Lease Acceleration Clause
in Your Lease
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Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Virginia law says, what's specific to Richmond - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Short answer for Richmond
In Virginia the landlord shall not seek a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term (Va. Code § 55.1-1251). Rent claimed as damages runs only until the term ends or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first, and after you abandon the unit the landlord shall mitigate damages (§ 55.1-1249). The Richmond code sections we read add no rule of their own. First, ask in writing whether the unit has been rented again.
Ask whether the unit was rented againWhat is your situation?
My lease says all rent is due if I break it
Read it against Va. Code § 55.1-1251: in obtaining post-possession judgments for actual damages, the landlord "shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term". Rent claimed as damages runs until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first, and nothing in the section diminishes the landlord's duty to mitigate. A lease line waiving your rights under the Act is unenforceable (§ 55.1-1208(A)(1), (B)).
Read the Virginia law sectionI moved out and they want every month's rent
Rent claimed as damages runs only until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first (Va. Code § 55.1-1251), and after abandonment the lease is deemed terminated and the landlord shall mitigate damages (§ 55.1-1249). Ask in writing whether the unit has been rented again and the date the new lease began. Keep proof of the day you handed back the keys, and get local advice before you pay.
Ask whether the unit was rented againMy landlord isn't trying to re-rent
After abandonment, Va. Code § 55.1-1249 says the landlord shall mitigate damages in accordance with § 55.1-1251, and § 55.1-1251 says nothing in it diminishes that duty. A lease line saying the landlord need not re-rent meets § 55.1-1208(B), which makes a provision waiving rights under the Act unenforceable. Ask in writing whether the unit has been rented again and from what date, and keep the reply with your lease.
Ask whether the unit was rented againI was evicted and they want future rent
Va. Code § 55.1-1251 covers post-possession judgments for actual damages: the landlord shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term, and rent as damages runs only until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first. If the landlord wins a suit over a breach, the judgment counts rent due as of the court date (§ 55.1-1245). Get local advice before you agree to a figure.
See what to do nextI'm the landlord and my tenant left
After abandonment the lease is deemed terminated as of that date, and you shall mitigate damages (Va. Code § 55.1-1249). If unsure whether the unit is abandoned, serve written notice; unless the tenant answers in writing within seven days or you otherwise find them still in occupancy, a rebuttable presumption of abandonment arises. You shall not seek a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term (§ 55.1-1251).
Read the Virginia law sectionQuick summary: 5 key points
- § 55.1-1251: no post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term.
- Rent claimed as damages runs until the term ends or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first.
- After abandonment the lease is deemed terminated, and the landlord shall mitigate damages (§ 55.1-1249).
- If the landlord sues and wins, the judgment counts rent due as of the court date (§ 55.1-1245).
- A lease line waiving your rights under the Act is unenforceable under § 55.1-1208(B).
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Step by step
How it plays out
- You leave earlyClause demands all remaining rentAn acceleration clause bills every remaining month at once, but § 55.1-1251 bars a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term.
- Unit is abandonedLandlord must mitigate damagesUnder § 55.1-1249 the lease is deemed terminated as of the date of abandonment, and the landlord shall mitigate damages.
- New tenancy beginsRent as damages stopsRent claimed as damages runs until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first.
Count it for your dates
7 days: when does it end?
What it means: Say in writing by this date that you intend to stay, or a rebuttable presumption of abandonment arises and the lease is deemed to end. Applies to a tenant still living in the unit who gets this notice; the presumption also does not arise if the landlord otherwise determines you are still in occupancy (Va. Code § 55.1-1249). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: When your landlord bills you for rent after you moved out early
Ask whether the unit was rented again
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Virginia compares
Landlord duty to mitigate after an early lease break, state by state
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See all 28 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Lease Acceleration Clause
This page is for Richmond renters whose lease has an acceleration clause: the paragraph that makes all the remaining rent due at once if you miss a payment or move out early. On paper the bill is simple math, months left times the rent.
