No suit shall be brought to enforce the lien of any water, sewer, or sidewalk assessment, heretofore or hereafter made, against lands which have been conveyed by the person owning them at the time of such assessment to a grantee for value unless the same be brought within ten years from the due recordation of the deed from such person to grantee and within twenty years from the due docketing of such assessment.
§ 8.01-240.Liens for water, sewer, or sidewalk assessments.
Chapter 4. Limitations of Actions · Article 2. Limitations on Recovery of Realty and Enforcement of Certain Liens Relating · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-240 bars a suit to enforce a water, sewer, or sidewalk assessment lien against land conveyed to a value-paying grantee unless the suit is brought within ten years of the deed’s recordation and within twenty years of the assessment’s docketing.
Full Text of § 8.01-240
Plain-English Summary
Section 8.01-240 protects buyers of land from stale municipal assessment liens. When land subject to a water, sewer, or sidewalk assessment is later conveyed to a grantee who paid value for it, a suit to enforce that assessment lien against the land has to clear two separate deadlines: it must be brought within ten years of the date the deed to the grantee was duly recorded, and it must also be brought within twenty years of the date the assessment was duly docketed.
Requiring both deadlines to be satisfied protects a value-paying purchaser in two different ways. The recordation-based clock keeps an old assessment from resurfacing long after a buyer has taken title and recorded the deed, while the docketing-based clock puts an absolute outer limit on how long an assessment lien can be enforced at all, regardless of when the property later changes hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a locality have to enforce a water, sewer, or sidewalk assessment lien against land sold to a new owner?
Section 8.01-240 requires the suit to be brought within ten years of the recordation of the deed to the value-paying grantee and within twenty years of the docketing of the assessment, both conditions must be met.
What triggers the ten-year deadline under this section?
The due recordation of the deed conveying the land from the assessed owner to the grantee for value.
What triggers the twenty-year deadline under this section?
The due docketing of the water, sewer, or sidewalk assessment itself.
Does this section apply if the land was never sold to a new owner?
The section specifically addresses land that has been conveyed to a grantee for value; it is framed around that transfer scenario.
Does it matter whether the assessment was made before or after this section’s enactment?
No. The text applies to assessments made either heretofore or hereafter, so it covers assessments made both before and after the statute’s enactment.
Amendment History
Code 1950, §§ 8-10.1, 8-10.2; 1958, c. 516; 1966, c. 434; 1977, c. 617.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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