As of Jan. 1, 2019, there is no longer any substantive difference between the common law landlord/tenant provisions and the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act (VRLTA). To avoid confusion or duplication of efforts, the Common Law Lease has been retired since the law now requires common law leases to be virtually identical to the VRLTA Lease. A Landlord can still technically opt out of the VRLTA in order to use a common law lease, but that common law lease would be virtually identical to a VRLTA lease.