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I apologize if this belongs in a different section of the forum...
My husband and I are renting out a townhouse in Northern VA for the first time. As I read it, we are exempt from the VRLTA since we are only renting out one single family unit. So, what rules DO apply to us? Every search I do results in pointing to the VRLTA.
Specific questions I have include how to hold the security deposit (do we need to set up a separate "escrow" account, or can we just hold it in our personal checking account?), whether we owe any interest on the security deposit (lease is for 12 months, so we will not be holding it for more than 13 months, but does it matter if the deposit is held in an interest-bearing account?). We got a tenant sooner than expected (less than a week after posting), and she already signed the lease (Long & Foster Realtors' standard lease agreement). We are meeting her tonight to give her the keys and collect the security deposit!
If tenant stays beyond the 1 year lease, you would be holding the security deposit longer than 12 months. The lease might automatically turn into month-to-month after the 1st year, or maybe another lease is signed after a year.
But isn't the 13-month "rule" part of the VRLTA, from which we are exempt? That's what I'm trying to find out is which rules DO apply to use since the VRLTA does not. Everything just seems to point to that one Act. I think I need to find some kind of advisor I can ask questions of as we go along.
In my opinion, even though a private landlord may technically be exempt from the state landlord tenant laws by dint of owning one or two units, a LL is wise to follow the laws and incorporate them into the lease. As far as a security deposit is concerned, both as a landlord and a tenant in private "exempt" properties I've never either kept or had kept a security deposit in an interest bearing account. Where renewal terms are concerned these should be written into the lease for your own protection and that of the tenant. Legally if the lease ends and you don't stipulate anything to the contrary, the lease will roll over to a month to month under the same terms and conditions of the original lease.
Some states required the LL to hold the fund in an interest bearing account. But do keep the funds separated from yours. Open a new account and deposit it there.
Some states required the LL to hold the fund in an interest bearing account. But do keep the funds separated from yours. Open a new account and deposit it there.
Unless you have a bunch of units and state law mandates the funds be kept in an interest-bearing account, it's an unnecessary waste of money to open a separate account just for one or two security deposits.
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