Outline of the eviction process in West Virginia

Most West Virginia residential evictions are brought as a petition for summary relief for wrongful occupation of residential rental property under W. Va. Code ch. 55, art. 3A (§§ 55-3A-1 to 55-3A-3). The petition may be filed in the magistrate court or the circuit court of the county where the property is located, and almost all are filed in magistrate court.

Two things are distinctive. First, article 3A contains no pre-suit notice requirement: nothing in § 55-3A-1 requires a pay-or-quit or cure notice before a petition is filed for unpaid rent, a lease breach or damage. Second, the process is fast. Since July 11, 2025 (HB 3272, 2025 Acts ch. 1) the court must set the hearing when the petition is filed, not less than five nor more than 10 judicial days later.

1. Grounds

Under § 55-3A-1(a)(3) the verified petition must allege that the tenant is wrongfully occupying the property because 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, or knowingly permitted another person to do so.

The petition must describe the arrearage, breach or act. The statutes reviewed for this guide contain no just-cause requirement. Holding over after the tenancy has ended is not one of the three listed grounds; the traditional action for a tenant who detains possession after his or her right has expired is unlawful entry and detainer (§ 55-3-1).

Defenses. The tenant may assert any defense that could be raised in ejectment or unlawful detainer (§ 55-3A-2). In a rent case the statute specifically recognizes the defense that the landlord breached a material covenant on which the duty to pay rent depends (§ 55-3A-3(b)); the landlord’s duty to keep the premises fit and habitable is in § 37-6-30.

Squatters are not tenants. Under § 37-6-31 a person occupying a dwelling unit who is not entitled under a rental agreement and not authorized by the tenant is a squatter, and no court may require an owner to use eviction or a similar procedure to remove one. The Stop Squatters Act (ch. 55, art. 3C; HB 2434, effective July 10, 2025) lets an owner or agent file a verified complaint asking law enforcement to remove a squatter, but only if, among other conditions, the person is not a current or former lawful tenant and there is no pending litigation with that person (§ 55-3C-3). It is not a way to remove a tenant, including one whose lease has ended.

Factory-built home sites have their own article (ch. 55, art. 3B) with its own termination rules.

2. Notices

• Nonpayment, lease breach, damage: no statutory pre-suit notice. Section 55-3A-1 lists what the petition must contain and none of the items is a prior notice or demand. If your lease promises a notice or cure period, give it and keep proof. Under § 37-6-19, if the lease specifies a time for reentry, ejectment or unlawful detainer may not be begun until that time has passed.
• Ending a periodic tenancy (§ 37-6-5). A year-to-year tenancy is ended by written notice at least three months before the end of any year. A periodic tenancy of less than a year (month-to-month, week-to-week) may be ended by like notice or by written notice of one full period before the end of any period. For month-to-month, that is a full rental month ending with a period, not 30 days from a mid-month date. The section does not apply where the parties have agreed to a different notice period or to none, and no notice is needed for a lease whose term ends on a fixed date.
• How the § 37-6-5 notice is served. The notice must be in writing and may be served on the tenant or on anyone holding the premises, or any part, under the tenant. The section does not list posting or mail and sets no day-counting rule; deliver it in a way you can prove.
• Federally backed or subsidized properties may also be subject to the federal CARES Act 30-day notice and to program notice rules; confirm before filing.

3. Filing

File a verified petition in the magistrate court of the county where the property sits, stating that you are the owner or the owner’s agent with a right to recover possession, a brief description of the property, the ground with its details, and a prayer for possession (§ 55-3A-1(a)). The Supreme Court of Appeals publishes the magistrate form, Petition for Summary Relief: Wrongful Occupation of Residential Rental Property (form MLTPTWR).

Magistrate courts have jurisdiction over wrongful occupation and unlawful entry or detainer cases so long as title to the property is not in dispute, and over money claims of not more than $20,000 (§ 50-2-1). Confirm current filing and service fees with the magistrate clerk.

Who may appear. Any party to a civil action in magistrate court may appear in person, by agent or by attorney, and the statute says appearance by an agent is not the unlawful practice of law (§ 50-4-4a). That rule is for magistrate court only.

