THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409080373
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Landlords & Tenants
SOURCE: William Mazel and Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
I have a problem with my landlord that you could possibly give me some tips on. My husband and I are truck drivers, and on April 28, 1994, we were terminated from our jobs. The next day, we explained the situation to our landlord, who told my husband and teenage son that he had plenty of work for both of them that would take care of our rent plus put money in our pockets for other bills. The next Monday, my husband and son started working for the landlord. We live in a trailer park and he had them start moving people's furniture from trailers. In the process, the landlord began to ``appropriate'' some of the furniture for himself. A day or so later, while my husband and son were moving furniture from a trailer, two tenants came back and my husband and son stopped moving anything right then and there.
The police were called, and they questioned my husband and son, who told the truth. They had only seen the landlord take a magazine and nothing more. That was enough for the landlord to be charged with grand larceny. Because my husband and son would not lie for the landlord, he fired them, owing them $280 for work. The landlord was supposed to have put it towards the rent, but he did not and he still has not paid them. This incident has put us in a bind. The electricity has been turned off and now the landlord is trying to evict us. Can he do this?
I am also afraid to leave my trailer unattended because I fear that some people will come in and take out furniture. I feel like a prisoner in my own home. The landlord was not prosecuted because the people whose furniture was taken apparently moved to New York, and the commonwealth's attorney said they would not return.
This letter from our reader raises several items that we want to address. We have always advised landlords never to take the law in their own hands. If the tenant is delinquent in rent or appears to have abandoned the premises, the proper course for the landlord is to file suit in the General District Court for unlawful detainer, after having given five days notice in writing to the tenant to move. After the landlord received a judgment for possessions of the premises, and also possibly for delinquent rent, the landlord may then lawfully evict the tenant by contacting the clerk and either the high constable or the city sheriff, whatever the case might be. The proper legal officers can then move the delinquent tenants' furniture and it can be placed in storage for safe keeping. Failing to comply with proper procedures could subject the landlord to prosecution for grand larceny, and that could amount to a term in the penitentiary of up to 20 years.
If the landlord is positive that the tenant has abandoned the premises, the code also sets forth a method to give proper notice to the tenant at his last known address, move the furniture and place it in storage for a period of time before proceeding to sell it.
In the case of the reader who sent us the questions, we could answer, yes, they did have legal rights. But if tenants do not pay their rent, the landlord has the right to evict them. In this case, the tenants were entitled to a credit of $280 for the work performed by the husband and son.
I live in a condominium where we frequently have cases where women (owners and tenants) have live-in boyfriends. If this a violation of the Virginia law that you have written about before, will you give me the Virginia Code number?
The Virginia Code Section 18.2-344 states at follows: ``Any person, not being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any other person, shall be guilty of fornication, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor.''
Section 18.2-11 of the Code of Virginia provides that Class 4 Misdemeanors may be punishable by a fine of not more than $250. MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. and William Mazel are real estate lawyers based in
Norfolk. Send comments and questions to them at Real Estate Weekly, 150
W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. by CNB