Portsmouth, VA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)
Key Facts
- Who must notify
- Owners of rental units in a designated district
- Deadline
- 60 days after district creation or expansion
- Recipient
- Department of permits and inspections
- Penalty
- Civil penalty up to $50.00
- Districts
- Three rental inspection districts citywide
- No-notice grace
- Penalty only after city gives prior written notice
Summary
Owners of rental units inside one of Portsmouth's three designated rental inspection districts must notify the department of permits and inspections in writing within 60 days after a district is created or expanded. Willfully ignoring that notice requirement, after the city has already warned the owner, draws a civil penalty of up to $50.00.
(a)Every owner of a rental dwelling unit located within a rental inspection district shall notify the department, in writing, within 60 days after the creation or expansion of a rental inspection district if the owner's dwelling unit is used for residential rental purposes.(b)Willful failure of an owner of a residential rental dwelling unit subject to a rental inspection to comply with the above written notification requirement will result in a civil penalty of up to $50.00. However, there shall be no penalty for the failure of an owner of a residential rental dwelling unit to comply with the written notification provision, unless and until the department provides personal or written notice to the property owner.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 17-84(a) requires every owner of a rental dwelling unit located within a rental inspection district to notify the department of permits and inspections, in writing, within 60 days after the district is created or expanded, if the unit is used for residential rental purposes. 00, but the code builds in a warning step: there is no penalty at all unless and until the department has already given the owner personal or written notice of the requirement. Subsection (c) treats notice mailed by regular first-class mail to the owner's last known address, as shown in the current real estate tax assessment records, as sufficient to satisfy the department's own notice obligation.
This registration duty sits inside Division 3, Rental Inspections, established under Sec. 17-81 to protect tenants in districts the city council has found to be blighted, deteriorating, or otherwise in need of inspection to preserve safe, decent, and sanitary living conditions. 00 penalty; Sec. 17-83 separately makes it a misdemeanor to rent or lease a unit inside a rental inspection district before it has been inspected and issued a certificate of compliance, unless a temporary waiver is granted pending that certificate.
Violations & Fines
Willfully failing to notify the department of permits and inspections under Sec. 17-84(a) carries a civil penalty of up to $50.00, but only after the department has first given the owner personal or written notice of the requirement. Separately, renting or leasing a unit in a rental inspection district before it passes inspection and receives a certificate of compliance is a misdemeanor under Sec. 17-83, punishable under the Sec. 17-27 penalty schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all Portsmouth landlords have to register their rentals?
What is the fine for not notifying Portsmouth about a rental unit?
Can I rent out a unit in an inspection district before it's inspected?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Portsmouth
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