Virginia

NLIHC has estimated a need for no less than $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and broke down the need and cost for each state (download Excel spreadsheet). 

In response to COVID-19 and its economic fallout, many cities and states are creating or expanding rental assistance programs to support individuals and families impacted by the pandemic, and NLIHC is tracking in-depth information on these programs.  

You can use the interactive map and searchable database to find state and local emergency rental assistance programs near you. You can also see the latest news on rental assistance programs through the state-by-state news tracker. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all rental assistance programs as we continue to update frequently. If you are aware of a program not included in our database, please contact [email protected]. 

COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs
 

Federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums are rapidly expiring and the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefits will end soon; at that time, millions of low-income renters will be at risk of losing their homes. The NLIHC estimates at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance is needed to keep low-income renters stably housed during and after the pandemic. This tracker links to news reports of the growing evictions crisis in various cities and states. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of eviction updates.

Housing and homelessness organizations in Virginia are struggling to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Although the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the lapsed eviction ban on August 7, over 15,000 eviction hearings were heard in court, and more than 3,000 families were evicted across Virginia in July. 3,000 evictions have reportedly been filed in Virginia since its moratorium expired on June 28.  According to the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, VA’s eviction tracker, there have been 20,289 eviction hearings and 4,131 families have lost their homes since Virginia’s eviction moratorium was lifted on June 28. The Virginia Supreme Court issued a temporary eviction moratorium, which will last through September 7. In the next eight weeks, however, there are 7,052 eviction hearings scheduled across Virginia. This tracker shows the total number of eviction hearings in counties/cities that are scheduled between now and October 5.

Updated: August 28

VA's moratorium originally ended May 17 but was reinstated June 8; reinstated moratorium ended June 28. Legislation is in place that allows for a 60 day continuance of an eviction if the tenant can prove they were impacted by COVID-19. Eviction hearings are being conducted remotely and in person. 

Updated: July 31

Across the country, homeless service providers are struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to follow public health guidelines and help ensure people’s safety, some shelters are being forced to reduce services, restrict admittance, or close entirely. The loss of these critical resources puts people experiencing homelessness at even higher risk of illness. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of shelter closings.

Below is a list of shelters that have had to majorly alter services or completely close:

Advocates report a shelter in Gloucester County closed due to a lack of volunteers.

The HOPE Foundation in Norfolk is no longer able to provide shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness.

With rental assistance funds dwindling, housing advocates in Virginia predict a spike in evictions in the coming weeks. Evictions have been on the rise over the past several months. Since the end of February, 77 eviction hearings have taken place in Charlottesville and 260 in Albemarle County.

Virginia housing advocates fear a surge of evictions when the last of Virginia’s COVID-19 eviction protections expire on June 30. The $691 million in federal and state rental assistance coupled with added eviction protections have helped keep families in their homes throughout the pandemic. The end of eviction protections on June 30, however, could lead to a spike in evictions, since landlords and property managers will have fewer barriers preventing the evictions of tenants for nonpayment of rent.

Updated on May 23, 2022

Chesterfield County’s emergency rental assistance (ERA) program will stop accepting new applications unless the county receives additional federal funding. The county received $18.8 million in federal rent relief and is on track to exhaust the entire allocation. The county received a surge in new applications when the federal eviction moratorium ended in August.

Updated on December 20, 2021

The Alexandria City Council voted unanimously on September 28 to increase the city’s capacity to support households at risk for eviction. The council allocated $457,000 for two service navigators and two housing relocator positions; storage assistance for household belongings; and additional legal services provided by the Legal Aid Justice Center.

Updated on October 5, 2021

Virginia’s eviction moratorium has expired, and one of the state’s most significant eviction protections, the requirement that landlords apply for rent relief on their tenants’ behalf, will expire at the end of July.
Updated on July 26, 2021

Hundreds of renters living in public housing in Richmond could be at risk of eviction when the CDC moratorium expires. Almost 700 households out of the approximately 3,700 rental units that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) manages are behind on rent. RRHA plans to resume eviction efforts in August.

Attorneys with the Legal Aid Justice Center say that thousands, if not millions, of families across Virginia may face eviction when the CDC eviction moratorium expires at the end of July. Millions of dollars in rental assistance are available, and advocates are urging landlords to work with tenants as programs work to distribute these funds.
Updated on July 22, 2021

Richmond public housing officials plan to evict families who are more than two months behind on rent starting in August. Tenants who are in the pipeline for rent relief will not be evicted. More than 800 Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority households established repayment plans for back rent as of mid-June.
Updated on July 15, 2021

Governor Ralph Northam will allow his emergency declaration to expire at the end of June. The decision will impact several eviction protections enacted during the pandemic. Tenants facing evictions can get their cases extended for 60 days if they can prove they did not pay rent because of the pandemic. This protection will expire 90 days after the end of the emergency order. The requirement that a landlord includes in the eviction notice information about available rent relief and helps renters apply for it will expire when the state of emergency ends on June 30.

