Breaking a lease in West Virginia

No notice is needed to end a tenancy whose term ends on a set date. Neither article gives a general right to end a fixed term early, but specific sections do: after a residential tenant dies, the tenant's heir, personal representative, devisee or assignee may end the lease by written notice, effective on the last day of the calendar month two months after the notice is hand-delivered or mailed (W. Va. Code 37-6-5; W. Va. Code 37-6-11(b)).

• That right after a death applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2012, cannot be waived, and a lease term requiring longer notice is void. The estate still owes rent through the notice period and the cost of restoring the home, less ordinary wear and tear (W. Va. Code 37-6-11(b)(3) to (5)).
• If the whole property is taken by eminent domain, rent ends unless the lease says otherwise; a partial taking reduces rent in proportion (W. Va. Code 37-6-29).
• If a tenant who owes rent abandons the home, your posted notice may also say you will relet it; the tenant then stays liable for the difference between the new rent and the lease rent for the rest of the term (W. Va. Code 37-6-6(a); W. Va. Code 37-6-7).See Abandoned property on the West Virginia page
• Neither article gives a right to end a lease because of domestic violence. The domestic violence chapter and the federal servicemember law were not read for this page (W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6; W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A).

Neither article gives the tenant a repair-and-deduct or rent withholding remedy. When you petition for possession over unpaid rent, the tenant may answer that you breached a material covenant on which the duty to pay rent depends, and the court then holds a hearing on that issue (W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6; W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A; W. Va. Code 55-3A-3(b)).

• If buildings are destroyed in whole or in part by fire or otherwise without the tenant's fault or negligence, rent is reasonably reduced until they are replaced, unless the lease provides otherwise. If you do not rebuild as soon as you reasonably can, the tenant may surrender possession after a reasonable time and owe no rent after that (W. Va. Code 37-6-28).
• West Virginia court decisions on a tenant's remedies were not read for this page (W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6).

West Virginia has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6).

• A lease clause that the tenant will not assign or sublet without leave, or similar words, means the tenant may not assign, transfer, set over or sublet the premises, or any part of them, during the term without your written consent (W. Va. Code 36-4-11).
• You may recover rent from the tenant or from an assignee who has taken over the tenant's interest, but an assignee is not liable for rent that came due before its interest began (W. Va. Code 37-6-11(a)).

A periodic tenancy shorter than a year, such as month-to-month, may be ended by written notice for one full period before the end of any period. A year-to-year tenancy needs written notice at least three months before the end of a year (W. Va. Code 37-6-5).

• These notice rules do not apply where you and the tenant agree on some other notice period, or on no notice (W. Va. Code 37-6-5).
• Notice to the tenant may be served on the tenant or on anyone holding the home under the tenant. The tenant's notice may be served on anyone who owns the home in whole or in part, or the owner's agent (W. Va. Code 37-6-5).

When the tenancy ends, deliver the deposit, minus any deductions, with a written itemization of the damages and other charges within the notice period: 60 days after the tenancy ends, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the home, whichever is shorter (W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(7); W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(a)).

• You may apply the deposit only to rent due (including the reasonable late charges the rental agreement specifies), damage from the tenant's noncompliance less reasonable wear and tear, utilities billed to and paid by you that the tenant owed under the agreement, reasonable costs of removing and storing the tenant's belongings, and other damages or charges the rental agreement provides, such as a third-party contractor's repairs of damage the tenant caused (W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)).
• If the damage exceeds the deposit and needs a third-party contractor, tell the tenant so in writing within the notice period; you then have 15 more days to provide the itemization and the cost of repair (W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(c)).
• The tenant is not entitled, when the tenancy ends, to an immediate credit of the deposit against delinquent rent (W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(d)).
• Deliver the deposit and any notice in person, or by mail to the tenant's last known address or the forwarding address the tenant gave. If mail comes back undeliverable and personal delivery is not reasonably possible, hold it for six months and hand it over at your place of business within 72 hours after a written request (W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(g)).
• Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends must return any deposit owed, even if the original landlord never transferred it (W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(e)).
• Keep itemized records of deposit deductions for one year after the tenancy ends, and within 72 hours of a written request let the tenant inspect them or give a copy during normal business hours (W. Va. Code 37-6A-3).
• If you fail to comply willfully or not in good faith, the tenant may get a judgment for the unreturned deposit plus damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld; if the tenant owes you rent, the court credits the award against it (W. Va. Code 37-6A-5(a)).
• A lease term waiving the tenant's deposit rights is unenforceable, and if you sue to enforce one, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees (W. Va. Code 37-6A-4).