Legal Opinion
It is true that your establishment is not covered under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Therefore, you are at liberty to write a five-day notice of nonpayment to the tenant. If there is a term in the lease agreement that sets the occupancy limit, then the presence of the unauthorized occupant amounts to a violation of the lease agreement. That can be a ground for terminating the lease agreement. Listen to the tenant’s defense for violating the term in the lease agreement.
If the tenant does not pay the due rent within five days, you have the right to exercise self-help eviction. Bear in mind that self-help eviction exposes you to the risk of potential liability for damage to the tenant’s property. Do not rush to conduct self-help eviction.
However, if you still want to proceed with self-help eviction/repossession, ensure that the tenant is not present to avoid breach of peace. Self-help repossession must be conducted in the quickest way possible. By no chance should the cops be called to the tenant’s house when conducting self-help repossession. The process will be deemed to have breached the peace.
After evicting the tenant, he may make claims that his property was either damaged or stolen during the eviction process. You need to protect yourself from such claims. You can do that by having an independent witness present during eviction. You should also take photographs to show what was present before beginning the process of evicting the tenant. Lastly, prepare an inventory of what was present in the tenant’s house.
After changing the locks, ensure you are the only one with the keys. No one else should be able to access the house without your permission. Ensure there is a notice of repossession at the entrance of the establishment. It must have your contact information.
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