June 22, 2021

As the federal eviction moratorium draws to a close at the end of June, many Virginia renters are concerned about what will happen next. Eleven percent of Virginia renters are behind on their rent, which is 123,000 households, mostly people of color.

The Henrico Citizen provides a list of rent relief resources available in the Richmond region.
June 4, 2021

NPR reports that many residents in a close-knit immigrant community at the Southern Towers, an apartment complex in Alexandria, have been hit hard by the pandemic and threatened with eviction over the past year. About 60% of the 4,000 residents who live at Southern Towers are immigrants, mostly from Africa, and a majority of the tenants are Black. A tenant organizing group called African Communities Together reports that CIM Group, a Los Angeles-based private real estate company that acquired Southern Towers in August 2020, has aggressively sought to evict residents, despite the ongoing pandemic and eviction moratoriums. The aggressive eviction filings have caused widespread fear among the residents, many of whom self-evict or must show up to court without legal representation.

May 3, 2021

As Charlottesville braces for a potential tsunami of evictions when the federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of June, the city council is considering a new initiative to provide tenants facing eviction a right to counsel.

April 17, 2021

DCist reports that Virginia will receive at least $160 million in additional federal rent relief. Evictions, however, are proceeding across the state. Despite the federal eviction moratorium, nearly 5,000 eviction judgments were issued in Virginia between October and December of 2020, according to the RVA Eviction Lab. A new Virginia law requires landlords to help tenants obtain rental assistance before they can move forward with an eviction.

Learn about the Equal Justice Works Housing Justice Program, which was designed to prevent evictions and increase tenant protections in Virginia, and the work they have been doing to fight for tenants amid the COVID-19 pandemic and looming eviction crisis.

March 01, 2021

The Virginian-Pilot reports the number of Virginia Beach residents who reported being at risk of homelessness during the 2020 pandemic more than quadrupled compared to the prior year. Black residents and families with children made up the majority of people who reached out to the city for housing assistance. Virginia Beach has housed 330 people in hotels since the beginning of the pandemic, and 60% of those people have found temporary or permanent housing. At the end of January, 123 households were residing in three hotels in the city.

February 22, 2021

The Virginia House of Delegates will decide whether tenant protections established because of the COVID-19 pandemic should be permanent. Thousands of Virginians remain at risk of eviction as coronavirus infections and deaths continue to rise.

February 01, 2021

Valley Mission, the Shenandoah’s longest operating private homeless shelters, reports that there have been positive COVID-19 cases within the shelter.

December 9, 2020

Fairfax County formed an eviction prevention task force to collect and analyze data on evictions in the county. This data will then be used to direct resources and guide recommendations for future actions.

November 30, 2020

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that about 50 people gathered outside of a Brookland Park home on October 23 to prevent the landlord and sheriff’s deputies from carrying out an eviction. Advocates helped the tenant submit the CDC declaration required to be protected under the national eviction moratorium and petition for another hearing. A judge ordered the landlord to stop the eviction shortly before deputies were scheduled to carry it out. 

November 4, 2020

With stimulus talks stalled in Washington, shelter providers in Richmond fear a surge in homelessness when the federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of the year.

Richmond, Henrico County, and Chesterfield County are partnering with the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care to help those at imminent risk of homelessness by housing individuals in hotel rooms and connecting them to food assistance, mental health services, and permanent housing. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney recently announced plans for sheltering people experiencing homelessness.

The James City County Social Services Housing Unit has received two grant awards from the CARES Act for the homeless emergency response program, including $129,630 for rapid re-housing and $90,141 for a non-congregate, winter shelter.

October 26, 2020

The Henrico Citizen reports that while the CDC moratorium has protected some residents, many tenants facing eviction are unaware of the moratorium and other resources, such as legal aid and rental assistance. According to court data, a total of 1,358 unlawful detainer hearings took place in Henrico between June 29 and October 2.

October 19, 2020

Governor Ralph Northam expanded Virginia’s rental and mortgage relief program to allow landlords to apply for assistance on behalf of tenants. 

October 5, 2020

The Virginia Supreme Court declined Governor Ralph Northam’s request to extend the statewide eviction moratorium, noting the CDC’s eviction moratorium that went into effect on September 4. 

