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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 135. Real Estate Board
Chapter 50. Fair Housing Regulations
12/21/2024

18VAC135-50-215. Verification of occupancy.

A. In order for a housing facility or community to qualify as 55-or-older housing, it must be able to produce, in response to a housing complaint filed under the Virginia Fair Housing Law, verification of compliance with these regulations through reliable surveys and affidavits.

B. A facility or community shall, within 180 days of the effective date of this rule, develop procedures for routinely determining the occupancy of each unit, including the identification of whether at least one occupant of each unit is 55 years of age or older. Such procedures may be part of a normal leasing or purchasing arrangement.

C. The procedures described in subsection B of this section must provide for regular updates through surveys or other means, of the initial information supplied by the occupants of the housing facility or community. Such updates must take place at least once every two years.

D. The following documents are considered reliable documentation of the age of the occupants of the housing facility or community.

1. Driver's license;

2. Birth certificate;

3. Passports;

4. Immigration cards;

5. Military identification;

6. Any other state, local, national or international official documents containing a birth date of comparable reliability; or

7. A certification in a lease, application, affidavit, or other document signed by an adult member of the household asserting that at least one person in the unit is 55 years of age or older.

E. If the occupants of a unit refuse to comply with the age verification procedures, the housing facility or community may, if it has sufficient evidence, consider the unit occupied by at least one person 55 years of age or older. Such evidence may include:

1. Government records or documents, such as a census; or

2. Prior forms or applications; or

3. A statement from an individual who has personal knowledge of the age of the occupants. The individual's statement must set forth the basis for such knowledge and be signed under penalty of perjury.

F. Surveys and verification procedures that comply with the requirements of this section shall be admissible in administrative and judicial proceedings for the purpose of verifying occupancy.

G. Occupancy surveys shall be available for inspection upon reasonable notice and request by any person.

Statutory Authority

§§ 36-96.20 C and 54.1-2105 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 19, Issue 24, eff. September 10, 2003.

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