4. Service and the hearing

Service. The hearing is set five to 10 judicial days after filing (§ 55-3A-1(b)). The petitioner must immediately have the notice of hearing served on the tenant under Rule 4 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested, and then file the return of service or the return receipt with the court (§ 55-3A-1(c)). Rule 4 service may be made by a non-party at least 18 years old or by the sheriff, by personal delivery or by leaving the papers at the tenant’s dwelling with a resident aged 18 or older. The official summons (form MLTSMWO) lists certified mail, the sheriff’s process server and a private process server. Posting the summons on the door is not a listed method. A 2026 bill to allow posting (HB 4570) passed the House but was not enacted.

The tenant’s response. The notice must tell the tenant that a written defense may be filed and served on the petitioner within five days of receiving it (§ 55-3A-1(c); Magistrate Court Civil Rule 4). The court’s summons for these cases says the answer is due within five days of receipt “and in no case later than the fifth day next preceding the date of hearing.” Either side may elect a jury in a case involving possession of real estate, but in wrongful occupation cases the election must be made within five days after service (Magistrate Court Civil Rule 6A).

At the hearing. If the tenant has not appeared, answered or filed a responsive pleading by the hearing, the court shall enter an order granting immediate possession (§ 55-3A-3(a)), and in that default situation may also make a written finding on the rent arrearage as the evidence requires (§ 55-3A-3(e)). If the tenant answers, the court hears the issues. Continuances are for cause only, never as of right, and a tenant who obtains one must pay into court any periodic rent coming due during the continuance (§ 55-3A-3(d)).

5. Judgment and appeal

If the court finds wrongful occupation it enters an order granting possession. The order must state when the tenant is to vacate, a date the court picks after weighing whether the unit is furnished, the relative harm to the parties and other relevant facts (§ 55-3A-3(f)). The statute sets no fixed number of days. Article 3A itself gives the tenant no right to pay after judgment and stay. Note, though, that § 55-3A-2 lets the tenant raise any ejectment or unlawful detainer defense, and § 37-6-23 says that in those actions all further proceedings cease if the rent, arrears, interest and costs are paid or tendered before trial. Whether that applies to an article 3A petition is a question for counsel; expect the argument if a tenant tenders everything owed before the hearing.

Appeal. Either party may appeal to the circuit court as of right within 20 days after judgment (§ 50-5-12; Magistrate Court Civil Rule 18). A case tried without a jury is heard de novo in circuit court. The appellant must post a bond with good security, but the statute and the rule word the amount differently: § 50-5-12 says a reasonable amount not less than the reasonable court costs of the appeal nor more than the judgment plus those costs, while Rule 18 says not less than the judgment plus the reasonable costs of the appeal. No bond is required of a person permitted to proceed without prepayment. Neither provision sets a separate possession bond or requires rent to be paid into court during an eviction appeal, so ask the magistrate clerk how the bond is set in your county. A timely appeal stays execution of the judgment until it is decided (Rule 18A). Against that, § 55-3A-3(g) says that during an appeal the tenant is not entitled to remain in possession if the period of the tenancy has otherwise expired, and that a tenant who wins on appeal after the lease term has expired gets money damages only, not possession, absent an issue of title, retaliatory eviction or breach of warranty. How a court reconciles the two is a question for counsel.

6. The lockout and the tenant’s property

The sheriff removes the tenant. There is no separate writ step described in article 3A. The possession order itself must provide that if the tenant continues to wrongfully occupy the property past the vacate date, the sheriff shall forthwith remove the tenant (§ 55-3A-3(f)). Take the order to the county sheriff once the date passes. Do not change locks or cut utilities yourself. No statute reviewed for this guide sets a specific lockout penalty, but article 3A gives removal of a tenant to the sheriff under a court order, and self-help invites a damages claim.