In Virginia a statute limits that bill. What you can owe turns on when the lease ended, whether a new tenant moved in, and whether the landlord took you to court.
What renters assume
If my lease says all remaining rent is due when I leave early, my landlord can get a judgment for every month left.
What is actually true
Not in Virginia. § 55.1-1251 says that in obtaining post-possession judgments, the landlord "shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term of the tenancy." Rent claimed as damages stops when the term ends or a new tenancy begins.
None of the 28 rows in the comparison on this page carries a figure; each is a short label. Richmond's reads Mandatory; no accelerated rent.
Seventeen of the 28 labels open with Mandatory, Richmond's among them. Five read Mandatory on abandonment, in Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Louisville, and Austin, New York City and Baltimore read Mandatory, non-waivable.
Miami and Philadelphia read No duty to re-rent, and five labels name case law, in Denver, Columbus, Charlotte, Indianapolis and Salt Lake City.
Two labels name acceleration itself. Milwaukee reads Mandatory; acceleration voids lease, and Wisconsin's § 704.44(3m) makes a rental agreement that provides for acceleration on default void and unenforceable.
Richmond's label points at the judgment instead: § 55.1-1251 bars a landlord from seeking one for accelerated rent through the end of the term.
Rent Acceleration Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Richmond, VA
The sample clause below comes from a Montana court case, and the notes explain what Virginia law says about each part. It is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
The Montana opinion quotes this lease paragraph whole; the extract below stops one sentence short, and that closing sentence concerns when late charges and interest may run on a sum after acceleration:
If any monthly installment under this agreement is not paid when due and remains unpaid after a date specified by a notice to Tenant, the entire principal rent amount owed for the full lease term shall at once become due and payable at the option of the Landlord and judgment may be had for all said amounts due. The foregoing provision shall not relieve the Landlord of its obligation to mitigate damages. In the event the rental premises is re-rented to another for full value prior to expiration of the lease term, Landlord shall file Notice of Partial Satisfaction of any judgment entered to the extent of the third party rental agreement.
[…]
Quoted from the published opinion in Summers v. Crestview Apartments, 2010 MT 164, 357 Mont. 123, 236 P.3d 586 (No. DA 09-0489). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“owed for the full lease term shall at once become due”
This is the sentence Virginia's statute meets head on. § 55.1-1251 reads: “In obtaining post-possession judgments for actual damages as defined in this section, the landlord shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term of the tenancy.” The paragraph declares the whole term due at once, and the statute bars the landlord from seeking that sum in a post-possession judgment.
See the example
“judgment may be had for all said amounts due”
The paragraph promises the landlord a judgment for the accelerated total. Virginia's lawsuit section counts rent to a fixed point instead. In a case the landlord wins on a breach of the rental agreement, § 55.1-1245 lets the court award “rent due and owing as of the court date as contracted for in the rental agreement”. The award may also cover contracted fees, late charges, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and damages to the unit.
See the example
“The foregoing provision shall not relieve the Landlord of its obligation to mitigate”
Here the lease keeps the duty, and Virginia's own wording runs close to it. Where the lease says the provision shall not relieve the landlord, § 55.1-1251 says nothing in it shall “diminish the duty of the landlord to mitigate actual damages for breach of the rental agreement.” After a tenant abandons the unit, § 55.1-1249 adds: “The landlord shall mitigate damages in accordance with § 55.1-1251.”
See the example
“is re-rented to another for full value prior to expiration of the lease term”
The clause credits a new tenant against a judgment already entered, and it waits for a re-rent at full value. Virginia ties the rent claim to the new tenancy itself. Under § 55.1-1251, actual damages may include rent “that would have accrued until the expiration of the term of the rental agreement or until a tenancy pursuant to a new rental agreement commences, whichever occurs first”.
