-1314
Utilities	Resale capped (per §55.1-1212); maintain systems; 48-hour planned-disruption notice.	§55.1-1307, §55.1-1303
Habitability	Landlord keeps park fit and habitable and code-compliant.	§55.1-1303
Title	DMV certificate of title (Title 46.2).	§46.2-653.1
Real property	Remove wheels + attach to owned land + surrender title + record affidavit of affixation → real estate.	§46.2-653.1
Penalty	Willful violation = greater of one month's rent or actual damages + attorney fees.	§55.1-1318

How to use this

This sheet summarizes; it does not replace the statute or legal advice. Virginia's Act incorporates much of the general landlord-tenant law for nonpayment and lease-violation evictions (§55.1-1311), and a landlord can't pursue a lease-violation action until it has given the statement of tenant rights. Start with your written rental agreement and that statement of rights, then check the controlling section for your issue.

Where to read more

• Virginia topic guides on FightMyPark: lot rent, eviction, fees, utilities, buying, selling, title, and storm.
• The official statute text and agency pages, linked in the Sources section below.