West Virginia residential lease agreement

Neither article caps an application fee. The deposit article defines an application fee as money a person pays to be considered as a tenant, and the fee falls outside its security deposit definition only if you and the applicant expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable.

W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(2) W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)

The West Virginia Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, or to set different terms, conditions, services or facilities, because of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, familial status, blindness, disability or national origin. You also may not publish a rental notice or advertisement that shows a preference on those grounds, or, on those grounds, tell someone a home is unavailable when it is available.

W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(a) to (d)

• Refusing a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services, or a reasonable modification the tenant pays for, is disability discrimination. For a rental you may, where reasonable, condition a modification on the tenant agreeing to restore the interior at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted. W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(3)
• For an assistance animal you may ask for documentation from a professional treatment provider of the disability-related need, but not medical records or detailed information about the impairment. You may not charge a fee or deposit for it or apply your pet terms, and you may deny it only on objective, individualized evidence that the specific animal is a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage that another accommodation cannot prevent. W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(10)
• The state definition includes service, therapy or support animals weighing less than 150 pounds, with or without specific training or certification, that provide disability-related work, assistance or emotional support. That state definition does not resolve independent federal accommodation duties. Review both laws before treating a weight threshold as a reason to reject a request; the state also bars unreasonable delays in responding to an accommodation request. W. Va. Code 16B-18-3(p) W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(10)(D) 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)
• Familial status covers a child under 18 living with a parent, a legal custodian or their written designee, and anyone who is pregnant or securing legal custody of a child. W. Va. Code 16B-18-3
• Narrow exemptions exist: renting rooms in an owner-occupied rooming house with no more than four rented rooms, and, for familial status only, a single-family house rented without a broker or discriminatory ad by a private owner of no more than three such houses, or units in an owner-occupied building of up to four families. W. Va. Code 16B-18-4
• It is unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with anyone for exercising fair housing rights or helping someone else do so. W. Va. Code 16B-18-16
• A tenant may file a complaint with the West Virginia Human Rights Commission within one year, or sue in circuit court within two years. W. Va. Code 16B-18-11(a) W. Va. Code 16B-18-14(a)

Neither article requires a disclosure form at signing. The deposit article requires writing at three points: the itemization that goes with the returned deposit, the notice that the damage needs a third-party contractor, and the agreement that a pet fee or application fee is nonrefundable.

W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(a), (c) W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)

• Federal law on lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 was not read for this page. W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

Neither article requires a flood disclosure. No other West Virginia law on flood disclosure was read for this page.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

Neither article requires you to give the tenant your name or address. Under the deposit article, a managing agent who does not disclose the owner's name counts as the landlord, and whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends must return any deposit owed.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(5) W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(e)

• A tenant's notice to end a periodic tenancy may be served on anyone who owns the home in whole or in part, or the owner's agent. W. Va. Code 37-6-5 See Ending a month-to-month tenancy on the West Virginia page

No section of West Virginia's security deposit article or its landlord and tenant article caps the amount of a security deposit.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

• A security deposit is any refundable deposit a tenant gives to secure performance of the rental agreement or against damage to the home. It does not include rent or prepaid rent. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)
• A pet fee or an application fee falls outside the security deposit definition only if you and the tenant expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)
• If the tenant has an assignee or subtenant, you may hold a security deposit from only one of them. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(f) See Deposit return on the West Virginia page

When the tenancy ends, deliver the deposit, minus any deductions, with a written itemization of the damages and other charges within the notice period: 60 days after the tenancy ends, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the home, whichever is shorter.

W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(7) W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(a)

• You may apply the deposit only to rent due (including the reasonable late charges the rental agreement specifies), damage from the tenant's noncompliance less reasonable wear and tear, utilities billed to and paid by you that the tenant owed under the agreement, reasonable costs of removing and storing the tenant's belongings, and other damages or charges the rental agreement provides, such as a third-party contractor's repairs of damage the tenant caused. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)
• If the damage exceeds the deposit and needs a third-party contractor, tell the tenant so in writing within the notice period; you then have 15 more days to provide the itemization and the cost of repair. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(c)
• The tenant is not entitled, when the tenancy ends, to an immediate credit of the deposit against delinquent rent. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(d)
• Deliver the deposit and any notice in person, or by mail to the tenant's last known address or the forwarding address the tenant gave. If mail comes back undeliverable and personal delivery is not reasonably possible, hold it for six months and hand it over at your place of business within 72 hours after a written request. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(g)
• Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends must return any deposit owed, even if the original landlord never transferred it. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(e)
• Keep itemized records of deposit deductions for one year after the tenancy ends, and within 72 hours of a written request let the tenant inspect them or give a copy during normal business hours. W. Va. Code 37-6A-3
• If you fail to comply willfully or not in good faith, the tenant may get a judgment for the unreturned deposit plus damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld; if the tenant owes you rent, the court credits the award against it. W. Va. Code 37-6A-5(a)
• A lease term waiving the tenant's deposit rights is unenforceable, and if you sue to enforce one, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees. W. Va. Code 37-6A-4

