It is very important for a commercial landlord
in Virginia to retain an original, signed copy of every lease within its portfolio. By “original”, we mean a copy
of the lease containing the tenant’s “wet ink” signature. If a landlord tries to enforce a non-original copy
of the lease in Court, the landlord may have trouble admitting the lease into
evidence. The reason is that Virginia
Courts follow the “best evidence rule” and require the production of original documents when available. There are exceptions to this rule (for
example, if the lease is lost, destroyed or cannot be retrieved without great
inconvenience), but if the tenant objects to the authenticity of the photocopy
and denies that it is a true and accurate copy of the original, the landlord
could run into problems. Furthermore, many Judges in Virginia will not award
attorney fees to the landlord in the absence of an original lease, even if the
photocopy is admitted into evidence.
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