2020 Code of Virginia
Title 55.1 - Property and Conveyances
Chapter 3 - Form and Effect of Deeds and Covenants; Liens
§ 55.1-317. Requirements for trustees

A. No person may be named or act, in person or by agent or attorney, as the trustee of a deed of trust conveying property to secure the payment of money or the performance of an obligation, either individually or as one of several trustees, unless such person is a resident of the Commonwealth. No corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or other entity may be named or act as the trustee or as one of the trustees of a deed of trust conveying property to secure the payment of money or the performance of an obligation, unless it is organized under the laws of the Commonwealth or of the United States. However, the foregoing requirements shall not apply to any deed of trust conveying property lying partly in the Commonwealth and partly outside the Commonwealth or to a deed of trust conveying property in the Commonwealth to secure bonds or obligations that are also secured by one or more deeds of trust or mortgages conveying property outside of the Commonwealth.

B. A deed of trust conveying property to secure the payment of money or the performance of an obligation shall state the full residence or business address of the trustee named in such deed of trust, including street address and zip code, and such address shall be valid for purposes of all notices under the deed of trust to the trustee. Such address of the trustee may be changed by amendment of the deed of trust or by a separate instrument executed by the trustee, or by the beneficiary of such deed of trust, stating the changed address and otherwise in recordable form, and recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court where the deed of trust was recorded.

C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, if any deed of trust is recorded by a clerk, it shall be conclusively presumed that such deed of trust complies with all the requirements of this section, and it shall be deemed to be validly recorded.

D. All deeds of trusts, mortgages, bonds, or other instruments recorded by a clerk prior to January 1, 1999, without the residence or business address of the trustee named in such deed of trust shall be valid for all purposes as if such address had been named if such recordation is otherwise valid according to the law then in force, provided that this section shall not affect any right or remedy of any third party that accrued after the recordation of such instrument or before July 1, 1960.

1960, c. 565, § 55-58.1; 1962, c. 156; 1966, c. 398; 1974, c. 424; 1998, c. 202; 2014, c. 338; 2019, c. 712.