WARNING: Many previously Single Family Homes in Northern VA have turned into Apartments

[Tish Thompson]

Yankee you hit the nail on the head. For anyone in ANY county, if you see evidence of an SFH being used as a boarding house REPORT IT! Nothing will happen to homeowners who allow this until enough "squeaky wheels" get involved.

[DavidS827]

There certainly are a number of homes that look as though the basement has been converted into a matress warehouse. I was just in a condo the other day that had a closet that had been turned into bunk beds. This was a bank owned property so it was vacant...otherwise I would absolutely have reported it.

It's sad, but I don't think people are going to take this problem as seriously as they should until there's a fire, and a lot of people die b/c they are trapped in these makeshift rooms.

[MovefromFla]

Fairfax Mom, if we do decide to look in Springfield, which areas should we avoid (ie. zip codes, or ??)
We are looking for an older SFH with a decent sized back yard in the Alexandria or Springfield area.. Springfield seemed more desirable because of the price. We really did not want to pay more than $550K, if possible. We saw many in Springfield in that price range (3 to 4 bedroom) however, it is difficult to tell whether it is the "bad" part of Springfield or the "good" part...
Thanks again

[rose421]

One way Fairfax is trying to address the countywide problem of overcrowding and illegal boarding houses is with the "Enhanced Code Enforcement Strike Teams". You can read about it on the county website at, Enhanced Code Enforcement Strike Teams*- Fairfax County, Virginia
There is also a link where you can make a complaint regarding overcrowding or complain about other violations such as grass too tall, cars parked in yards and more.

[Dingler]

The problem is that the majority of the people who are contacted about overcrowded homes just claim that everyone who lives in the house is family. Then nothing is done.

One State offical tried to develop a law that said only a certain number of people could live in a house regardless of family connections, she was called a racist and that was all that was needed to shut her up.

At the end of our street we have a $550,000 home that has almost twenty people living there, all are family. They own 9 cars and come and go all the time day and night. Nothing can be done, they are family!

[Fairfax Mom]

How can they say it is family when every bedroom door has a lock on it and they are selling meals from the kitchen?

[DecayingAngel]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

It is illegal, but it's important for neighbors to report the violations and if the laws are not being enforced, to put pressure on the County Supervisors to ensure that they are. In some cases the money that absentee landlords are collecting from rent is far more than the fines they have to pay.

Unfortunately, when so many of the neighbors are illegals, they don't want any attention brought to the area. And the legal residents run the risk of retaliation if it is discovered who "snitched".

It's a no win situation.

[Turbogyrl]

This is what happened to me back in 2001 in Cardinal Forest - in the townhouse/condos. We had great parking for several years, nothing was assigned, etc. Then someone rented their townhouse and all of a sudden there were about 10 extra cars... and then the war on parking places began, and then the spaces were "assigned". Then people were "working" on their cars in the parking area, with the boom boxes wailing all afternoon on a Saturday. Gee that was great. It was no brainer to sell & get the heck out of there when we left for an overseas assignment.

[okletmein]

this is a result of the overpaid living with the underpaid
should be thankful