Virginia HOA disclosure
What state law requires, what the standard resale packet leaves out, and the Virginia-specific gotchas buyers should know before removing contingencies.
Primary statute: Virginia Property Owners' Association Act (Virginia Code Title 55.1, Chapter 18). For condominium associations, the parallel statute is Virginia Condominium Act (Virginia Code Title 55.1, Chapter 19). Together with the FCC Over-The-Air Reception Devices Rule (47 C.F.R. section 1.4000) and a handful of subject-specific statutes (solar, flags, EV charging, where applicable), these are the rules that override declaration and bylaw language inconsistent with them.
These are the VA rules that most commonly conflict with what the disclosure packet appears to say. Each one is worth a direct question to the HOA before contingency removal.
Fine caps are unusually low
$50 per offense, $10 per day, $900 maximum per violation
Under Virginia law, fines for covenant violations are capped at $50 for a single offense and $10 per day for a continuing violation, with the continuing-violation total capped at 90 days. The total fine for any single violation cannot exceed $900. Boards cannot escalate beyond these caps regardless of declaration language.
$5,000 minimum for nonjudicial foreclosure
Associations cannot foreclose under the smaller debt
An association may not initiate nonjudicial foreclosure unless total unpaid assessments exceed $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs. Below the threshold, the association can sue and obtain a judgment, but the streamlined foreclosure remedy is off the table. This is materially more owner-protective than several neighboring states.
Rental fee absolute cap: $50
Section 55.1-1806 caps any rental registration fee
Associations may charge no more than $50 per lease term for any registration, processing, or administrative fee related to a lease. This is an absolute cap that overrides declaration language to the contrary. A request for higher rental administrative fees is non-compliant.
Disclosure packet has a fixed delivery window
Buyers have a statutory right to cancel after receipt
The Virginia Association Disclosure Packet must be delivered within 14 days of request, and the buyer has 3 days after receipt to cancel the contract without penalty (or 7 days if the packet was delivered by mail). Watch the delivery timeline closely; a late or incomplete packet preserves the cancellation right.
No statutory cap on annual increases
Any dues-increase cap lives in the declaration, not the code
Virginia law does not cap annual assessment increases. Whatever cap exists is in the declaration or bylaws. Read both before assuming an annual cap protects you from a steep dues jump after close.
Plain-English guides to the Virginia statutes that most often clash with HOA governing documents. Each one explains the rule, what the board can still do, and what to check in the disclosure packet before you remove contingencies.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1833
Foreclosure and the $5,000 rule
An HOA cannot force a nonjudicial foreclosure sale unless unpaid assessments top $5,000, and it owes a 10-day pre-lien notice and a 60-day cure window.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1806
Rental fees are capped at $50 per lease, and the HOA cannot require its own lease, a deposit, or a power of attorney unless the declaration says so.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1819
Fines are capped at $50 per offense and $10 a day, maxing out at $900, with a cure period and a 14-day hearing notice first.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1824
A late fee cannot exceed 5 percent of the unpaid assessment and cannot start until the payment is more than 60 days late.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1820.1
Only the declaration can ban solar on your own property, and a placement rule that raises cost 5 percent or cuts output 10 percent is unreasonable.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1823.1
An HOA cannot ban an EV charger on property you own; a condo can deny one only on real safety or engineering grounds.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1821
An HOA cannot ban a home business in your residence unless the declaration does, and home child care is protected where local zoning treats it as residential.
Code of Virginia 55.1-1826
The board must run a reserve study at least every five years, but Virginia sets no cap on how much dues can rise.
Upload the full disclosure package - HOA documents plus any state-specific addenda - and HOA Notes runs a VA-calibrated analysis: every assertion in the resulting brief points to a page in the source packet, every state-law conflict is flagged with the statute citation, and a Risk Score 0 to 100 summarizes the overall exposure. The state-law cross-reference is keyed to the Virginia statutes listed above. Delivered in under an hour.
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About this page
This is a general buyer guide for Virginia HOA disclosure. HOA Notes is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. State statutes change; the citations above were current as of the page's last update. Consult a Virginia real estate attorney before removing contingencies or relying on any state-law right described here.