See the example
The Montana Supreme Court struck this paragraph down, and its conclusion is one sentence: “Thus, we conclude that the accelerated rent provision is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.” The tenants had moved out of their apartment on October 13, 2006, and Crestview answered with a Statement of Deductions from the Security Deposit charging rent through the end of the lease in June - $6,505.75 billed against a $2,170 deposit. Two reasons carried the court. Acceleration undermines the landlord's duty to mitigate and reduces the incentive to re-rent promptly, because a landlord already holding a judgment for the whole term has little reason to fill the unit. And Crestview drafted the lease while these tenants had no meaningful choice and no opportunity to negotiate any of it. The case was reversed and remanded, and two justices wrote separately - their objection being that the majority had gone as far as treating acceleration clauses as unenforceable in themselves. So read the holding narrowly, as the majority wrote it: this provision, in this residential lease, unconscionable and unenforceable. It is a Montana decision and it binds no other state's courts. What travels is the reasoning, and the reasoning is about mitigation - which is exactly the question the statute in your own city's decode answers.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Virginia Law on Lease Acceleration Clause
- Section 55.1-1251 bars the accelerated rent judgment.
Read the law's words
It reads: "In obtaining post-possession judgments for actual damages as defined in this section, the landlord shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term of the tenancy." The rent the landlord may claim as actual damages is rent "that would have accrued until the expiration of the term of the rental agreement or until a tenancy pursuant to a new rental agreement commences, whichever occurs first", and that claim comes with the proviso that nothing in the section diminishes the landlord's duty to mitigate. - In a lawsuit the landlord wins on a breach of the rental agreement, the rent in the money judgment is counted to the court date.
Read the law's words
Section 55.1-1245, in the version effective until July 1, 2027 (subsection I) and in the two later versions (subsection K), lets the court award "rent due and owing as of the court date as contracted for in the rental agreement", along with contracted fees, late charges, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and damages to the unit. - Abandonment ends the lease and triggers the duty.
Read the law's words
Under § 55.1-1249 the rental agreement "is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the date of abandonment by the tenant." If the landlord cannot tell whether the unit is abandoned, it must serve written notice asking the tenant to say within seven days that the tenant intends to stay; unless the tenant answers in writing or the landlord otherwise determines the tenant is still in occupancy, seven days after the landlord's notice there is a rebuttable presumption of abandonment and the lease is deemed to terminate on that date. The section ends: "The landlord shall mitigate damages in accordance with § 55.1-1251." - A lease clause waiving rights under the Act is unenforceable.
Read the law's words
Section 55.1-1208(A)(1) says a rental agreement shall not contain a provision by which the tenant "Agrees to waive or forgo rights or remedies under this chapter", and § 55.1-1208(B) makes any such provision unenforceable and lets the tenant recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees if the landlord sues to enforce it. Our Virginia record does not include a court decision applying § 55.1-1208 to a lease clause about mitigation or acceleration. - The Act's reach is broad.
Read the law's words
Section 55.1-1201(B) applies it to occupancy in all single-family and multifamily dwelling units in the Commonwealth. Section 55.1-1201(C) lists occupancies that are not residential tenancies under the Act, including a tenant who pays no rent under a rental agreement, a purchaser occupying under a contract of sale, and a recovery residence, and § 55.1-1201(D) exempts a hotel, motel, boardinghouse or similar transient lodging where the occupant does not live as a primary residence, and such lodging used as a primary residence for 90 consecutive days or less, while a primary-residence stay there of more than 90 consecutive days, or a written lease for more than 90 days, is covered.
Sources include Va. Code § 55.1-1251; Va. Code § 55.1-1249; Va. Code § 55.1-1245; Va. Code § 55.1-1208; Va. Code § 55.1-1201 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Read the full state law section
Four sections of Virginia's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act apply.
- Va. Code § 55.1-1251. "In obtaining post-possession judgments for actual damages as defined in this section, the landlord shall not seek a judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term of the tenancy." Actual damages may include rent until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever occurs first. Nothing in it diminishes the landlord's duty to mitigate.
- § 55.1-1249. After abandonment the lease is deemed terminated as of that date, and "The landlord shall mitigate damages in accordance with § 55.1-1251." A landlord unsure whether you left must give written notice; you have seven days to say in writing that you intend to stay. Unless you answer or the landlord otherwise finds you still there, a rebuttable presumption of abandonment arises.
