On July 1st, 2020, Virginia joined a handful of states that ban discriminatory housing restrictions referred to as “racial covenants” that were, until recently, still presented to homeowners in 2020—more than fifty years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Latest News: HB788 Signed Into Law!
April 6th, 2020: In the fall of 2019, our team reached out to then-Virginia Delegate Lamont Bagby (now Virginia Senator) to propose legislation addressing the issue of Virginia property owners not having easy methods of detaching restrictive covenants from their deeds, despite such covenants not being legal or enforceable since 1968.
We’re pleased to announce that effort resulted in HB 788, which passed the Virginia House with unanimous support on February 5th, 2020, and was approved unanimously by the Virginia Senate on February 24th, 2020. On April 6th, 2020, the bill was officially signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam and was enacted on July 1st, 2020!
We’re incredibly thankful for Senator Bagby, co-sponsors Senator Lashrecse Aird and Delegate Marcia Price, Gov. Ralph Northam, and others in Virginia who helped support and pass this legislation.
Our work is far from over, and we are still working on publishing the visual essay. With recent legislative momentum, we’re hoping to include resources and immediate toolkits for homeowners and purchasers to address any discriminatory language attached to their property deeds.
—Chris Fullman on behalf of the LMR Leadership Quest ’19 Civil War History Immersion Group
