West Virginia eviction law

No notice is required before you ask a court to remove a tenant who is behind on rent. You file a verified petition in magistrate court or circuit court in the county where the home is, describing the arrearage.

W. Va. Code 55-3A-1(a)

• A landlord with a right of reentry for unpaid rent may also bring ejectment or unlawful detainer, where service of the papers takes the place of a demand. W. Va. Code 37-6-19
• The tenant may raise any defense available in an ejectment or unlawful detainer action. W. Va. Code 55-3A-2 See Eviction process on the West Virginia page

No cure period or notice is required before filing. You may petition for possession when the tenant has breached a warranty or a lease covenant, or has deliberately or negligently damaged the home or knowingly let someone else do so.

W. Va. Code 55-3A-1(a)(3)

To remove a tenant, file a verified petition in magistrate court or circuit court in the county where the home is. The court sets a hearing no fewer than 5 and no more than 10 judicial days after filing, and you must serve notice of the hearing under Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested.

W. Va. Code 55-3A-1

• The notice tells the tenant a written defense may be filed and served within five days of receiving it. W. Va. Code 55-3A-1(c)
• If the tenant has filed no appearance or answer by the hearing, the court orders immediate possession. Otherwise it hears the defenses and, if the tenant is wrongfully occupying the home, orders possession. W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(a) to (c), (e)
• Continuances are for cause only. A tenant who gets one must pay into court the rent that comes due during it. W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(d)
• The order sets when the tenant must leave, and if the tenant stays past that time the sheriff removes the tenant. W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(f)
• Magistrate courts hear wrongful occupation of residential rental property when title is not in dispute. W. Va. Code 50-2-1 See Small claims on the West Virginia page
• A squatter, someone occupying without a rental agreement or the tenant's permission, is not covered by the landlord and tenant article, and no court may require an eviction to remove one. W. Va. Code 37-6-31

Neither article has a section on lockouts or utility shutoffs. Removal under the summary procedure is by court order: if the tenant stays past the time the order sets, the sheriff removes the tenant.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(f)

• Where the unit has direct public utility connections, you must supply running water, reasonable hot water and reasonable heat from October 1 through the last day of April. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)(7) See Repairs and habitability on the West Virginia page
• If the rental agreement says so, you may use submetering, energy allocation equipment or a ratio utility billing system. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(17)
• Other West Virginia chapters and court decisions on self-help eviction were not read for this page. W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6

If a tenant who owes rent abandons the home, post a written notice in a conspicuous place requiring payment within one month. If the rent is not paid by then, you are entitled to possession and may enter, and you may recover the rent owed up to that time.

W. Va. Code 37-6-6(a)

• To dispose of belongings left behind, post a written notice on the property and mail it first class with a certificate of mailing, in an envelope marked "Please Forward", to the home, any post office box of the tenant's you know of, and the latest forwarding address you have. W. Va. Code 37-6-6(c)
• The notice must say the home is considered abandoned and that the belongings must be removed by a date at least 30 days after mailing (60 days if the tenant told you of active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces), after which the tenant forfeits them and they become yours. W. Va. Code 37-6-6(d)
• If the belongings are worth more than $300 and the tenant or a secured creditor tells you they intend to remove them, store them up to 30 more days, provided they pay your reasonable storage and removal costs. W. Va. Code 37-6-6(e)
• After a court orders possession, belongings left past the vacate time may be disposed of at once if the tenant says in writing they are abandoned or they are garbage; otherwise you may store them or leave them in place and dispose of them after 30 days if the tenant has not paid your reasonable costs and taken them back (stored items also once storage costs equal their value), with the same extra 30 days for property worth more than $300. W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(h), (i) See Eviction process on the West Virginia page

Neither article has a retaliation section. If a tenant wins an appeal from a possession order after the lease term has expired, the relief is money damages only and does not restore possession, unless there is an issue of title, retaliatory eviction or breach of warranty.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(g)

• The Fair Housing Act separately makes it unlawful to coerce, threaten or interfere with anyone for exercising fair housing rights or helping someone else do so. W. Va. Code 16B-18-16
• West Virginia court decisions on retaliation were not read for this page. W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6