Chap. 130.—An ACT to Amend and Re-enact Chapter 134 of the Code of
Virginia, in Relation to the Recovery of the Possession of Real Estate.

Approved March 15, 1871.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That chapter one
hundred and thirty-four of the Code of Virginia, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

“QHAPTER CXXXIV.
“Of the summary remedy for unlawful entry or detainer.

Ҥ 1. If any forcible or unlawful entry be made upon lands,
or if, when the entry is lawful and peaceable, the tenant shall
detain the possession of land after his right has expired, with-
out the consent of him who is entitled to the possession, the
party so turned out of possession, no matter what right or
title he had thereto, or the party against whom such possession
is unlawfully detained, may, within three years after such forci-
ble or unlawful entry, or such unlawful detainer, sue out of the
clerk’s office of the circuit, county, or corporation court of the
county or corporation in which the land, or some part thereof,
may be, a summons against the defendant to answer the com-
plaint of the plaintiff, that the defendant is in possession and
unlawfully withholds from the plaintiff the premises in ques-
tion (describing them), and no other declaration shall be re-
quired. lor in any case where the possession of any house,
land, or tenement, is unlawfully detained by a tenant, or some
person claiming under him, the lease of such tenant being
originally for a period not exceeding one month, the landlord,
or other person entitled to the possession, may present to any
justice of the peace of the county, city, or town in which said
premises are situated, a statement, under oath, of the facts
which authorize the removal of the tenant, or other person in
possession (describing said premises), and thereupon the said
justice shall issue his summons against the person or persons
named in said affidavit. |

Ҥ 2. The summons, when issued from the clerk's office of a
court, may be returnable to and the case heard and determined
at any term of said court. When issued by a justice, it may
be returnable to and the case heard and determined by any
justice of the peace of said county, city, or town: provided,
the same be made returnable to some place within the town-
ship or ward in which the defendant resides. Such summons
shall be served at least five days before the return day thereof.
If the defendant appear and plead, his plea shall be “not
guilty.” Upon this issue, or upon the return of the first or
any subsequent summons “executed,” the court or justice, as
the case may be, shall try whether he unlawfully withholds the
premises in controversy. When the summons is returnable to
a court, a jury may be empanneled to try the case, upon the
application of either party, at any time before the trial. Such
causes shall have precedence over all other civil causes on the
docket.

Ҥ 3. If it appear that the plaintiff was forcibly or unlaw-
fully turned out of possession, or that it was unlawfully de-
tained from him, unless it also appear that the defendant has
held or detained the possession for three years before the date
of the summons, the verdict or judgment shall be for the plain-
tiff for the said premises, or such part thereof as may be found
to have been so held or detained. When part only of the
premises is found for the plaintiff, the verdict or judgment
shall describe the part so found. In such cases, the verdict or
judgment shall be for the plaintiff. If the verdict be for the
defendant as to the whole, judgment shall be for him. The
summons or other process issued by a justice of the peace,
under this chapter, may be directed to the sheriff, sergeant, or
any constable, and served in the same manner as the process
issued from the court.

“$4. And if any tenant or lessee of premises ina city or
town being in default in the payment of rent, shall so continue
for tive days after notice in writing requiring possession of
the premises or the payment of rent, such tenant or lessee
shall thereby forfeit his right to the possession. In any of
such cases, the possession of the defendant may, at the option
of the landlord or lessor, be deemed unlawful, and he may
proceed to recover the same in the manner provided by this
chapter.

““§ 5. An appeal shall lie from the judgment of a justice, in
any proceeding under this chapter, to the county or corpora-
tion court, in the same manner and with like effect and upon
like security as appeals taken under the law in force at the
time of the passage of this act from the judgment of a justice
of the peace in a civil action. The said appeal shall be taken
within ten days, and the security approved by the justice from
whose decision thé appeal is taken; and when the appeal is
taken by the defendant, he shall be required to give security
also for all rent which has accrued upon said premises and
which may accrue thereon, but for not more than one years’
rent in all, whether it shail have accrued before or may accrue
after said appeal is taken, and also for all damages that shall
have accrued or may accrue from the unlawful use,and occupa-
tion of the premises for a period not exceeding three months.
Upon the trial of said appeal, a jury may be empanneled to
try the matter in controversy, upon the application of either
party: provided, however, that when the annual value or rental
of the property in controversy shall exceed the sum of one
hundred dollars, an appeal shall lie from the county court to
the circuit court of the county as in other cases of unlawful
detainer brought originally in the county court.

Ҥ 6. No such judgment shall bar any action of trespass or
ejectment between the same parties, nor shall any such judg-
ment or verdict be conclusive, in any such future action, of
the facts therein found.”

2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.