VA eviction quandary (apartment, lease, tenant, security deposit)

[Irritatedmom]

My daughter and another girl rented an apartment 10 months ago. The rent has been paid on time and is up to date. My daughter has had no other issues with the landlord during this time. Her roommate let her boyfriend move in without telling the landlord and let his dog stay there without telling the landlord. The landlord found out about both of these violations of the lease and the boyfriend was added to the lease and the dog went to the pound. My daughter and her original roomie have not gotten along for some time. Their lease was due to expire in 8 weeks and the roomie decided she wanted to stay in the apartment but wanted to make sure my daughter was unable to stay there as well. This girl went to the landlord and made accusations against my daughter that 2 of her friends were doing drugs in the living room. She had no proof or witnesses to this, yet my daughter was given notice to vacate immediately the same day that the roommate made the accusations. My daughter was planning on leaving at the end of the lease anyway. Does she still have to pay for the last 2 months rent, since the landlord basically told her to get out? There was no proof behind the accusations, since the incident never happened. The landlord was not willing to listen to my daughters side of the story. We moved her out within 5 days and cleaned as well. This is in virginia. Hopefully someone knows the answer to this. The landlord also refused to do a final walk through after my daughter left and cleaned and said don't even bother her about getting security deposit back until the unit was ready to be rented again. ( we did take time stamped pick tires before and after) thanks for any help

[STT Resident]

The landlord illegally evicted your daughter since there are steps to follow and notice must be given. As long as your daughter has proof (written notice, witnesses) that the LL told her to move out immediately, she has no further obligations under the lease. She should have demanded to be taken off the lease and the LL has no right to withhold her security deposit which must be returned to her once the lease is over in the time proscribed under VA landlord tenant laws (you'll find them linked in the first "sticky" on this forum) less any deductions for damages. Your daughter may end up needing legal advice.

[azurabug]

What STT said. Get in touch with an attorney and make sure you document everything. You need to make sure you have proof that the LL told her to get out. If you don't have proof of this, the LL could come back and say your daughter just abandoned the place.