The Quarterly Assessment

2017 Virginia Legislative Update

by Allen Warren

Another year, another batch of legislation of interest to community associations enacted by the Virginia General Assembly and approved by the Governor. During this year’s General Assembly session, approximately 1,700 bills passed the House and Senate out of just over 2,900 bills that were introduced. This article will touch upon some of the more important or interesting pieces of legislation that directly or indirectly affect community associations. These include, for instance, new or amended laws dealing with amending declarations of covenants, protecting realtors’ “for sale” signs, allowing localities to require registration of short-term rentals, and granting accommodations under fair housing laws to allow “assistance animals” for those with disabilities.

All of the new legislation referenced below has been signed by the Governor and will take effect on July 1st of this year. For those interested in knowing which elected officials introduced or sponsored the legislation, the patrons (or chief patrons) of the bills are designated parenthetically next to the subject heading. If you appreciate, or do not appreciate, the impact of particular new legislation on your community association, we encourage you to contact your elected state delegate or senator to make known your opinion.