Property left behind after a court-ordered eviction (§ 55-3A-3(h) and (i)). If the tenant does not remove all personal property by the date and time in the order, the landlord may:

• dispose of it at once, without liability, only if the tenant has told the landlord in writing that it is abandoned, or if it is garbage;
• remove and store it, and dispose of it after 30 days if the tenant has not paid the reasonable costs of storage and removal and taken possession, or if the costs of storage equal the value of the property; or
• leave it on the premises, and dispose of it after 30 days if the tenant has not paid the reasonable costs of leaving it there and taken possession.

The $300 rule. If the property is worth more than $300 and was not collected within the 30 days, the landlord must store it for up to 30 additional days if the tenant, or anyone holding a security interest in it, tells the landlord they intend to remove it, provided that person pays the reasonable costs of storage and removal (§ 55-3A-3(i)).

A different rule applies when the tenant simply disappears (§ 37-6-6). If a tenant who owes rent abandons the unit and there is no court order, the landlord posts a written notice in a conspicuous part of the property requiring payment within one month. If the rent is not paid in that time the landlord is entitled to possession and may enter. To dispose of belongings the landlord must then post a second written notice and send it by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing, in an envelope endorsed “Please Forward”, to the leased property, any post office box known to the landlord and the most recent forwarding address. The notice must say the property is considered abandoned and give a removal date not less than 30 days after mailing (60 days if the tenant has notified the landlord of active military duty), after which the property is forfeited to the landlord. A similar over-$300 extra 30 days applies (§ 37-6-6(e)).

Recent law changes landlords should know

• HB 3272 (2025 Acts ch. 1), effective July 11, 2025. Amended § 55-3A-1: the hearing is scheduled on filing, five to 10 judicial days out.
• HB 2434 (2025 Acts ch. 219), effective July 10, 2025. Expanded the Stop Squatters Act (ch. 55, art. 3C) with a law-enforcement removal process for squatters. It does not apply to current or former lawful tenants.
• HB 2761 (2025), effective July 7, 2025. Amended § 50-2-1 to raise the magistrate court civil limit from $10,000 to $20,000.
• HB 4940, effective June 4, 2024. Added the squatter provisions of § 37-6-31.
• Not enacted in 2026. HB 4570 (posting the summons as service) and SB 799 (filing of the return of service, §§ 55-3A-1 and 55-3B-4) each passed one chamber only, according to the Legislature’s bill status pages. Neither is law.

What actually goes wrong

• Ignoring the lease. The statute needs no pre-suit notice, but a lease that promises one, or a federally backed property, still does.
• Bad service. Posting the papers on the door, or a certified letter that comes back unclaimed with no signed receipt, leaves you without the proof of service the court needs.
• Calling a former tenant a squatter. The squatter removal process excludes current and former lawful tenants.
• Ending a month-to-month tenancy mid-period. The notice must cover one full period.
• Using article 3A for a manufactured home lot instead of article 3B.
• Clearing out belongings too early. Immediate disposal is allowed only for garbage or property the tenant has abandoned in writing; otherwise wait the 30 days and watch the $300 rule.

When to bring in an attorney

An owner or agent with a clear rent ledger can often handle an uncontested magistrate court petition. Use counsel when the tenant files a written defense, demands a jury or appeals; for subsidized housing; for holdover cases that do not fit the three article 3A grounds; and for any question about possession during an appeal. The West Virginia attorneys listed below represent landlords.

Sources

• W. Va. Code §§ 55-3A-1, 55-3A-2 and 55-3A-3; § 55-3-1; ch. 55, art. 3B (section list).
• W. Va. Code §§ 37-6-5, 37-6-6, 37-6-19, 37-6-23, 37-6-30 and 37-6-31; §§ 55-3C-1 and 55-3C-3.
• W. Va. Code §§ 50-2-1, 50-4-4a and 50-5-12.
• West Virginia Legislature bill status: HB 3272 (2025), HB 2434 (2025), HB 4940 (2024), HB 4570 (2026), SB 799 (2026).
• Rules of Civil Procedure for Magistrate Courts, Rules 3, 4, 6A, 18 and 18A; W. Va. Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 4.
• West Virginia Judiciary forms MLTPTWR (petition) and MLTSMWO (summons), courtswv.gov.

This guide is general information about West Virginia procedure and is not legal advice. Confirm the current statute, rules and forms before relying on any deadline.