A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-100, 59.1-198, 59.1-200, and 59.1-436 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 59.1 a chapter numbered 60, consisting of sections numbered 59.1-614 through 59.1-622, relating to regulation of rental home marketplace guarantees; penalty.
HB765 creates a new regulatory framework for “rental home marketplace guarantees,” which are agreements offered by online rental platforms to reimburse hosts for certain renter-caused damages. The bill defines these guarantees, requires providers to register with the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and requires them to maintain reimbursement insurance backing the guarantees. It also requires clear consumer disclosures, including a statement that the guarantee is not insurance and that claims may be made directly against the insurer if the provider fails to perform after a specified period.
The bill amends the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and related insurance and consumer statutes to carve rental home marketplace guarantees out of the definition of insurance under Title 38.2, while also making violations of the new chapter a prohibited practice under § 59.1-200. It adds a new Chapter 60 to Title 59.1, sets registration fees, authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt implementing regulations, and makes knowing and willful violations a Class 3 misdemeanor. The bill also updates extended service contract provisions so that providers of rental home marketplace guarantees regulated under the new chapter are not subject to the extended service contract chapter.
More broadly, the bill expands the list of unlawful consumer practices to include violations tied to the new rental home marketplace guarantee rules. It also includes a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, and provides a transition rule allowing existing providers to register by that date and continue operating if they comply with the new requirements. The bill appears aimed at bringing a growing platform-based product under state oversight without classifying it as traditional insurance.
The general sentiment in the available context appears neutral to favorable toward the bill’s consumer-protection and regulatory goals, but the bill was ultimately stricken at the patron’s request in Commerce and Labor by a unanimous 11-0 vote. That suggests there was no recorded floor or committee opposition in the available history, but also that the patron chose not to advance the measure further in that form.
The main point of contention implied by the text is the regulatory classification of rental home marketplace guarantees: the bill expressly says they are not insurance, yet it imposes insurance-like backing, registration, disclosure, and enforcement requirements. That structure may have raised questions about overlap with existing insurance law, administrative oversight by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the burden on marketplace operators and affiliated providers.
HB765 would have added a new chapter to Title 59.1 governing rental home marketplace guarantees and would have amended the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to treat violations of that chapter as unlawful consumer practices. It also would have amended Title 38.2 to exclude these guarantees from the definition of insurance and amended the extended service contract statute to exempt providers regulated under the new chapter. The bill would have created registration, disclosure, insurance-backing, investigative, and penalty requirements for providers and would have shifted oversight to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The available record shows no recorded vote opposition and no committee transcript, but the bill was stricken at the patron’s request in Commerce and Labor by an 11-0 vote. That indicates the measure was not controversial enough to generate recorded dissent in committee, though it also did not advance in the introduced form. Overall, the bill’s approach suggests a consumer-protection and regulatory intent rather than a deregulatory one.
The central issue is how to regulate rental home marketplace guarantees: whether they should be treated as insurance, as a consumer product with insurance-like backing, or as a separate category altogether. The bill resolves that by declaring them not insurance while still requiring reimbursement insurance, registration, disclosures, and enforcement. Potentially contentious points include the scope of state oversight, the cost and compliance burden on online rental platforms, and the interaction between the new chapter and existing insurance and consumer-protection laws. No specific opposing stakeholders are identified in the available context, but the structure suggests likely interest from marketplace operators, insurers, and consumer advocates.