HB1638: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; affordable housing, criminal record screening model policy.

Legislative Summary

Department of Housing and Community Development; Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; affordable housing; criminal record screening model policy. Requires the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, with input from a stakeholder group convened by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to develop a criminal record screening model policy for admitting or denying an applicant for affordable housing covered under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on the application of the federal Fair Housing Act and maintain such model policy on its website. The bill prohibits a landlord of an affordable housing unit from basing an adverse action, in whole or in part, on an applicant's criminal or arrest record unless the landlord does so in accordance with the criminal record screening model policy developed by the Department of Housing and Community Development and posted on its website and provides the applicant with a written copy of such policy. The provisions of the bill other than the creation of the stakeholder group have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.