West Virginia Lease Agreement: What to Include

A West Virginia residential lease needs to reflect this state's actual rules on security deposits, entry notice, late fees, and required disclosures — not a generic template written for a different state. The figures below come from West Virginia's residential landlord-tenant statute; where the state sets no fixed number, that's stated plainly rather than glossed over, since "the state doesn't specify" is itself something you need to know.

Security deposit

Security deposit limit: No statewide statutory limit. West Virginia does not require interest on held deposits. Return deadline after move-out: 60 Days; or 45 Days days after re-rental if sooner in some cases.

Entry notice, late fees, and rent increases

Entry notice: No statewide statute. Late fees: No statewide fixed cap; should be reasonable and stated in lease; no statewide grace period requirement. Rent increase notice for month-to-month tenancies: 30 days. (Entry notice citation: No statewide statute.)

Required disclosures

A West Virginia lease should include or accompany:

• • Federal lead-based paint
• • property-specific disclosures

Eviction notice for nonpayment

For nonpayment of rent, West Virginia: Immediate/unconditional procedures may apply; verify before filing This is the minimum notice before you can move to the next step in the eviction process — actual court timelines run longer once a case is filed. (Eviction notice citation: W. Va. Code § 55-3A-1 (no statutory pre-filing notice required).)

What actually distinguishes West Virginia

West Virginia sets no statewide statutory cap on the security deposit amount — the lease itself is what controls how much you can charge, so put the amount and any pet/move-in fees in writing.

There's no statewide statutory notice period for landlord entry in West Virginia, which means the lease is the only thing establishing that expectation — silence in the lease leaves it genuinely undefined.

Sources and the bottom line

The figures above reflect West Virginia's residential landlord-tenant statute as summarized on LeasePilot HQ's West Virginia landlord-tenant law page, which lists the specific sources behind each number. Security deposit rules specifically are codified at W. Va. Code § 37-6A-1 et seq (no statutory cap), with the return deadline set by W. Va. Code § 37-6A-2 (60 days). Primary and cross-reference sources used in compiling this page:

• • https://ipropertymanagement.com/laws/security-deposits
• • https://www.justia.com/real-estate/landlord-tenant/information-for-landlords/right-of-entry/
• • https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/state-landlord-tenant-laws

State landlord-tenant law changes through legislative sessions and court decisions — treat the numbers above as a starting point, verify against West Virginia's current statute (linked above) before relying on them for an actual lease, and see LeasePilot HQ's full West Virginia landlord-tenant law summary for the complete breakdown, or generate a lease with West Virginia-specific clauses built in automatically.