Neither the security deposit article nor the landlord and tenant article requires you to keep a deposit in a separate account or to pay interest on it.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

Neither article requires a move-in inspection or condition checklist. Deductions cannot cover reasonable wear and tear, so a dated record of the home's condition at move-in helps you support a deduction.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)(2)

Neither article caps a late fee or sets a grace period, so any late fee comes from the lease. When the tenancy ends, you may apply the deposit to the reasonable late charges the rental agreement specifies.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)(1)

• Rent may be recovered by a court action, and interest is allowed on it as on other contracts. W. Va. Code 37-6-9

The payee or holder of a check, draft or order dishonored for insufficient funds or credit may charge a fee of up to $25 per worthless check, and may send the writer a notice giving ten days to pay the full amount plus that fee. The fee may not be imposed or collected after a complaint for a warrant has been delivered to magistrate court.

W. Va. Code 61-3-39e

• Once a complaint for a warrant has been presented to magistrate court, payment may be made only through the court. W. Va. Code 61-3-39e
• This page does not say whether the $25 limit reaches an electronic payment that is returned: the section speaks of a check, draft or order, and no other payment statute was read. W. Va. Code 61-3-39e

Neither article sets a notice period for a rent increase or limits how much rent may rise.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

• Do not treat section 37-6-5's termination notice as a separate statutory deadline for changing rent. It addresses year-to-year and shorter periodic tenancies, allows a special agreement on notice and expressly dispenses with notice for a term ending at a certain time. Identify the actual tenancy and review its rent-change terms before choosing a renewal rate and effective date. A year-to-year periodic tenancy and a fixed term with a stated end date are different for this notice rule. W. Va. Code 37-6-5: notice qualifications

Neither article sets a notice period before you enter the home or limits when you may enter, so the lease sets those terms.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

• After a tenant who owes rent abandons the home and does not pay within one month of your posted notice, you are entitled to possession and may enter. W. Va. Code 37-6-6(a) See Abandoned property on the West Virginia page

For residential property, deliver the home and surrounding premises fit and habitable at the start of the tenancy and keep them that way. Meet applicable health, safety, fire and housing codes, unless the tenant, a family member or someone there with the tenant's consent caused the failure, and make all repairs needed to keep the home fit and habitable, except those made necessary mainly by that group's lack of reasonable care.

W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)

• Keep the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and the other facilities and appliances you supply, including elevators, in good and safe working order. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)(5)
• Where the unit has direct public utility connections, supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat from October 1 through the last day of April, unless the tenant alone controls the installation that produces them. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)(7)
• In a building with more than one unit, keep the common areas you control clean, safe and in repair, and provide appropriate ways to remove ashes, garbage, rubbish and other waste. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)(3), (a)(6), (d)
• You are not required to make repairs while the tenant is behind on rent. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(c)
• If the lease gives you a greater duty than the statute, the lease controls. W. Va. Code 37-6-30(b)

Neither article gives the tenant a repair-and-deduct or rent withholding remedy. When you petition for possession over unpaid rent, the tenant may answer that you breached a material covenant on which the duty to pay rent depends, and the court then holds a hearing on that issue.

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

• If buildings are destroyed in whole or in part by fire or otherwise without the tenant's fault or negligence, rent is reasonably reduced until they are replaced, unless the lease provides otherwise. If you do not rebuild as soon as you reasonably can, the tenant may surrender possession after a reasonable time and owe no rent after that. W. Va. Code 37-6-28
• West Virginia court decisions on a tenant's remedies were not read for this page. W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6

Neither article has a rule on locks, rekeying or security devices. Building, fire and housing codes, which you must meet under the habitability section, were not read for this page.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code 37-6-30(a)(2)

In a one- or two-family dwelling, including a manufactured home, the owner must provide, install and replace an operational smoke detector near each sleeping area. In a home the owner does not live in, the tenant does routine maintenance on the detectors.