September 15, 2020

Arlington County added $1.1 million from its COVID-19 contingent account to its existing eviction protection fund, bringing the total amount allocated for eviction prevention to $3.5 million just since July 1, the beginning of the county’s fiscal year 2021. “Given the fact of diminished support from the federal government and the continuation of community spread of the virus, we believe the need for rent assistance is likely to continue to increase in coming months,” said County Board Chair Libby Garvey.

Virginia legislators introduced a bill (HB 5111) to halt evictions until 60 days after Virginia’s state of emergency ends. One Northern Virginia resident said that if the House and Senate bills are not passed, he and his family could become homeless.

September 2, 2020.

Governor Ralph Northam announced on August 7 that the Virginia Supreme Court granted his request to extend the state’s eviction moratorium through September 7. Four of the court’s seven justices agreed to extend the moratorium.

Housing and homelessness organizations in Virginia are struggling to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Although the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the lapsed eviction ban on August 7, over 15,000 eviction hearings were heard in court, and more than 3,000 families were evicted across Virginia in July. 

August 19, 2020.

Affordable housing advocates are urging Governor Ralph Northam to issue an executive order banning evictions until at least late August. Governor Northam, however, has responded that an executive order would create more problems than it would solve. He continues to ask the Virginia Supreme Court to suspend evictions through early September.

The Valley Homeless Connection is seeking landlords who are willing to offer housing to people experiencing homelessness. The organization has two permanent housing programs that provide wraparound services, but there are not enough units that meet the funding criteria. There are currently 63 people residing temporarily in local motels during the pandemic who need permanent housing.

August 13, 2020.

As eviction cases rise in Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam is again asking the state’s court to delay eviction hearings until September 7. The governor said that the additional time will provide relief to renters and allow the administration time to develop a legislative package focused on eviction prevention once the General Assembly convenes for a special session on August 18.

August 4, 2020.

Thousands of Virginia renters may soon face eviction for being unable to pay July rent or for failing to pay back-rent payments for April, May, or June. Virginia is assembling a $50 million rent relief program, but advocates fear that this will not meet the demand for assistance. Governor Ralph Northam is calling for circuit courts to individually extend a ban on evictions after the Virginia Supreme Court declined to extend the moratorium beyond June 28.

July 7, 2020

Governor Ralph Northam shared new resources on May 19 to protect residents from eviction, including a new website to help Virginians navigate housing programs and services. The governor also signed two bills that were approved by the General Assembly on April 22, including a bill that caps late fees on rents and another that protects tenants from evictions during emergencies.

The Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless is providing shelter for approximately 87 people experiencing homelessness. The organization noted that while homelessness has always been an issue in the community, the pandemic is calling attention to the fact that homelessness is a community health issue.

The City of Virginia Beach established a program to prevent evictions for low- and middle-income renters experiencing hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginia Beach Eviction Prevention Assistance program provides eligible renters with one-time payments issued directly to the landlord or property manager.

The threat of COVID-19 has led local leaders in Western Washington to take drastic actions to address homelessness. Seattle and King County have moved people experiencing homelessness into hotels, installed new hygiene stations, and prohibits encampment sweeps. Advocates hope that this new approach to addressing homelessness will continue even after the acute crisis has passed.

Richmond will be spending $5.8 million in federal and local funds to address housing instability and homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Levar Stoney announced that he intends to supplement the $4.2 million from the CARES Act with another $1 million from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced an initial $2.5 million in emergency funding to shelter the state’s homeless population.

On August 7, the state Supreme Court granted the governor's request to halt evictions for non-payment of rent until Sept. 7. This order prohibits the issuance of writs of eviction, but does not prevent a landlord from filing or a court from hearing eviction cases. There is also no retroactive language to keep safe tenants issued a writ of eviction between the expiration of the June 28 moratorium and the reinstatement of the new moratorium on August 7. Legislation is in place that allows for a 60 day continuance of an eviction if the tenant can prove they were impacted by COVID-19.

August 10, 2020

3,000 evictions have reportedly been filed in Virginia since its moratorium expired on June 28.

In the third week of July, 1 in 5 adults in Virginia reported they had missed their previous housing payment or had little confidence they would make their next one on time, according to a weekly survey conducted by the Census. In the same survey, over a quarter of a million renters reported they had not paid their previous rental payment.

July 29, 2020

Given historically high levels of evictions, experts are predicting tens of thousands of Virginia families will face eviction without emergency rental assistance. Some 30% of the 1.67 million renter households in Virginia have little or no confidence in their ability to pay rent on July 1. According to a weekly survey by the Census, 1 in 5 adults in the state either missed their last housing payment or have little/no confidence of being able to make next month’s housing payment.

July 16, 2020