West Virginia Eviction Notice Requirements

West Virginia is unusual in requiring no statutory pre-suit notice or cure period before an eviction for nonpayment of rent. W. Va. Code § 55-3A-1 lets an owner "apply for relief to the magistrate court or the circuit court" by verified petition alleging that the tenant "is in arrears in the payment of rent, has breached a warranty or a leasehold covenant, or has deliberately or negligently damaged the property." The landlord may file at once; the statute then provides that the court "shall schedule a hearing, which may not be less than five nor more than 10 judicial days following the filing of the petition," and the tenant is served with notice of that hearing only after the petition is filed. There is no statutory three-day or thirty-day demand letter required first, though a lease may add one.

No specific statutory penalty for the landlord. A tenant who is served may file a written defense within five days of receiving the hearing notice and may raise defenses such as breach of the warranty of habitability at the hearing.