Virginia · TitleVirginia old deeds of trust: the ten-year limit and the extension certificate

In Virginia, no deed of trust or mortgage securing the payment of money, and no lien reserved to secure unpaid purchase money, can be enforced after 10 years from the time the last obligation it secures became due and payable according to its terms, without regard to any acceleration clause; one year after the death of any party in interest is left out of the count. For obligations whose last maturity fell between July 1, 1988, and July 1, 2000, enforcement ended on July 1, 2010, subject to the rights of certain purchasers protected by the statute. The holder can extend the period by recording, before it expires and in the clerk's office where the lien is recorded, a certificate in the form of §8.01-241.1 signed by the holder of the beneficial interest or its attorney-in-fact or agent; recording it extends the right to enforce the lien for 10 years from the certificate's recording date. A foreclosure deed under a deed of trust or mortgage that isn't recorded within one year after the right to enforce expired is void as to later purchasers for value without notice and lien creditors who acquire their interest before it is recorded (Va. Code §8.01-241).