A lease creates a leasehold estate: the tenant gets possession while the landlord keeps ownership. Property management is a tested national topic and connects to Virginia's landlord-tenant law.
Leasehold estates
- Estate for years
- A lease with a fixed start and end date; ends automatically with no notice required.
- Periodic estate
- Renews automatically period to period (month-to-month) until proper notice is given.
- Estate at will
- Continues until either party terminates; indefinite.
- Estate at sufferance
- A holdover tenant remaining after the lease ends without permission.
Lease types by rent structure
- Gross lease — tenant pays fixed rent; landlord pays operating expenses (typical residential).
- Net lease — tenant pays rent plus some property expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance).
- Percentage lease — rent is a base amount plus a percentage of the tenant's sales (retail).
- Ground lease — tenant leases land and may build on it, often long-term.
Management & tenant concepts
- Property manager
- An agent who operates property for an owner; owes fiduciary duties and usually needs a license or a written management agreement.
- Implied warranty of habitability
- Residential rentals must be fit to live in.
- Quiet enjoyment
- The tenant's right to use the premises without interference from the landlord.
- Constructive eviction
- When a landlord's failure to maintain makes the unit uninhabitable, allowing the tenant to leave.
Most Virginia residential rentals fall under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA), which standardizes security deposits, notice periods, and maintenance duties — covered in the Virginia Specific Acts lesson.