My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Virginia.

I'm currently on sublease for a room in a townhouse that began in June and ends at the end of September (in a week) and I'm very worried about my situation. I believe my landlord also owns fewer than 4 properties, so standard state code doesn't apply (apparently...)

Since early August, I've been asking my landlord to meet with myself and three other housemates regarding lease renewal. After much nagging, she finally got around to meeting with us last week, during which two of my housemates signed the lease - one signature block on one page on the same lease. I have not yet signed, as I wanted to review the lease in detail at my leisure first before signing. Again, after much goading, she gave me a paper copy of the lease to review and upon my review, I noticed she added a lot of extra language and clauses in the lease that were not there when the two of the three other housemates signed. e.g.: We brought up issues regarding the toilets flushing improperly due to previous tenant use during this meeting and she said we were financially responsible for handling all of that, even though the lease clearly stated and still clearly states we are not responsible for any "maintenance" costs unless we were the root cause of them. While reviewing the version of the lease I received, I realized that the exact conversation regarding tenants assuming any and all responsibility for paying for toilet and other repairs - such as washer and dryer and furnace - is now written out at the end of the same paragraph stating we're not responsible for fixing anything that we didn't cause.

Which leads me to another concern that there is a lot of conflicting clauses and wording in this lease. e.g.: One part of the lease says we're responsible for cleaning the house professionally once a year, and then a few paragraphs down, it says we have to clean the house professionally on a monthly basis.

And lastly, another clause I am uncomfortable with is that we are responsible for finding a replacement tenant upon the end of the lease. If we don't find a replacement, we are responsible for paying for our rent indefinitely until we find a replacement.

My questions are:
  1. Can she try and slip in some changes to the lease I'm reviewing, even though half of the house already signed to another version and is she legally obligated to let me sign the same lease my housemates are on, if I choose to sign;
  2. Am I responsible for finding a tenant upon the end of my lease indefinitely? Is there a way out of this clause?; and
  3. How well is this lease going to hold up legally? Honestly, I'm uncomfortable with not only the lease, but also with the landlord herself as she doesn't actually know the condition that house was in when the previous tenants vacated, has never stopped by to inspect the place, but will jump at any chance to brush off financial and physical responsibility on the tenants.


Long story short, I'm not really sure what laws apply to this particular case and what I can do about it. I'm also unsure of the laws governing not signing the lease renewal and moving out as there's no details regarding terminating the lease early or moving out, only that I am responsible for finding a replacement. Can she evict me and my belongings effective September 30th if I don't resign the lease? Ideally, I would be able to just move out and not worry about finding a replacement in such short notice but I'm worried she'll seek legal action against me for not complying with the sublease I signed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance.