A Virginia bill would force developers to disclose lingering control
A Virginia bill would force developers to disclose lingering control
2026-09-19 · Virginia · Legislation · Pending — not yet law
A Virginia bill would require a developer who still holds the right to appoint an association's directors to say so in writing, to every buyer. HB 621, patroned by Delegate Robert S. Bloxom Jr., was continued to the 2027 session by the House Committee on General Laws on February 12, 2026 after the Housing and Consumer Protection subcommittee recommended continuance the same day.1
It is not law, and the headline word is would. But it is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission, which makes it materially more likely to return than a bill that arrives from nowhere.
What it would add
The bill amends two sections. To § 55.1-1804 of the Property Owners' Association Act it would add a new subsection D:
“If the declarant has any unexpired right to control the conduct of association business, including the declarant's reserved right to appoint members of the board of directors, the declarant shall disclose such right and the status of declarant control in any contract for the sale of any lot other than for development or resale.”
To § 55.1-2310, the resale certificate contents section, it would add a corresponding item: “A statement describing any unexpired right of the declarant to control the conduct of association business, including the declarant's reserved right to appoint members of the board of directors.”2
The problem it addresses
Declarant control is the period after a community is created during which the developer, not the owners, runs the association. Virginia declarations typically provide for it to taper and end on triggers — a percentage of lots sold, a number of years, or a voluntary early surrender.
The situation the bill targets is subtler than outright developer control. It is the case where owners have already elected a majority of the board and reasonably believe the transition is complete, while the declarant retains a reserved appointment right that has not expired. Buyers in that community are told they are buying into an owner-governed association. On the documents, they are not — not entirely.
That matters because control determines who signs contracts, who sets the budget, who decides whether to sue the developer over construction defects, and who controls the timing of the turnover audit.
The disclosure would arrive twice
The bill's structure is deliberate. Section 55.1-1804 catches the new sale — the developer selling a lot to a first purchaser. Section 55.1-2310 catches the resale — an owner selling on, where the association prepares the certificate.
The exclusion in the § 55.1-1804 language is worth noting: the duty attaches to a sale of any lot “other than for development or resale”. A builder buying lots from the developer does not need the warning; a family buying a home does.
Where it came from
The bill is recorded as a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission, which produced it out of its 2025 Neighborhood Transitions, Local Land Use and Community Living work group, chaired by Delegate David Bulova. That work group met in May and September 2025 and took an update on declarant control; the full Commission met on December 4, 2025 to consider final recommendations.
The Commission's 2026 work groups, listed on its own site, do not include a common interest community group — its 2026 subjects are residential rental fees, local rent regulation and algorithmic pricing. So the declarant-control work is behind HB 621 rather than ahead of it.
What “continued to 2027” means in Virginia
Continuance is not defeat. A continued bill stays with the committee and returns for consideration in the next session without being reintroduced from scratch. It is the Virginia General Assembly's standard device for a bill that is not objectionable but is not finished.
The Community Associations Institute's Virginia Legislative Action Committee recorded HB 621 as monitored rather than opposed, noting it aligns with CAI policy on developer transition.3
The conditions that change the answer
This is not law. Sections 55.1-1804 and 55.1-2310 carry no 2026 chapter citation. Their current text is unchanged.
Text can change on continuance. The language quoted here is the bill as introduced in 2026.
Disclosure is not restriction. Nothing in the bill shortens a declarant's control period or limits what a declarant may reserve. It requires that the reservation be stated.
What to watch next
The 2027 session convenes in January. HB 621 returns to House General Laws, alongside HB 1196 and SB 746 on condemnation of association common area, also continued. Those three are the whole of Title 55.1's pending legislative agenda.
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