West Virginia Landlord-Tenant Laws

Verified July 11, 2026

West Virginia Security deposits

West Virginia puts no cap on security deposits, but the landlord must return the deposit with a written itemization within 60 days after the tenancy ends — or within 45 days after a new tenant moves in, whichever comes first.

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West Virginia Rent increase notice

West Virginia has no statute requiring advance notice of a rent increase — the working rule for month-to-month tenancies is derived from W. Va.

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West Virginia Late fees

West Virginia sets no cap on residential late fees and mandates no grace period — no statute regulates when rent is late or what lateness may cost, so the lease governs.

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West Virginia Entry notice

West Virginia has no statute requiring landlords to give any advance notice before entering a rental unit — no notice period, no list of permitted reasons, and no emergency exception exists in state law, so entry rights come entirely from the lease.

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How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official WV Legislature code site (code.wvlegislature.gov): sections 37-6A-1, 37-6A-2, 37-6A-5, and 37-6-5 each read at least three times across two distinct official presentations (individual section pages fetched twice — once via rendered fetch, once via raw curl — plus the official whole-article 'email view' pages /email/37-6A/ and /email/37-6/), with all load-bearing figures matching verbatim (60-day/45-day whichever-shorter return window, 15-day contractor-itemization extension, 1.5x annoyance/inconvenience damages, one-full-period month-to-month termination notice, 6-month hold and 72-hour delivery rules). All of article 6A additionally reconciled character-for-character against the enrolled Committee Substitute for HB 3202 (2011) on wvlegislature.gov — approved by the Governor 2011-04-01, Chapter 149, Acts 2011, effective 2011-06-10 — proving the 1.5x penalty is original 2011 text with no later amendment. Verified negatives (no deposit cap, no interest, no separate account, no late-fee or grace-period statute, no entry-notice statute, no rent-increase-notice statute, no rent-control or preemption statute) run against the full official texts of ch. 37 arts. 6 (all 31 sections), 6A, and 15. Bill outcomes verified on official Bill_Status action tables: dead bills SB590 (2022), SB147 (2023, House-rejected Roll No. 638), SB165 (2024), HB4695 (2006), HB4570/HB4432/HB5155/HB5334 (2026), HB2537/HB2648/HB2828/HB2903 (2025); enacted 2025 acts HB2434 (Stop Squatters Act, Ch. 219, eff. 2025-07-10) and HB3272 (eviction hearing scheduling, Ch. 1, eff. 2025-07-11) confirmed off-topic. 2026 regular session adjourned sine die 2026-03-14 with no on-topic bill passing. Legal Aid WV pages used as corroboration only.