W. Va. Code 15A-10-12(a), (b)

• If a deaf or hard of hearing person lives in a home the owner does not occupy, the owner must provide a smoke detector with a light signal on written request. W. Va. Code 15A-10-12(c)
• An AC-powered carbon monoxide detector with battery backup is required in newly built residential units with a fuel-burning heating or cooking source, and, in apartment buildings and one- and two-family homes meant for rent, in sleeping rooms next to, above or below rooms with permanently installed fuel-burning appliances. W. Va. Code 15A-10-12(f), (g)
• A violation is a misdemeanor with a $250 fine for a first offense, $750 for a second and $2,000 for later offenses. W. Va. Code 15A-10-12(l)
• Smoke detector rules for apartment buildings come from the State Fire Code, which was not read for this page. W. Va. Code 15A-10-12(a)

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

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

A periodic tenancy shorter than a year, such as month-to-month, may be ended by written notice for one full period before the end of any period. A year-to-year tenancy needs written notice at least three months before the end of a year.

W. Va. Code 37-6-5

• These notice rules do not apply where you and the tenant agree on some other notice period, or on no notice. W. Va. Code 37-6-5
• Notice to the tenant may be served on the tenant or on anyone holding the home under the tenant. The tenant's notice may be served on anyone who owns the home in whole or in part, or the owner's agent. W. Va. Code 37-6-5

No notice is needed to end a tenancy whose term ends on a set date. Neither article gives a general right to end a fixed term early, but specific sections do: after a residential tenant dies, the tenant's heir, personal representative, devisee or assignee may end the lease by written notice, effective on the last day of the calendar month two months after the notice is hand-delivered or mailed.

W. Va. Code 37-6-5 W. Va. Code 37-6-11(b)

• That right after a death applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2012, cannot be waived, and a lease term requiring longer notice is void. The estate still owes rent through the notice period and the cost of restoring the home, less ordinary wear and tear. W. Va. Code 37-6-11(b)(3) to (5)
• If the whole property is taken by eminent domain, rent ends unless the lease says otherwise; a partial taking reduces rent in proportion. W. Va. Code 37-6-29
• If a tenant who owes rent abandons the home, your posted notice may also say you will relet it; the tenant then stays liable for the difference between the new rent and the lease rent for the rest of the term. W. Va. Code 37-6-6(a) W. Va. Code 37-6-7 See Abandoned property on the West Virginia page
• Neither article gives a right to end a lease because of domestic violence. The domestic violence chapter and the federal servicemember law were not read for this page. W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

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

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

Magistrate courts hear civil actions where the amount in controversy is no more than $20,000, not counting interest and costs, and cases of wrongful occupation of residential rental property when title is not in dispute.

W. Va. Code 50-2-1

• A tenant's deposit claim may be brought in magistrate court or circuit court in the county where the home is. W. Va. Code 37-6A-5(b) See Deposit return on the West Virginia page

An ownership claim based on adverse possession requires more than staying at an address. The standard described in the cited court order requires ten years of actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous and hostile possession under a claim of title or color of title. Each element matters; a general ten-year summary does not resolve a particular boundary or ownership dispute.

West Virginia courts: case 22-0036 circuit court order W. Va. Code 37-6-31

• West Virginia separately excludes a qualifying squatter from the landlord-and-tenant article: someone occupying without a rental agreement or the tenant's permission. No court may require an eviction to remove a person within that definition. Establish how the person entered and whether an agreement, permission or disputed title exists before choosing a legal route. A former tenant and an unauthorized entrant are not interchangeable labels; ask the appropriate local authority or counsel how the facts should be handled. W. Va. Code 37-6-31 See Eviction process on the West Virginia page
• Keep title and boundary records, leases, written permissions, dated photographs and a timeline of the claimed use. For genuinely vacant property, maintain doors and windows and arrange lawful condition checks. Preserve evidence and obtain the appropriate legal response rather than confronting an occupant or treating a vacancy checklist as permission to remove someone. West Virginia courts: case 22-0036 circuit court order W. Va. Code 37-6-31

Neither article sets rent control or limits rent increases. City and county codes, and any state law on local rent regulation, were not read for this page.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A