- § 55.1-1245. If the landlord sues over a breach and wins, the court may award rent "due and owing as of the court date", plus contracted fees, late charges, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and damages to the unit.
- § 55.1-1208(B). A lease provision waiving rights or remedies under the Act is unenforceable, and if the landlord sues to enforce one you may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. Our Virginia record holds no court decision applying it to a mitigation or acceleration clause.
What's Specific to Richmond
Our record of the Richmond City Code covers Chapter 16 (Housing) and finds no Richmond ordinance on rent acceleration or a landlord's duty to mitigate. Va. Code § 55.1-1201(E) says the Act "shall supersede all other local ordinances or regulations concerning landlord and tenant relations and the leasing of residential property." One Richmond provision in our record touches a tenant leaving: under City Code § 16-28(d), an affordable dwelling unit lease must require notice of an absence over 60 consecutive days. Without written approval, the owner may proceed under § 55.1-1249.
§ 55.1-1251 says the landlord shall not seek a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term.
That matches § 55.1-1251: rent as damages runs until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first.
§ 55.1-1249 says the landlord shall mitigate, and § 55.1-1208(B) makes a provision waiving rights under the Act unenforceable.
Under § 55.1-1249 the lease is deemed terminated as of the date of abandonment. Keep proof of the day you left.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Va. Code § 55.1-1251; Va. Code § 55.1-1249; Va. Code § 55.1-1245; Va. Code § 55.1-1208; Va. Code § 55.1-1201, read on law.lis.virginia.gov. The Virginia General Assembly's Code site prints this section with a history line ending in 2019, chapters 180, 700 and 712, and the section is not on that site's list of sections updated July 1, 2026.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A judgment for every month left
§ 55.1-1251 says the landlord shall not seek a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term. A demand for the whole term deserves a close read.
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Rent billed past the start of a new lease
Rent as damages runs until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first. A bill that keeps running past that date is one to question.
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Court papers that count rent past the court date
If the landlord sues over a breach and wins, § 55.1-1245 lets the court award rent due as of the court date. Check the date the rent runs to.
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An abandonment date you never had notice of
A landlord unsure whether you left must serve written notice under § 55.1-1249. A rebuttable presumption of abandonment arises seven days later unless you answer in writing.
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A long absence from an affordable unit
In Richmond's affordable dwelling unit program, an absence over 60 consecutive days not approved in writing lets the owner proceed under § 55.1-1249 (City Code § 16-28(d)).
Your Rights as a Richmond Tenant
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No judgment for the whole remaining term
The landlord shall not seek a post-possession judgment for accelerated rent through the end of the term (§ 55.1-1251).
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Rent that stops when a new lease begins
Rent as damages runs until the term expires or a new tenancy begins, whichever comes first.
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A landlord who must mitigate
"The landlord shall mitigate damages in accordance with § 55.1-1251" (§ 55.1-1249), and § 55.1-1251 says nothing in it diminishes that duty.
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Seven days to answer an abandonment notice
If you still live there, you can answer the landlord's notice in writing within seven days to say you intend to stay (§ 55.1-1249).
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the acceleration paragraph
Note the figure it demands and what triggers it. Check for any line giving up rights under the Act, the kind § 55.1-1208 addresses.
Return the keys in a way you can prove
A dated handover and photos of the empty unit show when you left. The lease is deemed terminated as of the date of abandonment.
Answer any abandonment notice in writing
If you are still living there, reply within seven days of the landlord's notice that you intend to stay.
Ask when a new lease began
Ask in writing whether the unit is rented again and from what date. Rent as damages stops then, unless the term ended first.
Check the bill and any court papers
Set each figure against the dates above and the sections on this page. Read the current text of those sections before you rely on them.
Get local advice before you agree to a figure
Take the lease, any court papers and your dates to a Richmond tenant lawyer or legal aid office before you sign or pay.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Lease Acceleration rules near Virginia
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.