Many property managers and landlords receive payments from tenants via debit cards, eChecks, and other types of electronic payments. These types of payments are included in a broader term known as electronic fund transfers or EFTs. “The term ‘electronic fund transfer’ means any transfer of funds that is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone, computer, or magnetic tape for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or authorizing a financial institution to debit or credit a consumer’s account.” (12 C.F.R. § 1005.3(b)(1).) Often, there is a processing fee added to these types of transactions.  

Due to confusion surrounding a law that was passed in Virginia in 2024 pertaining to fees charged for EFT payments, we have received many questions from property managers asking whether such fees are unlawful. The 2024 bill attempted to amend the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act to prohibit landlords from charging fees to tenants for EFTs.  

To be clear, this prohibition on fees charged for EFTs did not become law and is not the law in Virginia. When the bill passed in 2024, the Governor amended the bill to add a reenactment clause, requiring the bill to pass again in 2025 to become law. The reenactment clause required the same exact bill to pass in 2025, which did not happen in this year’s legislative session. Therefore, it is not the law in Virginia.  

However, a bill did pass this year addressing fees landlords may charge to tenants for certain methods of payment. The current bill allows landlords to charge fees for certain methods of payment, but only if they offer tenants an alternative means of payment that would not require a fee. The current bill has not yet been signed or vetoed by the Governor. We will not know if this bill will become law until after the veto session.  

We will provide updates on this current bill and all the new 2025 laws affecting REALTORS® in the coming months.