§ 8.01-130.6.On what goods levied; to what extent goods liable; priorities between landlord and other lienors.

Section 8.01-130.6 defines what property a distress can reach. It covers goods belonging to the lessee, an assignee, or a sublessee that are on the premises, or that were carried off the premises no more than 30 days before the levy — a removal inside that window counts the same as if the goods had never left, closing off a quick move as a way to dodge distress.

Prior liens get separate protection. If the goods were already subject to a lien valid against the owner’s creditors before they were ever brought onto the premises, only that owner’s remaining interest in the goods — not the full value — is exposed to distress. Liens created after the goods arrive on the premises, or within 30 days of arriving, do not block distress the same way, but the landlord’s reach against those goods is capped: no more than six months’ rent for premises used residentially rather than for farming or agriculture, and no more than twelve months’ rent where the land is used for farming or agriculture, regardless of whether the rent accrued before or after the lien was created.

No goods beyond these categories are liable to distress at all. And where the goods belong to a sublessee, the amount recoverable is capped a second way: it cannot exceed what the sublessee owed the tenant at the time of the levy.