A Virginia sublease agreement is a legal document that an original tenant (or “sublessor”) can use to rent out a property they’re currently renting to a new tenant (or “sublessee”). This rental can include the entire property or simply part of the property, such as a room in a house.
Laws & Requirements
Sublease and Assignment Provision Laws: Va. Code § 55.1-1204
Landlord-Tenant Laws: Title 55.1, Chapter 12 (Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act)
Security Deposit Obligations: A sublessor must return a subtenant’s security deposit within 45 days of the sublease’s termination.
Notices: If a subtenant hasn’t paid their rent, a sublessor must provide five days’ written notice to pay rent or vacate the property. If a sublessor plans not to renew the sublease or the original lease, they must give 30 days’ written notice of this plan.
Permission to Sublet
- Laws: Virginia law doesn’t give automatic consent for subletting. The parties must review the lease to determine if subletting is allowed.
- Explicit Written Consent: An original rental agreement may contain provisions about whether the landlord is allowed to approve or disapprove a subleasing arrangement. In Virginia, a landlord has ten business days to approve or deny the request. If they don’t respond within ten days, the tenant can assume the landlord approves the subleasing arrangement.
- Landlord’s Right to Reject: A landlord can reject subletting requests if the reasons are fair and nondiscriminatory.
Tax Obligations
Lodgings Tax
- Any room or house rented out for less than 30 consecutive days is subject to transient occupancy tax (Va. Code § 58.1-3819). This tax is in addition to state and local sales taxes.
Tax Rates
- State Sales Tax Rate: 5.3% [1] .
- Local Sales Tax: It varies by county, but you can use the Department of Taxation’s sales tax rate and locality code lookup tool to find the relevant rate.
- Local Transient Occupancy Tax: It varies by county, but you can review the different rates.
Filing Frequency
- The Department of Taxation will assess your tax liability to determine your filing frequency. If your tax liability falls above or below certain thresholds from year to year, it may change your filing frequency.
- There are two filing frequencies in Virginia: monthly or quarterly. You must file a return each period even if you don’t owe tax.
- Monthly filers must file on the 20th of the month following the end of the filing period.
- Quarterly filers must file by March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.
Making Payments
- Payments can be submitted to the Virginia Department of Taxation.
- You must register to file the relevant taxes. Please note that some rental hosting platforms, like Airbnb, collect the pertinent taxes at the time of each reservation.
Sample
Related Documents
Rental Application
Determine if a subtenant meets your qualifications to sublet a property.
