Virginia § 36-96.6 Certain restrictive covenants void; instruments containing such covenants

Virginia Statutes

§ 36-96.6 — Certain restrictive covenants void; instruments containing such covenants

Virginia § 36-96.6

Title 36Housing

Ch. 5.1Virginia Fair Housing Law

This text of Virginia § 36-96.6 (Certain restrictive covenants void; instruments containing such covenants) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Va. Code Ann. § 36-96.6 (2026).

Text

A.Any restrictive covenant and any related reversionary interest, purporting to restrict occupancy or ownership of property on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, or disability, whether heretofore or hereafter included in an instrument affecting the title to real or leasehold property, are declared to be void and contrary to the public policy of the Commonwealth.

B.Any person who is asked to accept a document affecting title to real or leasehold property may decline to accept the same if it includes such a covenant or reversionary interest until the covenant or reversionary interest has been removed from the document. Refusal to accept delivery of an instrument for this reason shall

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A. Any restrictive covenant and any related reversionary interest, purporting to restrict occupancy or ownership of property on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, or disability, whether heretofore or hereafter included in an instrument affecting the title to real or leasehold property, are declared to be void and contrary to the public policy of the Commonwealth.

B. Any person who is asked to accept a document affecting title to real or leasehold property may decline to accept the same if it includes such a covenant or reversionary interest until the covenant or reversionary interest has been removed from the document. Refusal to accept delivery of an instrument for this reason shall not be deemed a breach of a contract to purchase, lease, mortgage, or otherwise deal with such property.

C. No person shall solicit or accept compensation of any kind for the release or removal of any covenant or reversionary interest described in subsection A. Any person violating this subsection shall be liable to any person injured thereby in an amount equal to the greater of three times the compensation solicited or received, or $500, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred.

D. A family care home, foster home, or group home in which individuals with physical disabilities, mental illness, intellectual disability, or developmental disability reside, with one or more resident counselors or other staff persons, shall be considered for all purposes residential occupancy by a single family when construing any restrictive covenant which purports to restrict occupancy or ownership of real or leasehold property to members of a single family or to residential use or structure.

Legislative History

1972, c. 591, § 36-91; 1973, c. 358; 1986, c. 574; 1989, c. 88; 1991, c. 557; 1998, c. 873; 2012, cc. 476, 507; 2020, cc. 1137, 1140; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 477, 478.