West Virginia Tenant Law: Security Deposits, Late Fees & Landlord Entry (2026)

What West Virginia law says about the clauses that matter most in a residential lease. Data as of 2026-10-21.

Main statute: West Virginia Code, Chapter 37, Article 6 (Landlord and Tenant) and Article 6A (Residential Rental Security Deposits) (W. Va. Code §§ 37-6-1 et seq., 37-6A-1 et seq.)

Security deposits

Return deadline days: 60 days
Itemization required: Yes

Source: W. Va. Code §§ 37-6A-1, 37-6A-2, 37-6A-3, 37-6A-5

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Late fees

Rule: No statewide cap or grace period found in Articles 6 and 6A. The security-deposit statute refers to "reasonable charges for late payment of rent specified in the rental agreement", so a late charge must be in the lease and reasonable.

Source: W. Va. Code § 37-6A-2(b)(1)

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Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Tenant: Written notice for one full rental period before the end of a period (one month for a month-to-month tenancy); a year-to-year tenancy needs written notice at least three months before the end of the year. A different period fixed by special agreement in the lease controls.
Landlord: Same as the tenant: written notice for one full rental period before the end of a period (one month for a month-to-month tenancy); a year-to-year tenancy needs written notice at least three months before the end of the year. A different period fixed by special agreement controls; no notice is needed for a fixed term that ends at a certain time.

Source: W. Va. Code § 37-6-5

Rent increases

We haven't verified a statewide rule for this yet. Check your lease, your city's rules, or a local tenant organization.

Repairs & habitability

Rule: Landlord must deliver the unit fit and habitable and keep it so, meet applicable health, safety, fire and housing codes, keep common areas of multi-unit buildings clean, safe and in repair, make necessary repairs (unless caused mainly by the tenant's lack of reasonable care), keep electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems and supplied appliances in good working order, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat from October 1 to April 30 (unless the tenant controls the installation). The landlord need not make repairs while the tenant is in rent arrears. The statute does not itself set out a repair-and-deduct or termination remedy.

Source: W. Va. Code § 37-6-30

Clauses often unenforceable in West Virginia

Any lease clause waiving or giving up the tenant's rights or remedies under the security-deposit article is unenforceable; if the landlord sues to enforce it, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees (§ 37-6A-4)
A lease term that gives the landlord a lower duty than the habitability duties does not displace them: a lease may only impose a greater duty on the landlord, and that greater duty controls (§ 37-6-30(b))

Notes

Security deposit (Art. 6A): there is no statutory cap on the amount and no interest requirement. The landlord must deliver the deposit minus deductions, with a written itemization, within the 'notice period': within 60 days of the end of the tenancy or within 45 days after a new tenant occupies, whichever is shorter (§§ 37-6A-1(7), 37-6A-2(a)). Deductions are limited to unpaid rent (including reasonable late charges in the lease), damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, unpaid utilities the landlord paid, reasonable removal and storage costs for the tenant's belongings, and other damages or charges provided in the lease (§ 37-6A-2(b)). If damages exceed the deposit and a third-party contractor is needed, the landlord must give written notice within the notice period and then has 15 more days to provide the itemization (§ 37-6A-2(c)). The tenant cannot demand to apply the deposit to unpaid rent at move-out (§ 37-6A-2(d)). The landlord must keep deduction records for one year and let the tenant inspect or copy them within 72 hours of a written request (§ 37-6A-3). Willful or bad-faith noncompliance: the unreturned deposit plus damages of 1.5 times the amount wrongfully withheld, in magistrate or circuit court (§ 37-6A-5). Pet fees and application fees are outside the deposit rules only if the parties expressly agree in writing that they are nonrefundable (§ 37-6A-1(14)). Not found in the statutes checked (left blank): landlord entry notice, anti-retaliation, statewide rent-increase notice or rent control, deposit cap. Squatters are excluded from Art. 6 (§ 37-6-31, amended 2024). Pending: HB 4570 (2026) would let tenancy-termination notices be served by posting on the premises (§ 37-6-5); it passed the House on 2026-02-06 and was referred to Senate Judiciary on 2026-02-09 with no further action shown, and the current Code text is unchanged.

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General information only, not legal advice. Laws change — verify with the linked source or a licensed attorney.