Looking for Legal Help?
Legal tools, guidance, and self-advocacy resources to help you navigate the Virginia legal system.
Our Work
Since 1978, we’ve been a source of information on poverty law issues. From new lawyer training to educational outreach to leadership on advocacy issues, we ensure that low-income Virginians’ voices are heard by our legal system.
Advocacy
Advocacy
We advocate alongside communities and within the General Assembly to shape policies and fight for a more just and equitable Virginia.
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Education
Education
VPLC’s educational programs provide communities, partners, and policymakers with accessible tools, resources, and training to support informed advocacy for economic justice and essential services.
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Litigation
Litigation
VPLC uses the power of the court system to fight for low-income Virginians, holding both private corporations and the state accountable to ensure fairness and justice for all.
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News and Insights
“What the Heck, Dude!”: How States Can Fight Rental Housing Junk Fees
This report from NCLC focuses on steps that governments and advocates can take to address junk fees. State and local governments play a central role in landlord-tenant law in the United States, as they have traditionally been the entities regulating rental housing. Picking up where the federal government left off, they can and should fully protect vulnerable renters from widespread and abusive junk fees.
Virginia’s First Resident-Owned Manufactured Home Community: A Milestone for Housing Stability
This fall, residents of Crestview Cooperative in Buena Vista made Virginia housing history—purchasing the land beneath their homes to become the Commonwealth’s first Resident Owned Community (ROC).
The Collection of Attorney Fees in Eviction Cases Has Sharply Increased in Virginia
A new report from Virginia Poverty Law Center and VCU’s Eviction Lab shows how attorney fees are worsening Virginia’s eviction crisis — with courts awarding nearly $20 million in fees last year alone. Michael Pope reports.
Upcoming VPLC Events
Kinship Law Matters Monthly Workshop
Virtual
Join us for a monthly virtual discussion series where kinship caregivers gain access to clear, up-to-date information about civil legal issues that impact your family.
