Defrauding hotels, motels, campgrounds, boardinghouses, etc
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-188
in effectIt shall be unlawful for any person, without paying therefor, and with the intent to cheat or defraud the owner or keeper to:
1. Put up at a hotel, motel, campground or boardinghouse;
2. Obtain food from a restaurant or other eating house;
3. Gain entrance to an amusement park; or
4. Without having an express agreement for credit, procure food, entertainment or accommodation from any hotel, motel, campground, boardinghouse, restaurant, eating house or amusement park.
It shall be unlawful for any person, with intent to cheat or defraud the owner or keeper out of the pay therefor to obtain credit at a hotel, motel, campground, boardinghouse, restaurant or eating house for food, entertainment or accommodation by means of any false show of baggage or effects brought thereto.
It shall be unlawful for any person, with intent to cheat or defraud, to obtain credit at a hotel, motel, campground, boardinghouse, restaurant, eating house or amusement park for food, entertainment or accommodation through any misrepresentation or false statement.
It shall be unlawful for any person, with intent to cheat or defraud, to remove or cause to be removed any baggage or effects from a hotel, motel, campground, boardinghouse, restaurant or eating house while there is a lien existing thereon for the proper charges due from him for fare and board furnished.
Any person who violates any provision of this section is, if the value of service, credit or benefit procured or obtained is $1,000 or more, guilty of a Class 5 felony or is, if the value is less than $1,000, guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Code 1950, § 18.1-120; 1960, c. 358; 1974, c. 615; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1977, c. 178; 1981, c. 197; 1993, c. 575; 2018, cc. 764 , 765 ; 2020, cc. 89 , 401 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-188/Fetched: 10/16/2026