2021 Regular Session Updates
Read our 2021 Legislative Agenda
Legislation that will become effective July 1, 2021
Preserving the American Dream Act
(HB2175 – Delegate Torian / SB1327 – Senator McClellan)
Strengthening protections for individuals and families at risk of losing their home to foreclosure is crucial to protecting their investment and closing the homeownership gap. This legislation makes several changes to Virginia’s foreclosure law and helps homeowners facing foreclosure, including requiring a mortgage company to give a 60-day notice period to a homeowner of a pending foreclosure auction sale (currently, the mortgage company is only required to give a 14-day notice). This also requires a sale notice to include resources for the homeowner on legal assistance and housing counseling. Finally, this legislation helps to preserve the least cost entry into homeownership by requiring localities to maintain and improve manufactured homes and requires that residents of these homes are informed of their rights.
Anti-NIMBY Initiative / Fair Housing
(HB2046 – Delegate Bourne)
Land use and zoning have long been tools used to perpetuate housing discrimination, segregation, and NIMBYism. This legislation prohibits any locality, its employees, or its appointed commissions from discriminating in the application of local land use ordinances or guidelines, or in the permitting of housing developments based on protected classes of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, source of funds, and disability, or from rejecting a proposed housing development based on the income bracket it is intended to serve.
Virginia Fair Housing Law; reasonable accommodations; disability-related requests for parking
(HB-1971 Delegate Carr)
Without this, HUD will not allow the Virginia Fair Housing Office to investigate parking-related cases. This legislation brings the Virginia Fair Housing Law into compliance with the federal Fair Housing Law regarding requests for parking as reasonable accommodations and codifies an existing Virginia regulatory reference to longstanding HUD/DOJ guidance.
