I have been served with a notice to vacate for 7 days from now from the sheriff's department. In Virginia, I understand that the law states that you MUST be given at least 72 hours notice. I have had conversations with my landlord and she & I came to an agreement that 8 days would be beneficial to us both, since it allows me the time to have help to remove items this coming weekend and it frees her up from having to pay to have it removed. The notice was posted on my front door this morning for 7 days hence, as we had discussed. I received a phone call from my landlord in which she informed me that the sheriff had told her she was basically crazy to allow me more than the 72 hours. She said that he had given her his personal cell phone number "in case anything changes", but that as long as everything goes right, the vacate is scheduled for 10am next Monday, 7 days from now. I asked her what does that mean, that I don't understand why she would need his cell phone number or what does "in case anything changes" mean? She said that well, if I were to be completely out before Monday, then she would be able to call him to cancel the vacate procedure.
So my question is this: Is the date & time listed on the Notice to Vacate set in stone? Can she just call the sheriff up, say later today or tomorrow sometime if she feels like it, and have it changed to 72 hours? I do see that the form was in triplicate and that both she & the sheriffs department obtain a copy of it. Is it filed somewhere special after it is served? Can I call anywhere & check that it says the same date & time as the one posted on my front door? Any help would be much appreciated...

Yes, it is set in stone. They can't move it up once you've been notified.

If the notice says 7 days, she can't change that now, without going back to court, and seeking another notice to vacate. If she does this, you would receive a different notice with a different date to be out by.

Also, the fees the landlord has already paid, will cover the cost of the sheriff removing your property if that becomes necessary, it would not cost her extra to do so.

Good Luck.

Here in Virginia, during the vacate, the law states that the sheriff "shall cause such personal property to be placed into the public way. The tenant shall have the right to remove his personal property from the public way during the 24-hour period after eviction. Upon the expiration of the 24-hour period after eviction, the landlord shall remove, or dispose of, any such personal property remaining in the public way."
So, in the end, that leaves the landlord responsible for the removal of what is left. The intention of our agreement was to keep her from having to incur the cost of the removal, which could be several hundred dollars.

I see this process happen in the mid-west quite often.

The sheriff places all the property on the curb. This makes it public property now.

Anyone driving or walking by, takes what they want, or at least what they can carry or fit in their vehicle.

What little is left, is usually picked up by the garbage disposal company.

I have not heard of the landlord having to pay to haul anything away, by the time the passersby have picked through the stuff, there us usually little left to be disposed of.

I admit, I have no clue as to what happens elsewhere, just my experience in 4 midwest states.

The sheriiff may charge extra for physically removing your belongings. The main job of the sheriff is to make sure that the movers are not interfrered with as they remove the tenant's belongings. Generally these movers are either hired by or through the sheriff so the sheriff normally gets a kickback. That's why the sheriff wants her to give you less time, because its money out of HIS pocket. If you can arrange to clear out the unit before the landlord takes possession, that's money in her pocket. Plus you can be held responsible for the rent up to the date you vacate. Again more money in the landlord's pocket.

The original poster is correct in Virginia the landlord has to place the stuff on the street and the sheriff just watches. I would also go with what the sheriff's note says as far as when you have to get out. I would make sure you don't have any stuff left for the landlord to remove because I would garnish your wages for any expenses I had removing your stuff from my property. Va is great place for landlords because as long as you follow the law they make it pretty easy to get the money out your tenants.